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Heart of Loyalty

by PonyAmorous

Chapter 16: A Brief Interim

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A Brief Interim

Carousel Boutique

"Do you guys ever feel like there's important stuff going on out there that you're missing out on?"

"Pinkie, whatever are you going on about?" Rarity asked as she drew another card from the deck.

"Like, do you ever get the feeling there's some big dramatic adventure unfolding somewhere, and you've just kind of been...left behind and forgotten?"

Spike arched a scaly eyebrow from behind his cards. "Wouldn't know a thing about that" he replied in a tone dry enough to demolish half of Cloudsdale before throwing two more chips into the center of the table.

"I dunno, it's like if everything were some kind of story, but the writer was a hack who had no idea what to do with your character or how to work you into any of the scenes, so they just stopped mentioning you and hoped nopony would notice, and now you're trapped in some weird narrative purgatory?"

"You mean like those horrid semi-coherent piles of explosions and sex scenes that Rainbow Dash calls her Daring Do fanfiction?" Rarity asked in reply.

"Yeah! Ever feel like that?"

"No. Now, as much as everypony enjoys a brief dip into solipsistic musings, it is currently your turn Pinkie."

"Oh, right. Uhh...go fish!"

"Pinkie, we're playing poker!"

"Uno?"

"Pinkie..."

"Gin?"

"Ugh, yes please," Rarity muttered under her breath.

To the group's surprise, a large gin bottle suddenly manifested on the table. The cork flew off with a loud pop, releasing a cloud of smoke that coalesced into the upper half of a draconequus dressed in Saddle Arabian garb, the lower half remaining a thin stream of smoke running into the neck of the bottle.

"Eh?...Eh?..." Discord said as he looked expectantly at the three pairs of eyes blinking back at him in silence. "Ah, you guys are no fun. Twilight would get it."

"Ahem, to what do we owe the pleasure of your visit Discord?"

"Oh, nothing much. I was just in the middle of some first rate entertainment, but decided to take a brief intermission to go out and stretch my legs." He gave a quick glance down to the still vaporous lower half of his body. "Metaphorically speaking of course." He floated over to Pinkie, who had resumed her uncharacteristically contemplative staring out of the boutique window. "Why so melancholy?"

"Hmm? Oh that's just the Cutie Mark Crusaders' latest attempt to get their cutie marks. I'm sure they'll get Winona's head out of that cantaloupe soon." Indistinct shouts could be heard from across the street as three fillies chased after a highly agitated dog.

"Beautiful chaos indeed." Discord took a moment to wipe a small tear from his eye. "So why do you look as if the party store ran out of confetti? Unless it actually did. I suppose that is a thing that could conceivably happen. Did it?"

Pinkie gave a short shake of her head. "No, it's not that. Besides, I always keep a two month buffer supply in case of confetti emergency."

"Naturally." Discord gave an understanding nod. "Well then, if the logistics of tiny squares of brightly colored paper isn't the problem, what is?"

Pinkie gave a small sigh as she turned her gaze back out the window. "I dunno. It just feels like I'm...like all of us are just fading into the background. Like the whole world is centering around somepony else and we've just drifted to the edge and fallen out of the spotlight to be forgotten."

"Mhm." Discord nodded from behind a pair of large spectacles as he scribbled away at a notepad, adding the finishing touches on a detailed sketch of him throwing a pie into Celestia's face. "Go on."

"If only there was a way to get back into that spotlight. Something to make us relevant again..."

There was a brief pause, filled only with the continued scribbling and the sounds of Spike and Rarity trying to clean up the mess of cards that had been knocked around by Discord's entrance. The moment of relative calm was ended when Pinkie jumped up with a shout.

"RARITY!"

"What?!" Rarity shouted back, startled by the sudden outburst.

"WE HAVE TO MAKE OUT!"

"WHAT?!" Both Rarity and Spike shouted back. Discord merely arched an eyebrow before pentagoning the other.

"Pinkie, we're not playing spin the bottle. That's not even a card game!" Rarity groaned as she pressed a hoof into her face.

"No! It's super important that we make out immediately! Also start dating. It's the only way to win back the narrative focus!" Seeing the lack of comprehension etched on every other face in the room, she continued to explain. "Shipping! All the others have already been paired off except us! If we want back into this story, we need to launch Raripie!"

"Ra-?" One of Rarity's eyelids gave an involuntary spasm as her brain attempted to grapple with the nonsense pouring into her ears. "Pinkie! I have zero romantic interest in you. I'm not really even that into mares to be honest."

"Ooh, good! That's a setup for some good conflict. We could definitely stretch a couple chapters out of that."

Her hoof alone proving insufficient to the task, Rarity dropped her head to the table in front of her.

"Ugh. Why do I keep inviting you over?"

"A secret wellspring of burning sapphic desire?"

"And why do I keep loaning you those novels?"

"Wait" Spike interrupted, "you went thinking of possible romantic pairings involving everyone here, and you ONLY thought of you and Rarity? No...significantly better pairing right in front of your eyes? Maybe one that has been building up for years?"

Pinkie slapped a hoof to her forehead. "Of course! It's sooo obvious! Sorry Spike. I didn't mean to step on your dragon toes there."

"Well, I guess it's fine. As long as you recognize th-"

" I would never want to overshadow you and Discord."

Spike's angry protests were drowned out by deafening, hysterical laughter as Discord thrashed on the floor. Whatever comment Pinkie was about to add next was interrupted by a series of spasms in her ears and hindquarters.

"Be right back! Don't do anything dramatic or narratively significant without me!" Pinkie shouted as she hurried out the door, leaving the howls of laughter that continued to echo through the boutique behind her.

A minute's steady gallop brought her to Sugarcube Corner, where she quickly ascended the stairs to her bedroom. A few seconds of digging around in the back of a wardrobe produced a small pile of party hats, some streamers, a piece of half-eaten cake, some fir branches, a lamp post, and finally, the object of her search. A large, red, helium filled party balloon. A leftover from the welcome to Ponyville party she had thrown for the town's new (and to be honest, sorely needed) health & safety inspector (and next to Twilight, the second biggest checklist enthusiast in Ponyville). The name "Check Off" was still scrawled across it in large, colorful letters.

Pinkie stuffed the balloon into her mane, the fluffy pink strands securely storing it for a future balloon related emergency. Her errand complete, she began her trek back to the boutique. With that matter resolved for the time being, she could get back to the important issue at hoof. That is, if she could get her friends to focus long enough. Sometimes she just had no idea where their priorities were. The indistinct shouting grew more coherent as she approached the door to the boutique.

"-ust saying you don't have to worry about compatibility on that front."

"Don't Care! Don't Care! Really Don't Care!"

"Not that it matters, given the shape-shifting and all, but-"

"NOT LISTENING!"

"It's draconic by default. Both of them."

"AAAHHHH!"


Author's Note

Just a silly little interim I came up with a ways back. I had some inclination of posting it on April Fools, but I kinda missed the deadline on it and then sat on it forever, not wanting to just post something this short on its own without a proper (long overdue) next chapter to pick up the cliffhanger on the last chapter.

Still not sure if this is the best place for it, as now you get some serious mood whiplash. Whatever, it was fun.

Next Chapter: Chapter 15 Estimated time remaining: 4 Hours, 2 Minutes
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