Through his crushed hopes for the evening and the bubbling panic just under the surface, Widget milled what Rogue said through his mind. Yes, he had asked her in front of several witnesses, the bluntest of Twilight's friends among them, and her assistant dragon who knew a surprisingly lot about about what asking fillies, or one filly in his case, and likely would not have missed it as easily as Twilight would have.

"I guess you're right," he mumbled thoughtfully, his ears slowly beginning to come up. "She would have asked to cancel by now if she wanted to... It's been a little while, she's had time, and it's not like I'm hard to find..." He chewed on his bottom lip and shifted his weight slightly back and forth. "Heh... No, I definitely don't want to throw any chance away, no matter how small it is," he said softly, smiling and letting the bit of shy blush come back to his cheeks. "I want this chance. ... I guess I want it even more now than I did before. I don't want to ruin it."

Pinkie, as usual, made him chuckle as she threw an arm around him, and he couldn't help but to lean into her. "Thanks, Pinkie Pie... You really do know how to make a pony feel better. I hope you're right... and I plan to do my best."

He chuckled at the sound of his gurgling stomach, and shook his head softly. Some things never changed... "Yes, yes. But let's get you a sandwich and tea, something sweet won't do on an empty stomach if you haven't eaten anything all day, and seeing as you just woke up, I'm going to assume you haven't. It'll give you a headache. I'm going to the Summer Song Cafe after this to get a few daisy sandwiches and lemongrass tea. I have to hurry, too; It wouldn't do to be late." He hadn't been paying attention to his basket, and he reached over to see if Mrs. Cake had indeed put the things he had requested inside while he had been worrying. "Coming, then?"

"Don't worry about it, Widgy~!  And hey, if things don't work out between you and Twilight, you can always give me a call."  she chirped and fluttered her eyes in a surprisingly sultry manner.  "We can play checkers~!"

At some point during their distracting conversation, Mrs. Cake had returned but had kept herself unobtrusive.  When Widget looked back, his basket was there with the requested sweets bundled up inside, plus a bright bow tied to the top of the handle and a single small fruit tart added in to boot... which was meant to be shared, obviously.  The mare herself was nowhere to be seen either, which likely insinuated that the treats were on the house tonight.

All Rogue could do at Pinkie Pie was stare at her with a quirked eyebrow.

"Ooooh...kay."

Sometimes that mare made his mind want to curl up into a little ball and cry.

What was important now was that he latch onto what she had been saying that worked with him and elaborate from it.  "Pinkie's right, though.  Any mare would be lucky to have a stallion like you ask them out.  You need to believe that yourself.  Having confidence is important, Widget," Rogue stated, nodding his head.

It turned into a wry grin as his friend gave him dietary advice.  "Look at you making sure I eat well.  I may just steal you for myself.  You're so good to me," the dark stallion joked good-naturedly.  Trotting to the store entrance, he said his goodbyes to Pinkie Pie and the Cakes.  Glancing over his shoulder to Widget with a grin, he proclaimed, "Those sandwiches will get you Rogue Heart's On Call Service for the night, Widget.  Let's get going!  Rule number one is to never leave a mare waiting!"  With that, he trotted out the door.

Sauntering off to Summer Song Cafe in good spirits at the prospect of getting fed--->
This message was lightly edited by the player at 03:42, Thu 10 May 2012.

Looking into his basket at the things Mrs. Cake had placed there, and the obvious unspoken message that they were on the house, made Widget smile with appreciation. "Thank you, Mrs. Cake!" he called, not knowing where she was but knowing she would hear his thanks wherever she was in the shop. Now that he had someone to talk to, he magicked the basket up rather than carry it in his mouth, bringing it along after him in a soft blue glow just behind his mechanical wings.

Pinkie's surprisingly sultry batting of eyes made him slightly stammer, but also made him grin. In a lot of ways, he wished he could be more like Pinkie and not be troubled by the simple things in life like the rules of time, space, and gravity. He'd be able to be a lot more creative, that was for sure. "Sure, Pinkie. Or maybe I could teach you how to play chess. I'm pretty good at it. I'd even let you be the white pieces." With a grin at her, he followed Rogue out of the shop and toward the cafe to get what else was needed.

"Oh, ha ha. Thanks, Rogue," he snickered, following his friend into the busy street. "Hopefully, I won't need it tonight..."

>>> TO: The Summer Song Cafe

Pinkie Pie waved to the two as they went off.  Soon after they left both of The Cakes poked their heads out from the kitchen, looking from each other to Pinkie Pie.

"He's going on a date with Twilight Sparkle?" Mr. Cake asked incredulously.

"I know, right?!" Pinkie tossed her hooves up in the air.

Fung had had just about as much as he could take from these Ponies, so he spent the remainder of his afternoon in quiet contemplation.  It was almost magical the way he seemed oblivious to all the new customers, particularly how he ignored Pinkie's meandering and blabbering.  He even failed to notice when Widget returned with news about his date with Twilight Sparkle.  Well, it's not that he didn't notice, he simply didn't get worked over it like everyone else.  It was just a courtship, the first night in fact.  They acted like they were getting married.

Once things had died down, and Fung had finally finished his tea, he looked out the Window and saw how low the sun had gotten.  The festival would start soon.  Gathering up the gift for Luna, Fung headed for the door.
"Thank you very much for your hospitality.  I shall be sure to return when I have the free time."
With those parting words, and a bit of a skip, Fung was trotting off towards the location of the Festival.

-->Exit to Moon-Raising in Town Square

Start of Day 2

<--From Town Square

Stepping into Sugarcube Corner with Atom, Ava looked around for Pinkie Pie - if yesterday's antics were anything to go by, that mare ought to be hard to miss.

-Pinkie Pie begins Day 2~!-

Ava and Atom were greeted at the door of Sugarcube Corner by a cheery ring of the bell mounted overhead, chiming out as the door swung into it.  However, the shop was rather quiet.  No doubt the Cakes were still asleep given the late night before.  But as for Pinkie Pie, they'd come across the party pony herself soon enough.  She appeared up at the top of the stairs... and, well... she looked horrible.  The Earth Pony appeared as an absolute wreck -- eyes scrunched up and bearing heavy bags beneath them, her coat mussed and mane disheveled to the point of being gnarled.  She wobbled about unsteadily on her hooves and slowly tilted forward until she pitched down the stairs, slamming her face down onto the first step with a dull 'clunk!'.  From there her rear end swung over from the momentum, slowly arching her over backward to plop down on the next step rump-first with a 'whud!'  Then she pitched forward again, landing on her head on the third step down...

Clunk!

Whud!

Clunk!

Whud!

Clunk!Whud!Clunk!Whud!Clunk!Whud!CLUNK!

Well, she actually did a very good impression of a slinky.

One might have worried for Pinkie's health as she ended up slamming down on the floor face-down, her mane frizzled out all over and body limp like a rag doll.  But before any alarm could be raised, her hind legs shakily stiffened and got up, lifting her rear in the air as they began to walk, puttering her along slowly with her face dragging across the wooden floor with a sound like a squeegee being pulled over a window.  The mare vanished around behind the counter and remained out of sight for a long moment before one hoof slowly arched up, snagging itself on the edge.  It was followed by its twin and Pinkie slowly, achingly hoisted herself up to slump atop the counter itself, dangling off it weakly.  Even though her head remained flat down like before, her limbs moved seemingly of their own accord as she produced a blender from beneath the counter and a box labeled 'Hair of Dog'.  Without looking she began blindly taking items out of the box and pouring them into the blender cup -- either she had whatever she was concocting memorized by touch and reflex or was just randomly tossing junk in.

Coffee grounds, some suspicious looking leaves, peppermint twists, a whole egg shell and all, half a bottle of hot sauce, and about a dozen other ingredients were mixed into the batch.  She even pulled out a small metal flask and poured its contents in, showing that she had a serving of liquid rainbow stowed away.  With the cap set onto the blender and it whirring away on 'frappe', the whole mix turned into a gross-looking blend of smooth purple and green goo that reeked terribly.  Despite the noxious odor, Pinkie Pie drew the cup off the blender base and pitched it back, downing the whole thing in a string of loud, heavy gulps until it was completely emptied down her throat.  She plunked the empty blender cup down and belched noisily, smacked her lips, and promptly keeled back over onto the floor.  Pinkie was down for only a split-second though -- as soon as she hit the ground she literally bounced back up like she was made of rubber, suddenly all bright-eyed and bushy tailed as if she'd not spent the entire previous evening partying until everypony around her dropped.  She looked good as new... even her mane had somehow untangled itself!

"Good morning~!" Pinkie Pie chirped giddily, smiling a big toothy grin to Ava and Atom.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:15, Sat 26 May 2012.

Ava was slightly embarrassed - she hadn't expected to find the door unlocked if nopony was up yet. Then she remembered that this was Ponyville, where no acts of ill will would likely befall you if you didn't lock your door at night. And somepony had forgotten to flip the 'open' sign around last night - hardly surprising, under the circumstances.

"Oh, hi Pinkie - I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up," she apologized.

Atom, meanwhile, had pulled a small notepad and pencil out of the pocket of his vest and was hastily writing down the ingredients to Pinkie's instant buck-in-the-flank - he would have to remember that one for the morning after exam-cramming. And maybe offer one to his students - Endotherm was always falling asleep in the middle of lecture.

"Don't be silly, silly~!  I never went to sleep!" Pinkie giggle-snorted.  She didn't seem to notice the way her left eye was twitching rather worryingly and stashed away her box of curatives back below the counter.  "So, did'ja two come in for breakfast?  You're kinda early, but I'll get the oven going for you no problemo~!  What can I get you?"

Ava laughed. "Actually, I just came in to ask a favor," she replied. "I've heard you enjoy foalsitting?"

"Oh, yeah~!  I love kids!  They're so much fun to be around and they always want to play, which is way better than being around grownups who only wanna play some of the time." Pinkie grinned brightly, bouncing on her hind legs against the counter happily.  "Just last night I spent the evening foalsitting a new filly in town named Xing Ming; she's soooo~ cute!  She's Chineighs~!  And she speaks it too, so she was all like 'Nǐ bùnéng chī nàxiē píngguǒ!', but I was like 'Xiāngxìn wǒ néng!' and she was all 'Yěxǔ, zhè shì bùshì yīgè hǎo zhǔyì', but it was okay 'cause I can fit, like five apples in my mouth no problem!"

Pinkie Pie stopped there, still all grins and giggles.  "I forgot what we were talking about." she had to admit after a moment.

"There's a conference in Manehatten that I'd like to be at - but I would need someone to watch my little sister. I was wondering if you'd be interested."

"Dāngrán!-- ah... I mean, sure~!  You can count on me~!" Pinkie Pie corrected herself when she got her gears stuck in the wrong language yet again.  She remembered Poppy from the other day and was more than happy to lend a hoof anywhere she could, especially after Mrs. Cake's request to aid the two sisters.  "When, where, and how long?"

"The conference starts in two days, and runs for three days," Atom filled in.

"As for where, here in town or out in our treehouse just outside of town - whichever works best for you," Ava grinned. "Is there anything you'd like me to bring you from Manehatten?"

"You live in a tree?!  That's awesome!" the party pony squealed at the very thought of it.  "But let's see... well, it should be okay for Poppy to hang around here at Sugarcube Corner if the Cakes need me to pull a shift, and I'm sure they wouldn't mind having her spend a few nights over up in my room..."

Pinkie Pie spent a few moments running over the details in her head.  Either way, Poppy would have somewhere to stay and there was plenty around town to keep her occupied for a few days without Ava, especially since she'd still have school to attend.  Normally she wouldn't sweat the small stuff, but since having gotten into a more responsible frame of mind where kids were involved, Pinkie had become quite good at making sure everything was under control when she was put in charge.

At the offer of a souvenir from Manehatten, she just smiled and shook her head.  "No, that's alright.  You don't have to get me anything, but thanks for offering anyway~!"

Ava fished a keyring from her pocket, with a model of a soccerball-looking molecule as a keychain. "Here's an extra key to our place if you need it - Poppy will likely want to come check on her garden; that foal LOVES flowers. And thanks, Pinkie - this really means a lot to me. If you ever need an extra hoof with anyting, please let me know."

"No problemo~!  I'm glad to help." Pinkie Pie assured the both of them as she took the key and tucked it away in her mane where it immediately vanished away amid a sea of pink fluff.  "You two sure you don't want anything to eat?"

"All right - two croissants, please," Atom grinned, seeing that they were alreaqdy available and wouldn't put Pinkie to any trouble. He levitated the requisite bits from his vest pocket.

The perky pink pony was quick to get the requested breads and tucked them into a little paper bag along with some pats of butter for good measure.  They were technically leftovers from the night before -- the Cakes had made the crescent-moon shaped bread rolls in honor of the event.  Still, they had been baked so far into the night that they were still quite fresh as they were only a few hours old by then.  "There y'go~!" she chirped as she took the Bits and rang up the register.  "I shouldn't be hard to find when you two leave for the thingy in Manehatten, so just send Poppy my way whenever~!  I'll introduce her to some of my gardener friends around town!"

"She would love that," Ava agreed. "I swear, that foal can make anything grow and flourish. Me, I struggle to keep a potted petunia alive for five minutes," she giggled.

"Well who could blame you?  Petunias are delicious~!  I barely keep 'em alive for five seconds!"  Pinkie licked her lips at the thought of some tasty flowers.  She needed to drop by and visit Roseluck again soon anyway, so it'd be a good excuse in bringing Poppy along.  Not like she really needed any reason though.  "So what's this conference thing you're going to anyway?  The only event I've heard about in Manehatten is this cooking thing coming up soon."

"Well, we might get a a dish or two into that as a side-event as well," Atom laughed. "But the annual Equestrian science conference is also being held in Manehatten this year, and we both have research to present."

"That sounds like fun~!  Well... actually, it sounds super boring, but it should be lots of fun for smarty-smart ponies like you two~!  Ooh!  And Twilight!  I wonder if she knows about it?" Pinkie Pie tapped her chin thoughtfully before she brightened up again and leaned over the counter belly-first with her tail wagging about like a dog.  "Oooh... by the way, did you two know Twilight and Widget went on a date last night?!"

Pinkie Pie had really learned nothing from the whole Gabby Gums incident and still gossiped plenty, especially since it made for good chatter around parties.  Though given that Ava had only just moved to Ponyville, it was unlikely she even knew or cared who Twilight Sparkle was or that she'd begun dating.  Still, she just had to tell someone!!

"Twilight is the librarian, right?" Ava grinned. "I need to go by there to look for a book this morning - I'll mention the conference to her. And no - I hadn't heard she was seeing anypony," she laughed.