Conspiracy [Open]

[Big Macintosh]

Any observant pony might have noticed something a bit off with Big Macintosh this day. His usual sure-footed walk had been replaced by a trot; his eyes, usually half-closed in apparent disinterest, were wide and searching, constantly darting about to survey every bit of his surroundings. It was all too clear that the stallion had something to hide. Were it himself, though, he was in no luck; not only did his size make it difficult to go unnoticed, but his red fur might as well have been a neon light for all that it made him stand out against the white snow.

Evidently, Big Macintosh was not suited for stealth.

Nonetheless, the earth pony moved steadily through Ponyville, slowly making his way toward the center of town. Peering cautiously out of an alleyway, he took an extra-long look around the street before he trotted across to an unmistakably pastry-related shop.

But what he could want from Sugarcube Corner was to be a mystery for the few denizens of Ponyville who stopped to question it.

Once the door had closed behind him, Big Macintosh visibly relaxed, regaining some of his usual composure. He took a few tentative steps toward the counter, glancing about the shop with his green, lidded eyes. Every available shelf and surface was adorned with some sort of baked good: cakes, cupcakes, muffins, pies, cookies, and some the stallion couldn't even name. But the pastries weren't his main concern right now, and with that in mind, he turned his attention to the unattended counter. A small frown formed on Big Macintosh's face; the store was open, wasn't it?

"Uh...hello?" he called tentatively, listening hard for any response. "Is anypony here?"

[Pinkie Pie]

Pinkie was in the zone.

She had a song on her lips, a hop in her step (though, how unusual was that, really?) and a smear of bright pink icing on her cheek; which may not have been noticeable save the white sprinkles that were stuck to it.

She'd been bored, so she decided to make cupcakes; probably her favorite thing to do aside from party, sing, prank, and spend time with her friends. Or all of the above which was a super duper good time!

But, of course, all her friends were busy. Twilight had to write the letter to Princess Celestia, Rarity had four more designs to make before tomorrow morning, Rainbow Dash was going to Cloudsdale to see the Wonderbolts tomorrow and needed to practice her newest move, Applejack needed to buck apples, and Fluttershy was in the middle of helping an injured bluejay.

Which had left Pinkie to trudge back home, bored. And that was a big deal.

Pinkie never trudged.

She'd sprung into step, however, when she realized that at home were the twins, and they could play! So she'd hopped in the door, excited, but the Cakes were already putting their newborn twins to bed.

"They need their nap, Pinkie Pie!" Said Mrs. Cake apologetically, and, sure, Pinkie had understood. That didn't mean she was any happier about it.

So, with nothing else to do, making cupcakes seemed like the best possible option.

Just as the oven dinged, a voice sounded from the door.

"Uh...hello? Is anypony here?"

Could that be who she thought it was?

Did it matter?

Pinkie was so bored that she would have played with a parasprite! And those things were baddie-waddie-laddie!

The pink earth pony dipped her head to grab the cupcakes out of the oven (this was the third batch), balanced them on her head, and pranced over to the counter.

"Big Mac! I thought it was you! Did you come over to see me? I've been sooooooooo bored! What do you want to do? We could go play a prank on Applejack! I know she's bucking apples, but I'm sure she wouldn't mind a teenie weenie prank? What do you think, Big Mac? Huh? Huh?"

She was probably talking about five miles faster then the poor stallion could keep up, but a cooped-up Pinkie got really hyper, really fast.

She sprung up at the end there, doing a little jig in the air, and almost lost the tray of cupcakes, but balanced them with a "Woah!" and set them on the counter; too excited for Big Macintosh's response to bother with the icing quite yet.

Though she didn't know, of course, that there was a glob of it on her face.



comments; Yeah... not the best post. But Pinkie's hyper, so whatever. LOL poor Big Mac is going to be all OMGWATJUSTHAPPENED

[Big Macintosh]

"Big Mac!"

The stallion in question had actually been about to give up and leave his task until later. He stopped at the calling of his name, though, and whirled back to face the kitchen door. Finally, somepony was responding--and it just happened to be the bright, exuberant mass of energy that was Pinkie Pie. Big Macintosh was just about to offer her a greeting, but didn't even get to start, as the other pony launched into what he could barely read as an actual language.

"Noise noise noise noise noise! Noise noise noise noise noise? Noise noise noooooooooooooooiiiiiiiisee noise! Noise noise noise noise noise noise? Noise noise noise noise noise noise noise Applejack! Noise noise noise noise, noise noise noise noise? Noise noise noise, Big Mac? Huh? Huh?"

Big Macintosh blinked, face frozen in a look of slight alarm and utter confusion.

"Woah!"

Just what he'd been thinking, if for a different reason. It wasn't that he didn't care about what Pinkie Pie had to say; even if he knew her reputation for random, somewhat oblique chatter, he wasn't so rude as to ignore it. He was at somewhat of a loss, though, as he couldn't respond without knowing what she'd said--but if he asked her to repeat, she might babble again. Long story short, it was just a no-win scenario.

So, knowing that the only way to deal with a no-win scenario was to not try winning, Big Macintosh did his best to just breeze past the whole affair. "Uh...Pinkie, we need your help with somethin'." Glancing behind him, Big Macintosh then leaned in closer toward Pinkie, dropping his voice to a whisper. "But you can't tell anypony. It's a secret." And if Applejack hadn't been pulling his leg, he knew Pinkie would be deadly serious about that.

[[Blah.]]

[Pinkie Pie]

Big Mac... didn't do much when Pinkie talked at him at a hundred miles an hour. Just stood there, looking slightly dazed.

Not that Pinkie noticed that last part.

It didn't take much--anything, really, to set the pony off in a whirlwind of excitement, so even Big Mac's lack of response didn't deter her. Pinkie bounced around him; popping up above him from who knew where--she wasn't a pegasus pony, she couldn't fly, but she was certainly hanging down from something, then she was over on his right, then underneath him, then hopping on his back, but never in one place for then more then a moment, zipping all around.

Finally, she stopped, in front of him, tray still on her head, but he only stared back, his stare paired with a closed, uneasy line of a mouth and hers with a bright grin. He blinked.

But then she did a little air-dance, and, somehow, the tray on her head got unsteady there, nearly tipping over, even though it stayed just fine when she was upside down, and the pony set down the cupcakes.

Big Mac didn't really answer her, but that was okay, because he had a secret.

"Uh...Pinkie, we need your help with somethin'." Pinkie leaned in just as Big Mac did; she could tell something was sneaky-leaky when she saw it (or... so she liked to believe, anyway), "But you can't tell anypony. It's a secret."

"Oh!" Pinkie Pie straightened up, lifting a hoof, "I Pinkie Promise! Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!"

Wow, how convenient that there were cupcakes right there!

Pinkie was still grinning happily, and the cupcake sort of rolled off of her face and, unnoticed, onto the floor, before the pony zipped back over to Big Mac and whispered loudly.

"So what is it? Who needs my help? You and the rest of the Apples? You and Applejack and Applebloom and Granny Smith? Is that who? And what's the secret?"

As she spoke, the pony had gradually began to bounce in place, distant "boing" sounds accompanying her leaps.

"This is going to be so exciting, Big Mac! We're going to go on an adventure!"

She and Big Mac really never had gone on an adventure together. Though Pinkie Pie undoubtably spent the most time with her close friends, Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbowdash, and Applejack, she did conceder herself best friends with everypony, so an adventure with Big Mac sure sounded like it was going to be fun!

She just wondered what it was.

"Is it spying?" She wondered aloud, and, with a gasp, launched behind the counter on which she'd put the cupcakes, tip-toeing around it and peeking out in a very spyish way.

"Oh-or are we going to dress up and do a special dance in the middle of town?" Suddenly the mare was in a bright green and orange tutu, and did a little dance for Big Mac, holding up a outfit she just happened to have that matched hers and was Big Mac's size.

"Oh! Oh! Or maaayyybeeee we're going to go shopping for Applejack's birthday in about 132 days?" She knew Granny Smith's birthday was closer, but she already bought her present!

Pinkie, outfit now nowhere to be found, hopped back up to Big Mac, bouncing excitedly.

"Well, what is it?"

She didn't realize how close she'd gotten with that last guess.

[Big Macintosh]

For the second time, Big Macintosh could only watch, lost, as Pinkie's reaction to him left him utterly baffled. He should have watched Applebloom and made Applejack talk to Pinkie; not that he disliked her, but the pink pony was a bit more than he was equipped to handle.

"Oh-or are we going to dress up and do a special dance in the middle of town?"

"Uh..." Big Macintosh gaped at the garish outfit Pinkie had somehow donned--and, more importantly, at the one she apparently expected him to wear. Of course, aside from the fact that the stallion would likely never wear something so eye-searingly colorful and bright, and that leotards really weren't his style either, the more important fact remained that doing a dance for all of Ponyville was emphatically not his intention. He wasn't a dancer, and certainly not a performer.

"Oh! Oh! Or maaayyybeeee we're going to go shopping for Applejack's birthday in about 132 days?"

Even though that wasn't quite right, Big Macintosh still looked a bit surprised at how close Pinkie Pie had gotten to the right answer. He even glanced around to make sure nopony had heard; it wouldn't do if she accidentally spilled the beans after promising not to.

"Well, what is it?"

Making certain that he and Pinkie were alone, Big Macintosh leaned in again, raising a hoof to the side of his mouth as he whispered loudly. "Applebloom's birthday's comin' up, an' we wanted to give 'er a surprise party. AJ an' I knew that was your, uh..." Trailing off for a moment as he thought of how to phrase this, the red pony gave a mental shrug and finished, "...thing." Pulling back to a less secretive position, he spoke a little more loudly (though given that it was Big Macintosh, still not loud). "Could ya help us?"