[PRP] You Gotta Share (Cosworth & Pinkie Pie)

[Doof]

In the peaceful clearing where Cosworth lived, it was once more a warm, breezy day, and this time there were no engine noises or smoke. The reason was aapparent; the brown faun was asleep in the sun, right in the middle of his front lawn, dreaming of days long past.

The calm was not to last. His sleeping form twitched, and his hand grasped at the air in front of him as his eyes blinked open. Cosworth stared at the back of his hand, silhouetted against the midday sun, his breath coming rapidly as his consciousness was dragged back into the waking world. He was suddenly aware that his chest hurt and idly wondered if it was the dream that brought it on, or if the years of ale and spirits was finally catching up with him. He slowly sat up, propped himself on his left elbow and made a pained face as he rubbed his chest with his right hand. His health certainly wasn't getting any better.

Still, it didn't take him long to be back up on his hooves, popping just about every joint in the process. As he ambled back to his front door, rubbing his eyes, the pains seemed to subside and he put it down to a bad dream, allowing his mind to wander back to the project he'd been working on before he took his nap. A large, broad cylinder of heavy hardwood, lined on the inside with sheets of metal, what he could spare of it, sat near the door. It was mounted on a pair of wooden wheels, joined by an axle underneath the cylinder with a small skid to the rear so it didn't roll backwards and point the muzzle of the cylinder at the sky.

Over the last couple of weeks, Cosworth had spent dozens of hours forging, chopping, carving and assembling a variation of what he'd seen in Pinkie Pie's photograph of her party cannon. Initial tests were not promising- The first one he'd made had predictably exploded, but the engineer suffered only minor injuries in that debacle. A couple of other suffered various issues from a breech getting blown open or the barrel splintering but this one was a sturdy, simple, muzzle loading contraption that was powered by a crude compressed air pack that Cosworth had made especially for it and was built into the rear half of the cannon.

"Time to shatter the peace." The faun smirked as he rolled the cannon out into his yard and set to work making a couple of final adjustments- he tightened the rear air valve and sanded out a sharp edge near the trigger button, neither task taking very long. He did a quick pressure check before running around his yard gathering sticks and stones, packing them loosely down the barrel of his creation until it was almost full, then running around behind it to give it one more test firing. He already knew it worked, but was still paranoid- this cannon wasn't exactly for him, after all, and he'd hate to give away something defective.

Cosworth placed his right hand on the firing button atop the rear of the cannon, using his left hand to pull his goggles over his face. He pressed down and twisted right at the same time (a safety feature he was proud to have thought of), and the cannon recoiled with a loud 'whud', showering his yard with debris. None of it was traveling dangerously fast at impact, although anyone standing right in front of the barrel would have had their face- and presumably other body parts- rearranged. Since it was presumably to be used for launching the various decorations he'd seen in the picture, that was an acceptable amount of power. With the test firing, a small wooden tab atop the cannon flicked down flush with its curved surface, indicating that one of the three compressed air chambers had been discharged. The other two tabs were still up, showing two more firings until the cannon was completely spent.

Cosworth nodded to himself in satisfaction, then wheeled the device across the yard, where he began to fire his recently repaired steam engine. It would take some time to gather speed so he added just a little charcoal and walked back into his house to get a few things.

He needed to let Pinkie Pie know that he had something for her, but Ede had gone again, and wasn't around to deliver a note. That meant that he probably had to show up at Laisidhiel personally, something he hadn't done in some time. He gathered his traveling cloak, knife and a gourd of water- enough for a day trip. Once back outside he checked on his engine. Satisfied with its running speed, he engaged the drive shaft to a crude air compressor he had converted out of a failed engine and hooked up a rigid pipe to the valve at the back of the cannon to refill the discharged air package.

~Much later,

A red dusk had settled on Laisidhiel by the time Cosworth's cloaked figure arrived at the tree. Although growing dark, it was still easy to see because the sun was now peeking under the great tree's canopy from the west, as opposed to being blocked by leaves as it usually was. A rope hung over his shoulder, dragging behind it the cannon he'd built, hidden under a patchwork shroud. The extra burden of the cannon, whilst not too heavy, had slowed him down somewhat because of the extra care he took on the trail to not damage the wheels on various rocks and roots.

The final design strongly resembled what Cosworth had seen in the photograph, minus of course the blue metal exterior and pink painted wheels. He wouldn't bring it inside, instead setting it at the edge of the path near Laisidhiel's entrance as he approached the nearest gate guard.

"Hullo sir." Cosworth began politely. "I don't suppose you can help me find someone? If you've seen them coming or going during your watch?"
The guard, thankfully not one of those surly types, responded jovially, "Well I haven't seen you around here in a while, old man." He shook his head." I can't recall all of them but go ahead and maybe I'll be able to remember."
Cosworth nodded and acknowledged his long absence, mumbling something about 'being busy', before he smiled knowingly. "I'm looking for a pink fauny. She's very distinctive."
The guard tilted his head at that. He knew a lot of faunies had pink somewhere on their coats or hair. "You're going to have to be more specific than that, mate."
Cosworth's response was simple. "The pinkest one."

"Oh, her."  

[Seruta]

"Aaaa Little to the Left! NO! WAIT! Your OTHER left! THERE! Don't Move!"

Pinkie scrambled to take a few steps back to look at a banner that was being held up by Big Mac... who looked a bit disgruntled at the moment. He had come into town to speak to Rarity about something important and had gotten dragged into holding up signs and banners for Pinkie's vigorous party inspection. He was relieved to see that Pinkie had taken up her old habits again, but still... He wasn't exactly putting the banners up yet. He was only holding them up for her to look at them...

"Hmm..." Pinkie rubbed her chin. "It needs more streamers and balloons..." She sighed and turned her attention towards a bucket of confetti she had made herself using painted leaves and parchment and fabric bits. Big Mac seemed to frown a bit and she shrugged. "I'll fix it later. Thank you, Big Mac. You've been a big help! Tell Rarity I said thank you for the confetti bits and streamers she made me!"

Relieved, Big Mac nodded and set the banner down gently. "You'll send me an invitation, won't yeh Pinkie?"

"DUH! Of course! And don't forget to bring your DELICIOUS Apples! Mk?!"

"Eeeh-Yup!" he beemed then nodded a farewell before stepping out of her little hovel of a home in the tree to continue his journey to Rarity's 'home'.

Pinkie returned to her banners and things that were strewn about her home. This was bound to be the biggest and bestest party yet! But there were things still missing! One key thing in particular...

She shoved a hand into her mane and retrieved a piece of parchment. It was a rough drawing she had made with inks and paints she had found to replace the picture she lost. She sighed and flopped onto the floor in the middle of the floor. "This would be so much easier with you, my old friend..." she cooed and held the picture closer.

Her body gave a trembling shudder for a moment and she blinked at the sensation. "Hmm... A Doozy... I wonder what kind of a doozy it is?" she rubbed her chin then shifted her eyes towards her little gator pet.

"And I'm gonna have to find the nearest balloon factory if I'm to really get this party pumpin'..." she half giggled as she straightened herself up. "I only have a few left! So you Better keep your gums off of them until the party, Gummy..."

Gummy answered with a soft chirp and snapped his jaws down on the front of her mane. She giggled and lifted her head, the small gator, Gummy, dangling carelessly from her mane as she began to hum a chipper tune and prance about the room, attaching more streamers from the banner to flare it up a bit more.

The "door" to her home had been left ajar. Or... even just misplaced? Pinkie liked to keep her home open in case a new friend was to walk by. She'd have to be able to see them and stop them, getting their names and befriending them as soon as possible.  

[Doof]

Cosworth followed the guard's instructions to a small-ish door higher up in Laisidhiel's chambers. The cannon was light enough to carry but he left it outside for the meantime, deciding that if he needed to search for the bubbly fauny, it would be easier to do so unencumbered and just bring her to the gift when he found her. He had asked the guard on duty to make sure nobody touched the contraption, including the other guards. Hopefully he would not return to find out that someone had hurt themselves, or stolen it.

It also occurred to Cosworth that Pinkie might be out for a while, or not necessarily at home for the night. It was a slim possibility but a possibility nonetheless. He was fairly certain he'd find her, but if not, he might have to spend the night in his old home, perhaps one of the older folk who knew him might put him up for the night if his former room had been re-occupied, as he was sure it was. He would much rather try and make his way home by night than impose on someone.

When he got closer to the doorway, however, he saw the light from within the room and took that as a promising sign. Someone was home, and apparently not overly concerned about privacy. Cosworth for some reason was not really surprised. He unbuttoned the loops that wrapped the hood of his cloak around his horns, and shook his head free, running a hand through his hair as he did so.

With three firm knocks, Cosworth peered into the warmly lit room. "Miss Pinkie Pie?" His eyes took in the colourful room, and what seemed to be decorations that were set about, ready to be used in what might be a planned party of some description. The arrangements weren't consistent with any sort of traditional Faun decorations he'd been familiar with, but he'd learned to understand differing cultures over the unusual events of the last year or so. Pinkie's chambers were also larger than what he'd seen other individuals have, suggesting that this room may well have been chosen for its potential for gatherings. Still, the engineer bit his lower lip- he hoped that he wouldn't be dragged into some social get-together against his will. Upon further observation though, Cosworth realized that the decorations weren't really ready yet, and any party that might happen would be some time yet in the future.

"Miss Pinkie," He said again, softer this time. "Looks like it's my turn to drop in unannounced." The brown faun took the liberty of opening the door a little wider. "Would you mind taking a walk with me?"  

[Seruta]

Pinkie Pie nearly jumped at the knock.

"ACK! NOTHING TO SEE HERE! MOVE ALONG!!!"

Pinkie suddenly went into scrambling mode to try and cover up the painfully obvious signs of pre-party mayhem. Not that having an open door would have done much to hide it all either...

She spun on her hooves and gasped in shock for a brief moment, Gummy swinging from the bangs of her mane as she quickly set eyes upon Cosworth's figure in her doorway. Wait... Cosworth!?

Panic immediately dissipated into overwhelming joy at the sight of her... erm... "friend". After all, he made it clear last time they spoke that they weren't yet friends. But to Pinkie Pie, everyone was a friend. Duh...

"Cosworth!" she giggled and quickly closed the gap between them, pulling him quickly into a rather big hug, squeezing him tightly then backing up a bit. "Oops! I-I'm sorry. I'll... try to not overwhelm you! But- OOOH! I'm soooo Super Duper glad to see you! Oh! Hang tight for just a sec!"

She quickly darted about the room, sifting through crates, buckets, and various piles of papers in search of something. Her efforts left a trail of papers, confetti and the like until she triumphantly thrust a folded piece of parchment into the air. "Found it!"

"I have been holding onto this for a few days now, trying to figure out how to give it to you without going against your wishes and randomly showing up at your place, or having some-pony-else randomly show up at your place to give it to you. I mean, I know last time you said that you didn't like that sort of thing so I'm SO super glad that you're here so I can give this to you personally!" She handed him the parchment and bounced in place for a brief moment. "Oh! But wait! Don't open it here! Wait until tomorrow! It's still mostly a surprise and even though I'd really really REALLY love to see your face when you read it, I think it's best if you wait and...." she paused, seeming to inhale deeply. Perhaps a means to catch her breath?

Regardless of the reason, the dim bulb in her thoughts seemed to brighten as his words had finally caught up to her mind.

"A walk?" she blinked then tilted her head. "Sure! I'd love to take walk with you!"

She promptly plucked Gummy up and pulled her from her mane, setting him down on the floor and nudging his rump towards the center of the room. "You better stay here and keep an eye on the place, Gummy. Don't want anyone taking a peek at my surprises, mk?!"

Gummy, with his walleyed stare, opened his toothless muzzle with a gurgle and a chirpish growl in response. That seemed good enough for Pinkie who turned with a spin on her hooves and giggled. "So! Where are we taking it?"  

[Doof]

Cosworth's green eyes followed the small reptile swinging back and forth as it clung to Pinkie Pie's long, completely insane pink hair. "No- Nothing to see- What?" He stuttered, trying to make sense of what Pinkie was trying to tell him. He was still trying to do just that when he found himself enveloped in a big pink hug that was tight enough to make a couple of joints crackle as he was squeezed. Once released, he popped his neck and rolled his shoulder a little. "It's quite alright, quite alright." He reassured his hyperactive host.

Actually he was more than a little glad that he hadn't antagonized her, considering how inhospitable he'd been at their last meeting. In fact, this whole adventure was something borne out of a hint of guilt at not being friendlier towards the pink fauny.

He was about to speak an apology when Pinkie suddenly started giving him a little piece of parchment. "I... what's this?"

He listened to Pinkie give an utterly incomprehensible explanation about the piece of parchment she'd just given him. His face was impassive as he let her speak, with just a little of the confusion still remaining. Perhaps he was getting used to the rambles. When she had finished talking, he simply slid the small piece of parchment into one of his pockets. "Very well. When I return to my cottage I'll take a peek at your parchment. He cleared his throat and stood aside to let Pinkie out of her doorway.

"I do hope the last few weeks haven't troubled you." He remarked sincerely. I would like to say I was less than friendly towards you before, and while I was just expressing my thoughts about my privacy, I really could have expressed them in a better fashion." He took a deep breath and relaxed a little before continuing. "I was hoping we could take a stroll down to the main entrance of the tree." The lanky faun indicated the general direction behind him, sweeping his traveling cloak back as he did so. "I need you to look at something that you might have a better understanding of than I do. Or at least more familiarity."  

[Seruta]

Pinkie's features shifted a little bit from her usual bubbly self to a more calm and slightly sorrowful tone. Was this walk an excuse to further reiterate the fact that he wouldn't ever be her friend? Granted, he was apologizing for his 'behavior' when really, she should have been the one apologizing. She was the one who thrust her over-exuberant self upon him without warning and without taking into careful consideration to his wants or feelings first.

"To be honest..." she started, wringing her fingers a bit in an oddly nervous state. "... I was a bit worried that I may never get to see you again. And I don't mean in that crazy, romantic kind of way either!!" she quickly covered herself on that one. "What I mean to say is... I treat everyone as my friend until they give me a very good reason to not be a good friend. You were just acting on how you like to act. You like to be left alone. And that's fine! But I could tell that you are a nice and friendly some-pony who likes the occasional good moment too. You like having friends even though you don't necessarily like to be with company."

She paused for a brief moment as her body did a rapid tremor, her figure seeming to bounce in place as she froze in their walk to allow the sensation to shudder through her. She blinked a moment or two then shook her head with a giggle as if nothing had happened. "I'm sorry I was a bit too much on our first meeting. I know I can get a little crazy and over the top, but I like to see every-pony smile. It's my destiny. Just like your destiny is to build things like that train-... Oh! I'm still super sorry about that too! But-..." Her features then skewed a bit. What would she need to look at? Her eyes lit up briefly. "OOH! A surprise?! OH! I LOVE surprises!!" She bounced a bit more, only to have her bouncing erupt into another bit of a full-body tremor. To which her eyes lit up even more. "OoooOoOoRrrRrRr! It must be a Doozy! of a surprise!?" she bounded in place bit more.  

[Doof]

As they left the vicinity of Pinkie's home, the number of other faun they walked past began to increase, and Cosworth had to weave between them with mumbled 'pardon me's', slowing him down somewhat. It was dusk, after all, and many hunters, scouts and foragers were returning from the end of the day. Pinkie Pie, by contrast, seemed to have no trouble at all navigating crowds, a fact that made a lot of sense upon reflection

Cosworth listened to what Pinkie had to say. It seemed that she had spent time considering the finer points of their last encounter, recognized that it hadn't gone completely well, and understood why too. The older faun was impressed. Her explanation and insightfulness ran truer and deeper than he had been expecting, and it saved him having to explain himself as well.
"Well Pinkie Pie, it seems like you do actually understand me." Cosworth sighed. "I'm relieved, actually. You see, I did like having friends." He frowned and corrected himself. "I do like having friends. And I used to like having company too, it's just not as easy anymore. I'm trying to get better, but one step at a time I suppose."

The pair turned a corner down towards the main atrium. The vast, well-lit expanse of Laisidhiel's entry chamber stretched out before them, and many faun milled around, with the sound of countless voices and hoof-falls, causing Cosworth to raise his voice. The usually-softly spoken faun's outside voice was unexpectedly gravelly. "The steam engine is fine, actually. I finished repairing it a couple of days ago and it's back in action. So don't worry about it- whoops!" He almost walked over a young hunter who was a full head shorter than Pinkie Pie, forcing him to apologize before stepping around. Cosworth hoped it would be part of his destiny to make those engines work well, but he sincerely hoped it wasn''t his whole destiny. Finally they were at the entrance. He nodded a thankyou to the guard at the gate and proceeded outside, shivering slightly and taking a deep breath of the fresh air and open space. "Well, you could call it a 'doozy', Pinkie. You might even like it." He pointed his hand at the shrouded cannon, the patchwork cloth doing a poor job of hiding its shape.

"Go on, take a look underneath the cloth. You're the expert on this sort of thing."  

[Seruta]

Pinkie heard him and frowned a little inside. Something really bad must have happened to him in the past to make him not smile anymore. Much less want to make any new friends! It was a puzzle. One worth looking into finding all the pieces accordingly, but all that would come in time.

News of his engine brought a smile back to her features though. At least he got it back up and running! "Oh! Maybe I could see it sometime?!" she hoped. If anything, she could hope. She gigglesnerked at his reaction (whatever reaction that may be, because it's Pinkie Pie and a gigglesnerk is perfectly accurate to any expression at this point) and bounded forward.

Her bounding slowed as she neared it, recognizing the shape. Her heart nearly stopped a moment as she took the last few steps. "Is it-...!?!" Her eyes were wide as she turned to look back at Cosworth, as if silently asking if it was ok to look. Upon getting the a-ok, she turned back towards it and gripped the cloth. There was a pause as she seemed to ready herself for whatever it was she might reveal then threw back the cover.

For a moment, she was silent. Eyes falling undoubtedly over the new Party Cannon with a seemingly trembling lip. Tears welled in her eyes as she took it all in. It wasn't her old friend, but a new one. One that her new friend - whether he wanted to be associated as one or not - had clearly made just for her!

"I-It..." she seemed to stammer a bit, getting lost in the teary emotion before she suddenly erupted! "IT'S SO INCREDIBLY AMAZING!!!!!"

She bounded in place for a moment, cheering and undoubtedly causing a ruckus to make a few Fauns and Faunies peer questioningly out the doors of Laisidhiel to see what all the fuss was about.

"OMIGOSH-OMIGOSH-OMIGOSH!!! Cosworth!! You are the BESTEST friend a Party Pony can ever Ever EVER have!!" she seemed to gigglesquee and quickly glomped Cosworth - willingly or not - into the most greatful hug ever!

She jumped back just as quickly. "Erm... oops! Sorry again!" she added sheepishly then proceeded to cheer about a moment or two longer.

Upon calming down, she glomped the Cannon. "Welcome home, New Friend! Ohmigosh! We're going to need to get you painted up and filled with confetti!!" she giggled then blinked, looking even closer now at the skilled craftsmanship he had put into it. It was almost as if....

"How did you know what it looked like?! I mean, I barely even showed you that picture but for a teeny-weeny-itsy-bitsy-little second!" She then gasped and bounded closer. "Are you psychic?!"  

[Doof]

The scruffy engineer shrugged at Pinkie's request to see his repaired engine. "I suppose it couldn't end up hurting worse than last time, so... Sure, why not?" He raised an eyebrow at Pinkie's gigglesnerk and shook his head. There had to be some sort of wizardry at work to make this one so full of life, because he'd never quite met any faun like her.

When Pinkie caught sight of her gift, and began to get giddy, Cosworth couldn't help but get a little excited himself, the barest of a twitch tugging at the corner of his mouth. As she unveiled the solid-looking cannon, it was clear that she was becoming quite overwhelmed, the emotion welling up in the form of tears as Cosworth looked on. He hoped it was good emotion- the older faun was well aware that the faunies had had to abandon their old home, and that a gift which was a reminder of the life they once had could easily bring forth as much sadness as it could happiness. Finally, Pinkie burst out into a near-frenzy of happy yelling and bouncing, causing Cosworth to exhale in relief and relax slightly.

Even in the failing light, he could easily see Pinkie's utter glee- as if all of the commotion she was causing wasn't enough proof of her approval. "That's my gift to you, Pinkie." He said, though given her current state he wasn't sure if she'd heard him. "First, for acting like some sort of cranky a** when we first met. Second, well just because." He left a pause, pondering whether he should finish that sentence. "Because that's what friends do, right? Be generous with each other."

Some might have thought Pinkie was overreacting a little but the happiness Cosworth saw was by now exactly what he expected out of the bubbly young fauny. And this time he knew to expect the hug that came. In fact he was about to hug back when she let go suddenly. Cosworth didn't mind at all, though. "It's fine, Pinkie Pie. I suppose I'll just have to get used to it." When she turned back to inspect the cannon, the engineer discreetly pulled out a small book from his pocket and opened it to its middle pages, where he'd been protecting a photograph- the same one Pinkie Pie had accidentally left at his cottage those weeks ago. He held it in front of his pink companion for her to see. "Not psychic, no. Just observant. You left this at my house when you came by before. It kind of gave me the idea."

If she looked at the photograph she would see that Cosworth had taken very good care of it and even used some sort of natural adhesive to bind up a couple of the frayed edges. Then if she looked at Cosworth, she might notice that he was now wearing a small, but warm and genuine smile on his face.  

[Seruta]

She took the picture calmly and looked it over. "So... THIS is how you made it so well! I had wondered where this picture went off to! I even made a replacement when I couldn't find it before!" She shoved her hand into her mane and produced the rather child-like doodle of the original picture to show him.

As she offered the picture she made, her eyes caught the soft smile he was giving off and her jaw seemed to comically drop.

"Y-You're....... You're!....." She pointed as her body seemed to be overcome by violent shaking. Her voice shook (imagine her sitting on a massage chair on high setting and her talking) as she seemed to giggle, "OMIGOSH! That's the DOOZY!"

Her shaking ended with an abrupt pop where her hooves left the floor about a good three feet. She landed with a plop on her rump and blinked. She went into another gigglefit as she stood back up. "My Pinkie Sense told me there'd be a Doozy of a Doozy! Seeing you smile was obviously it!" She leaned forward, booping his nose at the word smile.

She then gasped and turned. "OMIGOSH! This is the perfect opportunity to throw a small party! But only a small one because you like your space and stuff! OH! WAIT HERE! I've got just the thing!!" She thrust the pictures (both of them) at Cosworth and half-whispered. "Here, hold these! I'll be RIGHT back!"

She sped off back into the tree faster than he would be able to stop her. She came back a mere few minutes later, carrying the bucket of confetti she had in her tree home. "Gooooot iiiit!" She half sang and swiftly moved to stuff the Cannon.  

[Doof]

The engineed nodded nonchalantly as he let go of her picture. "Yes, I'm fairly certain you dropped it when you came to visit rather unexpectedly those weeks ago." Cosworth was staring at the small doodle Pinkie Pie was holding up, eyes squinting in the fading light and head tilted slightly, when, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Pinkie's jaw drop. Distracted as he was, he had forgotten all about Pinkie's self-imposed mission to make him smile and was quite perplexed for a moment as she shakily leveled her finger at him in a truly comical fashion.

"I'm- I'm?" Cosworth initially replied, wondering what in the world Pinkie was trying to say. Was there something on his nose? He actually raised a hand to his face to check, just in case. Finally, the pink Fauny exclaimed that she'd realized what the DOOZY was- while still pointing at him- and then bounced in place in an almost alarming fashion. Finally, she explained herself, which broke upon Cosworth as a relief- and a realization. He was indeed smiling. And he only ever did that in the presence of one of his very few friends. He didn't even stop smiling as she touched his nose, although he did flinch and shut his eyes briefly. Pinkie Pie's reaction was positively infectious at the moment.

That's when she had the bright idea of a party and Cosworth became a little confused. A wild party appearing? Suddenly? That didn't sound like it would work, even just a small one. "It's fine, Miss Pinkie, I'm really just happy that you liked the-" And then she was gone. "-Present." Cosworth finished out loud, speaking to no-one in particular, although he did notice the nearby guard chuckling.

As Pinkie Pie returned in impossibly quick time, Cosworth watched her load confetti into the mouth of her new cannon. "Wait, I haven't even-" She didn't seem to slow down any, packing stuff similar to what he'd seen in the photograph into the firing chamber. "-shown you how it works. And you only have three shots-"

Cosworth blinked as Pinkie packed the confetti in tight- perfect for a colourful explosion as intended. He sighed in resignation, a rueful grin on his left. "Twist the firing button right to disengage the safety."  

[Seruta]

Pinkie didn't slow, much less hear his warning that there were only three shots. She was far too engrossed in packing a sufficient amount of confetti into the chamber, the right amount suitable for a party of two.

She did perk up to his last mention. "Safety button, huh?" It's unknown as to just what wild and crazy retort flitted through her mind at the moment, but she shrugged and twisted it upon firing the cannon. An explosion of confetti showered the area and she squealed in delight!

"Congratu-pony-lations, Cosworth! You Smiled!!!" she giggled and bounced in place as the confetti continued to flutter down around them. "Oh! I'm so super happy for you!!"

"And I can't WAIT to use my new favorite toy at my next Party!" Hands quickly clasped upon her mouth as she inhaled sharply. In a flash, she whooshed to Cosworth's side and whispered to him. "You didn't hear that! You. Heard. Nothing..."

Her figure slid down to the ground in a crouch before she giggle herself back into a bounce, singing a little song as she bounded in circles around the Party Cannon.

"I got my Caaaannon! I got my Caaaannon!
It fires confeeeetti! And makes loud nooooiiiises!
WOO!!!"

"HERE! Have a cookie!" she landed a bounding hop right back in front of him, offering a plate of cookies she had produced from her mane (undoubtedly) and then sheepishly grinned. "I... maybe already ate all the cake. Sorry!"  

[Doof]

Cosworth was indeed happy, and happy that Pinkie Pie was happy for him, and yet he remained perplexed as to why this was such a big deal for her. They'd met once before, on uncertain terms. As he thought about it, though, he realized there were much poorer pursuits to spend one's life on than seeking the happiness of others.

As Pinkie loudly announced her plans for her toy, he wasn't even paying any heed to her remark about the party, although he did look down at her sliding form with a mild amount of alarm. In fact he was trying to draw her attention towards something about the device; "Remember, after that shot, you only have two shots left before you have to recharge. I can reload the compressed air for you but it's quite a walk to bring that out to my cottage and back here again." He made a blank face. "Believe me, I know." He idly extended a hand to catch little pieces of colourful leaf that was now fluttering down around him.

It was amazing- and slightly logic-defying- how the pink party pony somehow bounced around in such a fashion without breaking anything.

"Promise me you'll use it reponsibly, though Pinkie Pie." Cosworth interrupted. "This thing really can hurt somebody if you just fire it off with someone right in front of you, thought I'm sure you already know that." He was, of course, just trying to be responsible himself, since he'd just given what was effectively a projectile weapon to one of the most random pae he knew.

When Cosworth saw the plate of cookies before him, he hesitated for a moment, then shrugged and took one. Living on his own, he'd certainly eaten far worse than a baked good that had come from someone else's hair. "Please, Pinkie, this is fine. I'm sure I don't need any cake." Having taken a bite, he was surprised to find it didn't actually have any strands of hair at all. Oddly, it tasted like cotton candy- although he didn't know what that was. He just identified it as extremely sugary.

Cosworth shook his head in amusement as he eyed the cookie, trying to ascertain what was in it. "Miss Pinkie, you certainly are random."  

[Seruta]

She did little to acknowledge the amount of fires she had remaining, but she was too busy having a happy and lucky afternoon to bother with that bit.

Her bouncing and giddy figure skid to a halt as he mentioned using the cannon responsibly. She rolled her eyes and placed hands upon her hips. "Well, DUH! I know how to use a Party Cannon! I've been using one my whole life! Well, almost my whole life. I mean, I didn't really get my old Party Cannon until a few months after I got my cutie mark!" she pivoted at the mention and pointed to the three balloons seemingly painted upon her flank. "Buuuuut if you really want me to promise..."

She inhaled deeply, and rather dramatically than began making motions to match her next few words.

"I Promise!
Cross my heart and hope to fly,
Stick a Cupcake in my eye!"

Her motions ended by smashing an imaginary cupcake into her eye with the palm of her hand, to which she then began drooling. "Mmmm Cuuuuupcaaaaakes." She then shook her head and blinked, following it up with another giggle.

"I'm not random! Everything I do makes sense! Some tend to think that if makes complete NON-sense, but if you think about it, even the stuff that makes NON-sense makes sense in some way. You just have to know how to believe in it! Because, let's face it, not everything can be described by science or have to have a solid form of reason in order to be justified as something that actually makes sense. Sometimes the stuff that doesn't make sense makes the most sense of all!"  

[Doof]

Cosworth was utterly confused at Pinkie Pie's peculiar promise procedure, but accepted it as sincere and he was sure that if Pinkie Pie had had a party cannon before, then she could probably be responsible enough with it now. Even if the design might be slightly different. Also, what the Faun was a cutie mark? He assumed it was supposed to be some sort of ornament that they wore from a coming of age ceremony. He decided to ask to dispel any confusion. "Pinkie, what is a cutie mark? Are you wearing one right now?" The older faun leaned left and right, looking up and down Pinkie Pie to see if he'd missed it before, not realizing it was the colourful marking on her flank.

Cosworth followed just enough of Pinkie Pie's strange, somehow melodious ramble to understand that there was actually some 'deep and meaningful' in there, if you peeled away enough of the rapidly spoken high-pitched tones. "That was just an expression, by the way. I guess I just meant you were unpredictable." Although Pinkie seemed to truly mean what she said, Cosworth held slightly different beliefs. He kept them to himself.

'Sometimes, Pinkie, stuff just happens and there's no sense, reason or plan behind it.' He thought.

He nibbled further on his cookie, walking around to behind the cannon and giving it a pat. "Well I really am glad you like it, Pinkie Pie. I designed it to be light enough for you to carry, but do you need a hand lifting this back up to your home?"