Ridin’ Pinkie
It had been a particularly uneventful week in Ponyville. Nothing out of the ordinary or interesting had happened for a while. Absolutely nothing which, in reality, was pretty atypical for the rural town.
Normally there would be some kind of exciting event or conflict or issue that would wedge its way into the townsponies’ lives every couple days. But no, not today. There were no rampaging hydras, no Ursa Majors, no reemergence of Cerberus. Quite simply, it was as tame of a day as anypony could ask for, no major chaos to speak of.
Perhaps it was overdue.
This particular sunny morning, the various townsponies went about their daily lives, chatting amongst each other in hushed or excited tones depending on the topic of conversation, running whatever errands they had to run‒ purchasing fruit and vegetables from some of the local stands, getting fitted for dresses at the Carousel Boutique, hanging out at restaurants with friends or significant others– and school-aged colts and fillies were busy horsing around on the playground of the schoolhouse for recess.
The same could be said about Sugarcube Corner. It wasn’t too busy, and Pinkie Pie would have been feeling bored had she not been hard at work pulling a tray filled with piping hot cinnamon buns out of the oven and placing them onto the counter. Humming to herself, she grabbed a nearby bowl filled with icing and set to work applying the glaze to the top of each pastry. Mrs. Cake was busying herself at the register while Mr. Cake was in the back taking care of the twins.
The sound of the bell above the door alerted their attention to the entrance where a very annoyed looking Bon Bon sulked into the bakery, her ears flopped down and her eyes sunken into deep circles.
“Oh, hello there Bon Bon. How has your morning been?” Mrs. Cake asked, smiling kindly as always.
The testy mare sighed, “Let’s just say it could be a whole lot better.”
Mrs. Cake let out a small gasp of concern, covering her mouth with an obscuring hoof. “Oh dear. What’s the matter? Was it those cupcakes I sent you home with yesterday? Were they too sweet?”
“Too sweet?” Pinkie Pie laughed. “Oh Mrs. Cake, that’s ridiculous. There is no such thing as too sweet! But then again, most of my meals are cookies and cake with a whole lot of icing so I may be biased.”
Ignoring Pinkie Pie’s interjection, Bon Bon continued. “No, it’s not that. It’s just, well, something’s come into my life that doesn’t look to be leaving anytime soon.”
“What do you–” Mrs. Cake was suddenly interrupted by the sight of a mint green unicorn, Lyra Heartstrings, outside approaching the entrance to Sugarcube Corner. But what stood out the most was that she wasn’t simply trotting, or bouncing, as she was often seen doing. She was riding on a strange, two-wheeled machine. She also seemed to lose control of it for a moment and crashed face-first into the glass door.
Mrs. Cake and Pinkie Pie grimaced as Bon Bon stared, her bemused expression unwavering, watching as Lyra backed away from the door. A smudge in the shape of a face was left on the glass of the door where the unicorn had face-planted. Placing her tongue on her upper lip in concentration, Lyra maneuvered the strange vehicle around before finally managing to get the door open and scooting inside. Halting a bit, she finally managed to bring the device to a stop in front of the counter and wipe the sweat from her forehead.
“Who-boy, sorry about the door there Mrs. Cake.” Lyra said, confidently patting the handlebar of her device. “You’d be amazed at how touchy the controls on this puppy are. You barely touch them and ‘zoom’! You’re off like a rocket.”
In a flash, Pinkie Pie raced over from where she was still working on the buns to examine the odd device that Lyra rode in on. “Oh! What is that thingy? It’s like some kind of cool, funky gizmo-like cart. But its made of metal and you don’t have to attach it to anypony. What gives?”
“Why, this sleek baby here is the Breezy Wonder 500, the highest quality two-wheeled, magic-powered vehicle in all of Equestria! The magical energy is self-producing so it never runs out of fuel, and it goes from zero to twelve miles per hour in ten seconds!” Lyra grinned.
“Woah!” Pinkie said, her interest at maximum levels. She slowly reached out a curious hoof and touched the cold, metal surface of the device. Her eyes widened in amazement. Mrs. Cake pushed her hoof back and gave her a stern look, like a mother would give her foal when they were misbehaving.
“How long have you had it?” Mrs. Cake asked, turning back to the excitable Lyra and agitated Bon Bon.
“Two days.”
“It sure looks like you’ve been having fun with it.”
“Fun? Fun?” Bon Bon asked, laughing maniacally as her sanity seemed to snap at the utterance of those words. “It’s an obsession! Everywhere we go, she rides that thing. If we go into the supermarket, she drives it inside. If we go to the gym, she rides it on the treadmill and calls it ‘working out’. Even when we are home and she needs a glass of water from the kitchen sink five feet away she has to ride over!”
“Excuse me,” Lyra said, “what is the point of having the best ride in Equestria if I can’t show it off? Plus I think it’s fun and makes me look like a bad-flank.” Lyra gave a smug smile before spinning around like a dreidel, shouting ‘weee!’ at the top of her lungs. The tires let out a horrible squeal that forced everypony in the immediate vicinity to plug their ears with their hooves, save for Pinkie Pie, who kept staring in amazement, and Lyra, who seemed to be enjoying the device too much to notice.
“Because you’ve become a lazy bum! You hardly walk at all. Do you realize just how unhealthy that is?” Bon Bon shouted back before face-hoofing and letting out a groan. “Ugh! I swear to Celestia that between that and your obsession with my candy it’ll be a miracle if you’re not over five hundred pounds by the end of the year! Oh, and also the noise that thing makes when you turn in place, that noise, it’s just so...ugh! It drives me screwy!”
Both mares scowled at each other, gritting their teeth as if to fight which, due to their polarizing personalities, wasn’t an entirely uncommon occurrence between the two roommates and best friends.
“So...er...girls. What would you like to buy from us today?” Mrs. Cake asked, trying her best to change the subject before the two mares started a bare-hoofed brawl in the middle of her bakery, as she assumed that such an event would only drive business away. Bon Bon and Lyra snapped out of their intimidating stare contest and turned to face Mrs. Cake. Bon Bon bit her lip in embarrassment while Lyra’s smile quickly returned.
“Well, those cinnabuns back there look pretty tasty.” The mint-green unicorn said with such a bubbling enthusiasm, it was as if the previous confrontation hadn’t even happened. Bon Bon rolled her eyes at her friend’s sudden peppy demeanor. “What do you think Bon Bon? Wanna get some hot, sticky buns?”
“Please don’t call them that, it sounds so wrong.” Bon Bon spoke through gritted teeth before her irritated expression gave way to a look of exhaustion, as if the argument had zapped her of all energy. “But...yeah, we’ll take a dozen of them.” She looked up at Lyra. “But no eating it until we get home, okay? You can’t eat and ride that thing at the same time.”
“Fine you big nag.” Lyra muttered, sticking her tongue out.
“Coming right up,” Mrs. Cake said just then noticing that Pinkie was still staring wide-eyed at the vehicle , her smile curled into a wide grin that could only mean one thing. She was inspired to do something crazy and potentially stupid, but most likely both.
“Say, Lyra?” she asked, pointing at the segway. “How much did that thingy cost you?”
Birds chirped happily and swooped through the air above Fluttershy as she trotted through her animal-filled garden towards her house. Normally she would have been humming softly to herself, but today was different. She had taken in a sick field mouse that needed attention, and was on her way back from gathering various herbs and berries that she knew would cure the little critter of its ailment. With her saddlebag filled with the freshly-picked remedies, she entered her home.
“Mr. Cheesenibbler! I’m back! And I’ve brought some things from the garden to help with your cough.” She made her way over to a small corner where the field mouse lay in a tiny bed that she had set up. A tiny thermometer hung from his mouth and an ice-pack was placed precariously atop his furry little head. Deep and dark circles beneath his eyes put his misery on full display.
“Are you still feeling sick?” Fluttershy asked, taking the itty, bitty thermometer out of the little mouse’s mouth and squinting so she could make out its near-microscopic reading. Mr. Cheesenibbler let out a wet cough, and another, and another before he slumped back against the tiny pillow and moaned as his forehead continued to sizzle like a sidewalk on a hot summer day. Having finally made the reading, Fluttershy let out a gasp. “One-hundred and two! Oh my goodness, you’re burning up! Well don’t you worry, Fluttershy is going to take good care of you.”
With that, the yellow pegasus pulled some herbs from her saddlebag and flew into the kitchen, where she grabbed an herbal grinder and went to work making a treatment. A series of coughs from Mr. Cheesenibbler increased her concern and caused her to hasten the grinding.
“Oh, please be patient. I’m almost done with–” But before she could finish her statement, Fluttershy was interrupted by the sound of somepony crashing into the front door. Confused, she put the grinder, now filled with an almost finished powder, down onto the counter and trotted over to the door to make sure nopony was hurt.
Oh my, that sounded painful. I sure hope they’re alright.
Just like the mythological Pandora’s box, Fluttershy’s opening of her front door unleashed an uncontrollable chaos that shattered the previously peaceful and serene environment that had for so long been a staple of her cottage.
However, it wasn’t a torrent of inexplicable evil that caused this disruption, rather it was Pinkie Pie on her brand new, shiny green two-wheeled device. And judging by her careless and herky-jerky riding, it was clear that she had about as much control over the device as Spike had control over Angel bunny‒ not much at all.
“Easy there. Settle down, big fella!” Pinkie Pie cooed to the wheeled device, slowly petting its handlebars as if it were a fluffy kitten. The wheeled device emitted painfully irritating screeches that were akin to an injured falcon. It was enough to rattle everypony’s eardrums, save for Pinkie Pie, who seemed to be surprisingly immune to the ear-piercing noises.
As she covered her ears and grimaced, Fluttershy could see, out of the corner of her eye, Mr. Cheesenibbler acting in much the same way– pressing his little mouse paws to his head as he was, no doubt, in terrible pain.
Once Pinkie Pie brought the vehicle to a halt, and the horrid sound vanished, Fluttershy lowered her hooves from her ears and looked back at her pink friend.
“Um, Pinkie Pie. What are you doing here?”
Pinkie grinned at her friend, leaning forward on the handlebars of the device, her forelegs dangling ever so slightly over the edge. “Heya Fluttershy, I was just dropping by to show off my new set of wheels!” Pinkie Pie straightened up and gestured to the vehicle that she so carelessly rode, yet clearly adored like it was her own offspring. “Do you like it? It’s a segway.”
“I can see that. But...um...if you don’t mind me asking, why did you get it?” Fluttershy asked in her typical not-wanting-to-step-on-other-ponies-hooves tone.
“Well, I saw Lyra riding hers yesterday and thought, ‘Hey! That looks like a lot of fun!’, even though I’ve never seen one before. So I went out and bought this. And guess what, I was right, it is fun! Really, really, really fun! And it’s super addicting. I swear, I don’t think I’ll ever walk again if I can help it. Hey, watch this!”
Pinkie grinned before she struggled to spin the vehicle in a very uneven circle. The noise of the wheels squeaking on the hardwood floor hurt Fluttershy’s ears like horseshoes on a chalkboard. Mr. Cheesenibbler let out his own squeaks of pain and suffering at the hideous sound of the device.
Fluttershy continued to press her hooves into her ears. “Pinkie Pie?”
Pinkie stopped and turned the vehicle so she was facing Fluttershy. “What is it my main mare?”
Fluttershy stared at Pinkie Pie at this bizarre choice of words before remembering that she was dealing with Pinkie Pie. Immediately, all sense of logic was dropped and she continued with the point she wanted to make.
“Listen. I am really happy that you’re able to get such enjoyment out of your device, and I really would like to see some more of your tricks later. But right now, I have a mouse here that’s really sick and...”
“Aw, the little mousie is sick?” Pinkie Pie interrupted, turning towards Mr. Cheesenibbler who was shivering in fear from the vehicle. Clearly oblivious to the mouse’s discomfort, Pinkie Pie rode over and almost squished the tiny bed beneath the wheels. Mr. Cheesenibbler let out another shrill squeal, holding his paws out in front of him and keeping his eyes shut tight. Finally Pinkie brought the vehicle to a halt millimeters from the edge of his bed. Backing of slightly, she peered over the handlebar at the sick mouse, who had opened his eyes to find that he was still alive, his body still trembling.
“Wow, he’s shaking like a leaf. His temperature must be super high. You know–”
Fluttershy, in a rare move of assertion, held her hoof out and pressed it into Pinkie’s mouth. Once the jabber-jawed pony stopped talking, Fluttershy took a deep breath and continued.
“As I was saying, you’re making a lot of noise and that isn’t good for him.” Fluttershy looked at the floor. She was never good at this part. “So...um...if it wouldn’t be too much trouble do you mind maybe coming back some other time?”
“Oh! Okie! I read you loud and clear! Take care of your little animal friends, I’ll see you later!” Pinkie gave Fluttershy a salute, still smiling, before she turned around and drove towards the door. Before she exited, however, she went to the left of the doorway and crashed face-first into the wall. Fluttershy grimaced for her friend as she backed the vehicle up and away from the wall, shaking her head as if to clean her mane of some imagined debris. “I’m fine.”
She tried again and, this time, missed to the right and slammed face-first into the wall, knocking over a picture of Fluttershy and Angel that shattered on the ground. Fluttershy put her hooves to her mouth and let out a small gasp.
“Oh, please be careful.” She whimpered as Pinkie Pie readied herself directly in front of the door. She was so close, there was no possibility of missing her mark.
“Got it! See ya later Fluttershy! Bye Mister Mousey, I hope you get better soon!” And with that, Pinkie Pie slipped outside, unaware of the lewd gesture given by the angry Mr. Cheesenibbler behind her back. The quick jerk of the device and the small ‘eep’ that escaped her throat, it was clear she had gone faster than expected and still lacked control. Fluttershy sighed and trotted back to the kitchen to get the medicinal powder so she could give it to Mr. Cheesenibbler.
SPLASH
Quickly, she ran over to the door, still open, and peered outside to see Pinkie Pie sitting up in the small creek just outside of her house. Her vehicle was flipped over on the bank, wheels spinning as if it was still riding along some non-existent road. Pinkie Pie spit out a mouthful of water, and glanced up at Fluttershy before waving as if nothing happened. Uneasy, Fluttershy returned the gesture before slipping back into her house and closing the door. Biting her lip anxiously, she had a feeling that, like most of Pinkie’s escapades, this could only get worse.
Twilight Sparkle was relaxing in the middle of her library, deeply invested in the latest edition of ‘Daring Do’ with Rainbow Dash. Twilight read on her pillow, laying on her stomach with her hooves curled up beneath her, her wings tucked to her side, and the book open under her nose. Rainbow Dash lay on her side with her hoof supporting her cheek as she lazily flipped from page to page.
Meanwhile, Spike had just finished organizing the shelves and placing books back into their proper place. He was now busy scraping a fresh batch of gooey chocolate-chip cookies from a tray and onto a green-striped plate that he planned to serve to the two bookworm mares. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, exhausted from work, but knowing that what he did made Twilight happy was more than enough compensation.
Plus he relished in receiving praise, and if these cookies turned out as good as he thought they did, he would be getting lots of it heaped upon him in a matter of seconds.
‘Spike, these cookies are so rad!’ Rainbow Dash would say.
‘I expected nothing less from my number one assistant!’ Twilight would add with a mouthful of the delicious cookie, levitating a napkin over to her mouth to dab away the remnants of cookie and chocolate from her lips.
These images, which Spike saw as possible realities, were enough to make the baby dragon blush in pre-emptive, positive embarrassment. The kind of embarrassment you felt at being recognized for your hard work and great achievements. These cookies would be like a masterpiece of art, a small sample of his skills, and he was thoroughly excited about seeing the reactions.
“Hey Spike, when you’re done why don’t you come over here and join us! I’ve got a third copy of the latest Daring Do if you’re interested!”
“Really?” Spike asked, popping one of the cookies into his mouth before walking over with the rest, balancing the plate in his hand like a waiter at a fancy restaurant carrying a tray of expensive bean steaks. All he needed was a napkin placed over his free foreleg to complete the image.
“Of course. You’ve been so diligent today, at the very least you deserve a break. Here, I’ll even fluff up a pillow for you to relax on.” Using her magic, Twilight levitated one of her plush, red pillows between herself and Rainbow Dash, letting it fall. She then used her magic to fluff it up and turned back to Spike, gesturing for him to take his place among them.
Touched, Spike walked over and placed the plate of cookies on the ground in front of Twilight before taking a seat on the soft, relaxing pillow. “Wow, thanks Twilight. You’re the best.”
“Hard not to be with the best assistant a pony could ask for,” Twilight said. Both she and Spike exchanged a quick smile before Twilight levitated a third copy of the Daring Do book over to Spike and let it drop into his waiting claws.
Spike stared down in anticipation at the cover, which showed Daring Do climbing the steep walls of a pyramid in the Sphinx Kingdom. Tracing the “D” at the start of the golden title of the book, ‘Daring Do and the Temple of Rahm’, before looking up at Twilight inquisitively.
“By the way, how did you get the copy of Daring Do so early? Isn’t it not supposed to be out for a couple of months? I thought you only got the books about a week early.”
“Being a Princess has its perks.” Twilight said, giggling.
“In what way, did you threaten to turn them into newts with your new ‘princess powers’ or something?” Rainbow Dash laughed.
“Don’t ask me about my business, Rainbow.” Twilight winked and all three friends joined in a hearty laugh.
Spike smiled and let out a small laugh. He then cracked open the text open, the pleasantly fresh ‘new-book’ smell hitting his nose, and began to read. But before he had a chance to even enjoy the first sentence‒ something about ‘The sun rose high above the pyramids of the Sphinx Kingdom, and Daring Do’‒ the door to the library swung open and in strolled Pinkie Pie on her device, wheels caked in an obscene amount of mud and grass and even a flattened piece of bubblegum– all of this filth less than a day after getting the vehicle.
Before Twilight, Spike or Rainbow Dash could say anything, Pinkie lost control of the vehicle and crashed into the bookshelf, sending some of the books Spike had so carefully spent all day organizing tumbling to the ground.
“What the hay?” Rainbow Dash asked, her jaw hanging at the sight. “Pinkie Pie! What are you doing?” As if responding to Rainbow’s question, Pinkie Pie crashed once more into the bookshelf and sent more texts tumbling down.
“Stop that, you’re knocking down all the books!” Twilight shouted.
“And you’re messing up the floor!” Spike screamed, pointing to the trails of mud and grass that the device’s wheels left in its wake. “I spent an hour mopping it up!”
“What am I doing? Sorry I can’t hear you!” Pinkie shouted over the abrasive sound of the vehicle as she spun around in place. Spike pointed to the floor behind her segway where twin lines of mud lined the floor. Pinkie Pie moved the device around as the baby dragon covered his ears and grimaced in pain as even that wasn’t enough to drown out the sound.
“Argh! What is that noise?” Spike groaned. “It sounds like somepony using a squeegee on a dry window!”
The horrible screech that Spike was referring to was the result of the vehicle’s wheels turning on the floor. The same noise that had tormented Fluttershy and the sick mouse Mr. Cheesenibbler less than an hour before was now threatening to make his ears start bleeding.
“Oh,” Pinkie finally gained control and slowly made her way over to the trio that stared at her with a mix of shock and annoyance. “This is my new two-wheeled vehicle, The Breezy Wonder 1000!”
“One-thousand?” Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow. “I thought they only had up to 500. At least that’s what Lyra told me when I saw her a few days ago.”
“Well I bought this as a 500, but have upgraded it to a 1000.” Pinkie Pie grinned. “At least I like to imagine that I did. I can’t be certain.”
“How in Equestria did you do that?”
“A genius never reveals her secrets!” Pinkie Pie said in her sing-song voice that she often had whenever she got excited over something. She sped around the library, still acting like she was on cloud nine. “Anyway, now I can drive this thing at even more super-fast speeds and leave everypony else in the dust!”
“Everypony?” Rainbow Dash laughed. “Um, yeah, I kinda have a hard time believing that.” As if to emphasize her point, Rainbow Dash flexed her wings a bit in front of Pinkie Pie.
“You’d be surprised,” Pinkie muttered just as the wheels jerked forward a bit, almost flattening the plate of cookies, which Spike managed to pull off the floor in the knick of time. Pinkie re-adjusted herself and giggled. “Well, it’s still a bit unstable‒”
“A bit? You can’t even control that thing! You’re barely keeping it steady now,” Twilight said as Pinkie Pie jerked forward once again, this time almost running over Spike. The dragon screamed and jumped back, holding the pillow he had been previously sitting on up in front of him like a makeshift shield.
“Just...just get that thing out of here!” Spike shouted, pointing to the door. His voice was shaking in both horror and rage, clutching the plate of cookies close to his chest.
“Okay fine!” Pinkie Pie said, rolling her eyes. “Sheesh, drama queens.” She turned the vehicle towards the door and revved the wheels, which spun in place and sprayed mud all over Twilight, Spike and Rainbow Dash, before the device sped off and, as she did at Fluttershy’s, she missed the open door entirely and crashed into the wall.
Rainbow Dash put a hoof to her mouth to stifle a laugh before Pinkie finally vanished into the afternoon day. That is when the cyan pegasus burst out laughing.
“Oh my gosh guys, did you see her? She is a total mess on that thing!”
“Can it Rainbow Dash, that wasn’t funny!” Spike shouted.
“Spike’s right, Pinkie Pie could really hurt herself if she isn’t more careful.”
“Oh...” Spike bit his lip and twiddled his thumbs. “Actually that wasn’t what I meant.”
“Huh?” Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Then what did you mean?”
“Well...look around us!” Spike gestured to the mess that was all over the library. “My whole days work flushed away in two minutes all because of Pinkie Pie and her stupid two-wheeled...thing! She knocked down the books I just finished shelving, tracked mud on the floors I worked my tail off to clean. Heck, the only thing she didn’t touch were these cookies that I managed to protect from...” Spike froze as he looked down at the plate. His eyes went wide in shock.
The cookies appeared to have increased their concentration of chocolate chips. In reality, the mud that Pinkie’s segway had ‘kicked’ up before she left had sprayed all over the cookies. Spike’s wide eyes narrowed, his left eye starting to twitch as something in his mind had snapped.
“Um...Spike, are you alright?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Twilight...do you have a sledgehammer I can borrow?”
“Okay Spike, calm down.” Twilight said with a motherly sternness.
Spike glared up at Twilight, stomping his foot onto the floor in indignation. “No way! I am going to wreck that thing!”
“You are not going to break Pinkie’s device!”
“Do you know how much effort I put into baking these cookies?” Spike shouted when suddenly his rage gave way to grief. “I didn’t even get a chance to see what you thought of them.”
Twilight’s anger softened and she placed her wing around the sad Spike. “I’m sorry, Spike. I had no idea they meant that much to you.”
“Guys, what should we do about Pinkie Pie?” Rainbow Dash asked.
Twilight sighed. “Do what we always do with her whenever she gets one of these interests. Hope that the novelty of it wears off before she can cause harm to herself or others.”
Over the next couple of days, most of Ponyville was impacted by Pinkie Pie in various ways, all of which were negative. There were smudges left on windows that she had crashed into, injured ear-drums from the dreaded squeal, and mud-soaked fur coats.
Another odd thing people started to notice was a change in Pinkie’s personality. Sure she was still, for the most part, as bubbly and peppy as ever. However, her attitude towards the device went from one of simple enjoyment, to pure obsession. During these few days, whenever she was seen, she was riding it. She started referring to it as a ‘he’ and grouped it with herself so that when speaking she said what ‘we’ were doing today, and what ‘we’ thought about the pegasi’s job of managing the weather.
Even though Pinkie only had the device for a few days, rumors had already begun to spread. Many were unfounded and ridiculous. Some expressed grave concerns that a pony with as much energy as Pinkie Pie choosing not to walk, in favor of driving, would explode from pent-up energy that hadn’t been released. Others speculated that she would soon marry the vehicle under a flowered arch in Ponyville Park.
Whenever anypony dared to bring up her unhealthy obsession, Pinkie Pie would act wary, and show signs of defensiveness that were completely out of character for her. It was as if riding around on the machine as often as she did made her more attached to it. It was an addition that was bringing out the worst in her, hurting both herself and those around her.
But the worst was yet to come.
It was four days after Pinkie purchased the Breezy Wonder “1000”, and four days since Fluttershy and Mr. Cheesenibbler became its first victims. The afternoon sun blazed up above as Rarity trotted down the street, her head held high as her newest dress trailed behind her. She was happy, but attentive, for she knew that at any point there could be a random mud puddle in her way. This would be a problem, well, a greater one than usual. Sure, the stylish unicorn usually detested all things filthy, for obvious reasons, but when she was wearing one of her new designer gowns she had to be extra cautious. Now she was parading her latest piece through town in an attempt to show it off and attract business to her shop.
What was that? What is this dress you ask? Why, this is my latest ball-gown. What was that? Why thank you, I’m glad you find the color scheme to your liking. I have decided to go with turquoise because I felt that it fit the season of spring, what with the clear skies and light drizzles of rain. Anyway, if you like this, then you simply must come to my shop. The Carousel Boutique, where every garment is chic, unique, and magnifique!
Rarity giggled as she imagined this. Yes, this is what she would say when somepony would stop her and compliment her dress. As of yet, however, nopony had noticed. Still, she continued on undeterred and with the utmost confidence that this dress, this garment she had worked her tail off on for the past two weeks, would eventually get the compliments it deserved.
Suddenly, her hoof sunk into a muddy spot on the road and she froze, letting out a small gasp. Drawing back, she looked at where she had just stepped to see, as she had expected, and feared, a decent sized mud puddle.
“Oh dear, now my hoof is covered in filth. No matter, at least my dress is still spotless, I shall simply make my way around the puddle.” She started to make her way around the puddle when, suddenly, she heard what sounded like wheels screeching on the dirt road. Turning around she saw Pinkie Pie coming down the road. Squinting, Rarity noticed that, unsurprisingly, she was riding the device the pink pony had shown her earlier. Not only that, but another familiar face, the mint-green colored face of Lyra Heartstrings, was riding alongside her on her own two-wheeled device. They were clearly racing, both with looks of determination on their faces.
“Pinkie, Lyra, you’re coming in awfully fast and...” Rarity suddenly realized that they were not going to stop for any reason. Rarity’s azure eyes widened in horror as they got closer, Pinkie Pie coming straight at her like a bat out of hell. “Wait, girls! Slow down!”
But it was too late. Rarity flinched back just as Pinkie Pie ran over the tail of her gown. The pull of both forces, the weight of the device on one end and Rarity’s pulling back in fright on the other, cause the dress to tear. The unicorn tumbled backwards and looked up just as Pinkie and Lyra drove past, right through the mud puddle, and sent a tidal wave of mud all over a horrified and disgusted Rarity.
The ivory unicorn spit out the dirt and grass and wiped her face clean of the mud before her eyes followed the two ponies as they passed by three storefronts before vanishing around a corner, Pinkie’s laugh unmistakable as it grew more and more distant before finally there was a loud ‘crash!’ She then looked down at her dress, the torn fabric, its beautiful turquoise color sullied by the mud. Not only that, but her own fur was spotted in brown. Shock turned to rage as she stood up with a scowl, wiping some dirt from her fur and spitting on the ground again to clear her mouth of the still-present grainy taste of mud, and marched up the street like a mare on a mission.
“Oohhhh! Pinkie Pie! Wait until I get my hooves on you.” She growled under her breath. She turned the corner Pinkie and Lyra disappeared down to find what could only be described as total and chaos. Davenport’s ‘Quills and Sofas’ and ‘Bon Bon’s Tasty Treats Shoppe’ both had gaping holes in their front windows so often used for observation by passer-byes.
The two shops were placed on opposite sides of the street, in the center of which was a gigantic puddle of oil-like mud, much more slippery than the one they drove through before, which caused both mares to veer off course and smash into the two shops. Pinkie was stumbling out of Davenport’s place in a haze of senselessness, her eyes spaced out and crossed, her a mane frazzled mess. The shop owning stallion was trailing her, cursing her for her reckless behavior. Lyra was still inside Bon Bon’s shop listening as the white earth pony berated her and shouted how ‘she had enough!’ before trudging out into the street.
Up ahead, Rarity saw Applejack standing alone, staring at the carnage with a look of disapproval on her face. Rarity eagerly trotted over to vent her frustrations.
“I see Pinkie Pie is still causing mayhem for others, eh?” she asked, stopping beside her stetson-clad friend.
“Eeyup,” Applejack turned to face Rarity. Her emerald eyes had deep crevices under them and she looked exhausted.
Rarity sighed, “I am getting truly tired of all this. Aren’t you?”
“Ugh. Ya have no idea Rares. Yesterday she drove through mah cattle and scared ‘em. Almost caused a stampede.”
Both mares watched as their friend picked up her still-functioning device before driving off as Davenport yelled at her, in his hoof some bits that Pinkie handed to him as compensation for crashing into his building. Suddenly, Rainbow Dash appeared, but she wasn’t flying. Instead she hobbled over to her friends, her hindquarters had some self-administered gauze on it.
“What did Pinkie do this time?” the weary pegasus asked.
“She and Lyra crashed into...” Rarity suddenly gasped once she saw the fresh bandage on Rainbow Dash’s flank. “Good heavens! What on earth happened to you?”
“Pinkie Pie hit me with her device when she wasn’t paying attention. Bruised my tailbone and flank. Nothing major...”
“Hey look, it’s bandage butt!” Cried out somepony behind the trio.
Rainbow Dash grimaced. “The name-calling, however, is a different story.”
Applejack shook her head. “This is gettin’ out of hoof. It’s only been getting worse and worse, and her attachment to that thing is beyond silly.”
“I agree. We simply must do something.” Rarity said, and both Applejack and Rainbow Dash nodded in agreement.
Later that night, Twilight found herself staring at the small, angry mob of her friends that had gathered at her library. It was late at night, and they had all met up to complain as one voice about Pinkie Pie and her annoying obsession with the vehicle.Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and even Fluttershy were all frowning while Twilight stared at them, her head throbbing and her eyes heavy. It had been a long day and she wanted sleep, but she also knew that the problems her friends were having could not be swept under the rug.
“Calm yourself, girls.” Twilight said, suddenly getting a flash of deja vu to when she had to confront a crowd of angry population of Ponyville after Pinkie Pie had cloned herself, creating an army of identical pink nuisances that swarmed the town and cause all kinds of mayhem. Taking a deep breath and slowly exhaling as Cadence had showed her. “Okay, now tell me exactly what Pinkie Pie has done with her device that’s made you all so upset.”
“She ran over one of my gowns and tore it!” Rarity shouted. “And then she sprayed mud all over little old me!”
“She frightened all of our cattle and near caused a stampede! Thankfully Winona and ah were able to stop it before it reached town.” Applejack continued.
“She ran me over two days ago and bruised my flank! Now everypony in town is calling me ‘bandage butt’ and ‘tumble tushie’!”
Spike snickered but stopped when Rainbow Dash shot him a death glare. Quickly he ceased his laughter and pressed his lips together into a straight line.
Twilight, meanwhile, let all of her friend’s claims sink in and rubbed her forehead as yet another flash of deja vu struck. “Oh boy, this is just like the magic mirror pool all over again.” She muttered under her breath. “So based on what you’ve told me, it’s pretty clear that Pinkie Pie has taken her fun with the vehicle a bit too far.”
“A BIT?” Fluttershy shouted in an uncharacteristic outburst. When it came to the wellbeing of animals and her friends, Fluttershy could demonstrate the ferociousness of a mother bear protecting her cubs. “She kept coming by my house when I had a sick mouse, and that sound its wheels make gave both of us a headache. It’s been four days and Mr. Cheesenibbler is still sick with a cold that should have passed after two! And he’s having nightmares of that thing running him down!”
“Girls, look I understand your frustrations, but as I told Spike a few days ago, this is Pinkie Pie we’re dealing with here. We have to realize that this behavior isn’t uncommon for her. She finds little eccentric things to get passionate about, yet she always, without fail, gets bored with them and eventually stops. All we can now do is treat it like a bad storm and wait for for this phase to pass.”
“Nuh-uh! Now way, this has gone on for four days too long.” Applejack shook her head. “This ain’t a simple nuisance we can just sweep under the barn. She is causin’ more problems with that fancy ridin’ contraption than a coyote in a hen-house. Yesterday, both she and Lyra seriously damaged Bon Bon and Davenport’s shops.”
“I think maybe Applejack’s right,” Fluttershy said, “It would be best if we try to have a calm talk with Pinkie Pie, and explain to her why she needs to give it up.”
“Exactly. Why, it’ll be just like an intervention.” Rarity said, looking around. “Perhaps we should plan this out a bit to make sure it’s done correctly. We don’t want to screw this up.”
“Well, what’s important is that we sit her down to explain to her why she can’t keep this up,” Rainbow Dash said. “You know, how you should have done with me back when I was acting like an arrogant jerk, instead of playing super hero behind my back.”
“Ugh, seriously Rainbow? Again with the Mysterious Mare-do-Well stuff? How many times to we have to apologize before you let it go?” Twilight asked, her tone and face showed the deep aggravation she felt about the topic.
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. She always got worked up whenever that topic was mentioned, even if she was the one mentioning it.
“Look,” the cyan pegasus calmly said, “all I’m saying is that if you talked to me first and then went behind my back to teach me a lesson, it would have been more justified. I don’t want to see us treat Pinkie Pie in the same way. We will sit down and talk with her and then, if she still refuses to listen, then we can take drastic measures to end this.”
“I say I’m rather impressed by your sensible attitude towards the issue, Rainbow. You’re actually thinking about it instead of making impulsive choices based on instinct alone.”
“Hold it RD. What are these ‘drastic measures’ that yer referring to?” Applejack asked.
Rainbow Dash scratched her head before shrugging. “I don’t know, I was just spitballing. What about you Twilight? Do you know a spell that could help?”
Twilight shook her head. “Noting ethical. However, I do have one other idea that, but it’s still kind of mean. But if she doesn’t listen, I guess it could be used as a last ditch effort. I just hope Pinkie Pie listens to reason and it won’t be necessary.”
As if on cue, the door to the library swung open with the force of a powerful gust of wind. Pinkie drove her demonic vehicle inside with a grin on her face. Her mane was still a complete mess and she looked exhausted and haggard, like she was slowly losing her grip on real life and delving into a world fuelled by her own desires, caving into desire and obsession like nopony they had ever seen before.
“What’s up my...” Pinkie paused to let out a massive yawn. It was so massive her uvula showed. This only added to her sleep-deprived appearance. “...home fillies.”
“Oh, are you having a slumber party?” She showed a bit of disappointment. “Aw, why didn’t you invite me?” Suddenly, her mane deflated and, to everyone’s amazement, so did the wheels on the device.
“No Pinkie, we’re not having a slumber party. We’re just talking.” Twilight said.
“Oh!” Instantly, both Pinkie’s mane and the vehicle’s wheels inflated and her grin returned. “Whatcha talking about? Something fun?” She started to drive over when everypony stuck out their hooves and begged her to stop her segway before she caused ‘any more damage’. Confused, she tilted her head. “What’s wrong?”
Rarity sighed, “Look, Pinkie Pie, we’ve been meaning to talk to you about this and there’s probably no better time than now. You have a problem.”
“A problem? What kind of problem?”
“A problem with that contraption yer ridin’ there,” Applejack muttered, pointing to the segway.
Pinkie Pie looked down at her segway, “What? I have a problem with Zippy?”
Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Ah’m sorry. Did ya just call that thing...Zippy?”
“You actually named it?” Rainbow Dash asked, eyebrow raised.
“Yep. Isn’t it a cute one?” Pinkie Pie giggled. “I thought it up one day while riding through town. I also considered ‘Squeals’ and ‘Speedy’ but I don’t know, Zippy just sorta ‘clicked’. Wouldn’t you agree?”
Applejack face-hoofed, shaking her head. That’s when Rainbow Dash, being ever so blunt, flew in front of the orange mare. “Listen Pinkie Pie, we’re here to tell you to get off your lazy hooves and stop driving around on that thing!”
“But if I get off, won’t I still be on my hooves? I mean, unless you want me to lay down, but if I am standing I’ll still be on–”
“You know what I mean.” Rainbow Dash interrupted her friend, pointing down at the segway.
“So wait, you’re asking me to stop riding Zippy?” A unanimous “yes” echoed throughout the room. Pinkie suddenly seemed taken aback by the suggestion, almost insulted. “What? Why should I stop riding Zippy?”
“Because you are causing more havoc than Discord with it.”
“Are not!” Pinkie Pie said, somewhat defensively. It looked to be the start of a debate, more heated than the ones held for the mayoral elections.
“You most certainly are!” Rarity said.
“Really?” Pinkie now seemed legitimately confused. “In what ways?”
“You ruined my dress and soiled my fur!” Rarity complained.
“You give me and my animals headaches!” Fluttershy muttered quietly, but with a definite tone of anger.
“You made me the laughingstock of Ponyville!” Rainbow Dash spat, pointing at her still-bandaged flank.
Pinkie Pie snickered, “Hehe, bandage butt.”
“DON’T CALL ME THAT!” Rainbow Dash was now airborne, her teeth gritted together and her hooves flat against her sides. She looked like and sounded like an exclamation point.
“Ya scared mah livestock half to death!” Applejack growled. “And ya destroyed Bon Bon and Davenport’s shop.”
“I only damaged Davenport’s. Lyra damaged Bon Bon’s.” Pinkie Pie corrected. “Sheesh, if you’re going to bring up points against me at least make sure they’re accurate.”
Applejack growled but before she could snap, Spike already had. “You knocked down the books I organized, sprayed mud on the cookies I made, and dirtied the floor I cleaned!” Spike shouted, his claws clenched into fists. “I worked my scales off and you and your dumb machine ruined it.”
There was a pause, Pinkie staring at Spike as if contemplating the points raised against her. Twilight felt a bit of optimism, perhaps Pinkie Pie would listen to their concerns and address them? After all, didn’t she usually care about her friend’s well-being? But almost as soon as these hopes were raised, they were dashed.
“What else?” Pinkie Pie before letting out another yawn, absent-mindedly stroking ‘Zippy’ on the handlebars, as if she had completely dismissed the fact that her friends had just given her many strong examples that warranted her ceasing use of the vehicle.
This didn’t end well as it seemed that everyone, save for Twilight, was scowling at Pinkie with the utmost rage and fire in their angry-eyes.
Twilight took a deep breath, decided to take charge before anything got out of hoof. “Listen Pinkie, we are happy that you found something you enjoy so much. But you’re causing so many problems with that thing, it’s time to put the wheels away and go back to using your hooves like everypony else.”
Pinkie stared blankly for a moment, as if registering Twilight’s words, before her face scrunched into a scowl. “You know what I think? I think you’re jealous that I have such a wicked awesome device while you are all stuck trotting around on your hooves!”
A pause struck the room, Twilight and everypony looked astonished. “No that isn’t it at all, we’re just worried about you and–”
“Oh please, all of your complaints are based on what I did to you, not what I’m doing to myself. I’ll be more careful, but I love Zippy and he loves me!”
“HE?” Twilight and the others all shouted in unison.
“Yes, he. Zippy means a lot to me. But why am I telling you this? You wouldn’t understand. You’d probably just laugh at me behind my back.”
“Pinkie, are you even listening to yourself? You’re putting your own enjoyment above your friends. That isn’t something you normally do. Clearly you have a problem.”
“It doesn’t matter, I HAVE WHEELS!” Pinkie Pie rolled back and turned so her back was to her friends. “Me and Zippy don’t need this! We’re the wave of the future, and we don’t need to be fed negativity from those stuck in their old ways like yourselves. Good night to you all, and goooooooood riddance!”
Again, everyone was astonished by their friend’s snappy behavior, something that was so bizarre and out of the ordinary. Before they could say anything, Pinkie Pie rolled off towards the door and, unlike the times before, managed to slip outside untouched. The remaining ponies and Spike continued to stare at the open door, stunned, as a bellowing laugh echoed throughout the night.
“Haha! I finally did it! I knew that I was getting the hang of...AHH!”
CRASH!
Everypony grimaced at the apparent sound of their pink friend crashing into something in the night, no doubt blinded by the darkness. They all turned towards each other. Their faces now showed a complicated mix of anger and worry.
“We have got to do something.” Rarity said, now showing clear concern. “She isn’t acting like herself in the slightest. It’s like that...thing is possessing her.”
Applejack pulled the brim of her hat down slightly over her eyes. “Ah agree. I ain’t ever seen her act so defensively. This problem runs deeper than ah thought.”
“If she doesn’t stop, she isn’t only going to only hurt others, she’s going to hurt herself,” Fluttershy said, her tone no longer drenched in the rage she felt before. For the most part, it seemed she was back to her caring, motherly self.
Twilight opened her mouth, trying to think of something that would put an optimistic twist on the series of events that had just played out. Unable to do so, she let out a sigh. “Who am I kidding? You’re right. We need to deal with this, and fast.”
“You said something about an idea?” Spike asked the alicorn, who closed her eyes and swallowed hard.
“Yes, yes I do. And I can’t believe that I’m about to do it. But desperate times call for desperate measures, and this has to stop. Spike, take a letter.”
“You’re writing to Princess Celestia?”
Twilight shook her head. “Close, but not quite.”
The morning sun’s rays crept into the top floor of Sugarcube Corner where Pinkie Pie slept. The mare’s baby blue eyes fluttered open and she sat up, stretching and letting out a massive yawn in her bed. “Good morning Ponyville!”
“Good morning, my dearest Pinkie Pie.” Came a calm, yet sinister, voice from beyond the darkness. It had a snake-like quality to it and sent a chill prickling down Pinkie Pie’s spine.
“Ah! Who said that?” Pinkie looked around, peering over her bed where Gummy lay, now slowly coming to. “Gummy, are you talking?”
“No, it isn’t your little gator that beckons to you. It is I. Zippy, your beloved segway.”
Pinkie looked up and across the room to where Zippy was propped up against the wall. She let out a small gasp, filled with confusion, joy and horror all at once.
“Zippy? You’re alive? Oh my gosh, this isn’t possible.”
“Yes, indeed I am.” A sinister laugh followed these words that seemed to echo in Pinkie’s mind, as if she wasn’t simply hearing it aloud. Rather it seeped into her brain, consuming her mind with its venomous tone.
“No, no you're not really talking. This has got to be some kind of hallucination.”
“Ah denial, it is such a silly thing.”
“But this...t-this isn’t denial. Y-you’re a nonliving thing!”
“Your voice deceives your claim, my dear Pinkie! The tremble in your words, the slight shiver traveling through your body as you try to convince yourself of a falsity. All it does is show the futility of your efforts to convince yourself that I am not really speaking to you. Try as you might to get yourself to believe your own lies, telling yourself that this is just yet another case of your crazy little imagination gone wild, deep down, in your very essence, you know that you aren’t imagining it. I am speaking to you. This is real.”
“No!” Pinkie looked up to see Zippy slowly riding over to her on its own. It was as if a ghost was driving it. She wanted to scream in fright. “You stay away from me you wheeled devil!”
“Don’t you understand Pinkie? Now we can truly be one and the same. You’ve ridden me so much that now I’m not only a part of you, you have basically become a part of me. All that’s left is for us to embrace that and truly become equals.”
At first she was confused, but then her left hoof started to throb. Looking down, she watched as her hoof slowly transformed itself into a black, plastic handlebar. Gasping, she looked at her right hoof as it followed suit. She screamed, “Ah! What is happening to me?”
“You are becoming what you truly wish to be.”
“No! I never wanted this!” Pinkie watched in horror as her body thinned out and turned into the green connector between her wheeled lower half and her handlebars.Her lower hooves rounded out, swelled and turned into a pair of matching wheels. She was completely immobile, the only thing remaining was her head, which slowly began to become covered in green metal as well. She whimpered as a tear ran down her face. “No...Zippy. No more. I don’t want to lose my life. I have friends, I...I don’t want to lose them.”
“Friends? Now you call them your friends? “
“Of course! They are my friends.”
Zippy laughed, leaning forward and touched Pinkie with ‘his’ handle. “You disregarded your so called ‘friends’ for me. You ignored their concerns and complaints, and for what reason? Because you were having too much fun playing with me. Riding me as if I were a part of your body, as if you were a part of me. You even told them your problem didn’t matter because, quote, “I have wheels.” Now I am bestowing upon you the gift of actually having wheels.”
“You were already nothing more than a machine, possessed by the feeling of freedom I gave you. All I’m doing is making you complete and transforming you into one. Now we can be together...FOREVER!”
“Noooooo!!!” Pinkie screamed, closing her eyes and bracing herself for the end when, suddenly, the feeling of creeping metal stopped, as did her changes. There was a big flash of indigo light that caused her to open her eyes.
There, in place of Zippy, was a very stern, yet kind looking, Princess Luna. The dark blue alicorn stared down at her mostly-segway transformed subject.
“Princess Luna? What are you doing here?”
“Reminding you of the grave mistake you made last night at your friend Twilight’s house.” Luna took a deep breath. “It was I that conjured the image of your beloved device, Zippy, for this dream.”
“Wait. This is a dream?”
“Indeed. Now, arise, Pinkie Pie. I require the utmost attention as I speak–”
“Um, Princess Luna. I would really love to, but I can’t. You see...I’m still kind of a machine.” Pinkie said, using her eyes to gesture to her vehicular body.
Princess Luna put a hoof to her mouth and gasped. “Oh, right, I apologize for that.” Her horn glowed a midnight blue aura and, in a pop of light, Pinkie Pie was back to her old self. Feeling herself over to confirm that she was, once again flesh and bone and fur, Pinkie let out a small sigh of relief and hopped off of her bed. “Thank you.”
“Do not mention it.” Luna smiled for a brief moment before her gaze turned stern again. “Now then, do you understand the purpose of this dream? Why I have entered your subconscious and crafted it for you?”
Pinkie Pie nodded, “I think so. Does it have to do with me becoming overly attached to Zippy and wrongfully abandoning my friends for superficial pleasure?”
Luna blinked in astonishment, “I...wow. Yes, that’s a big part of it. I never thought of you as one with a quick mind.”
“I know, sometimes I surprise myself.” Pinkie Pie giggled sheepishly.
“However, my lesson does not extend merely to how you treated friends, no matter how badly you might have treated them.” Pinkie looked down in shame, sniffling a little. Her chin was encased in a sliver of soothing blue magic, which pushed her head up so she could look into the kind face of Luna. Despite the horrifying dream Luna had crafted, Pinkie found it impossible to not feel a sense of comfort looking up at her. She was like a sweet, gentle mother speaking to one of her children. Gentle in tone and eyes, but stern in her wisdom.
“It is more than that. You have let this device take over your life, to the point where it has changed you and how you acted towards others. If you chose not to heed this warning and continue on this destructive path, you will cause yourself great harm down the line. Taking enjoyment out of something is one thing, but letting it consume you is something else entirely. Listen to your friends, and learn from this dream, that you may understand the consequences of an obsession. Do you agree with what I’m saying?”
Pinkie Pie nodded, head hanging as she still felt terrible about how she treated her friends. And for what? A stupid two-wheeled device that wasn’t even alive? She wanted to curse herself but was interrupted as the world around her started to implode, the walls crumbling, the furniture flying into the air as the roof was sucked off. .
“The dream is ending!” Princess Luna shouted. “I must be on my way.”
Pinkie Pie waved, grinning from ear to ear. “Good bye creepy dream-stalker Princess Luna!”
The alicorn vanished into the darkness of the night, which grew in intensity until the world fell to black.
Pinkie opened her eyes to the bright morning sun. Sitting up, she put her hoof to her head. “Wow, what a dream. I can’t beleive Princess Luna would go through all that trouble just to help me out.”
Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she caught the familiar shine of green metal. There, propped against the wall across from her bed was Zippy. It was in the same exact position that she had left it in, leaning stiffly against the far wall of her room, but after the dream she just had simply seeing the device was enough to make her think that he was spying on her as she slept.
I enjoy watching you sleep, it’s fascinating. She imagined the snake-like voice hissing in her mind like an echo in a canyon.
Screaming, she fell off of her bed. Her rump landed on the cold, hard floor and she scrambled away until her back pressed to the wall opposite Zippy. She grabbed her pillow from her bed and holding it in front of her as if it were a shield. When she realized that it was immobile and inanimate, she let out a sigh.
“Oh Zippy, you know I still love you.” She leaned her head against the cool surface of the segway, her cheek nestled on the long body connecting the handlebars to the wheels. “But I can’t keep obsessing. It’s time we take a break from each other.”
Twilight stared at her friend, her mane still showing signs of sleep as it was slightly askew, strands of hair standing up at all angles. She was, however, wide awake and she looked at Pinkie Pie with an excitement that was hardly containable. “Are you sure you want to get rid of Zippy for you, Pinkie?”
Pinkie Pie nodded with complete resolve. “Absotively-posilutely. Teleport it off someplace distant.”
“Why don’t you just throw it in the trash?” Twilight asked as Pinkie Pie dragged her now off and lifeless device further into the library.
“Because then I might get tempted to track it down to the Ponyville dump, and after the way I treated you and the others I don’t think it is healthy to have it around.” She said in desperation, falling to the ground with her hooves pressed together in apparent prayer. “So pretty please use your Princess powers to teleport it somewhere I won’t be able to find it.”
Twilight smiled and have her friend a small nod. “Okay. I’ll send it away.” Closing her eyes, Twilight focused all of her energy on Zippy. In a flash of white, it was gone.
“There, done.” Twilight said. Pinkie sighed and Twilight looked at her friend. “Are you alright, Pinkie?”
“Yeah, but I am sure going to miss him.” Pinkie Pie placed her hoof on the spot Zippy once had been. She sniffled a little.“Goodbye old friend, I can only hope somepony out there finds you that will get as much joy from riding you as I have.”
Somewhere, deep within a forest in the far reaches of Equestria, Trixie was trotting along a narrow dirt path that ran through a line of trees. A small pond lay still to the right and the silence around her was only broken by the sounds of her hooves hitting the ground and some crickets singing in the sea of grass. Her purple hat bobbed up and down and her cape gently flowed in the breeze as she continued on.
“My, the Great and Apologetic Trixie never knew how good forgiving could be! Holding onto grudges is so exhausting, but ever since I made amends with that Twilight Sparkle, Trixie has felt so at peace. Forgiveness truly is magic. Perhaps I should call myself the Great and Forgiving Trixie from now on, Apologetic is sort of stale, anyway. It was nice at first but after some time–”
Just then there was a flash of light and something fell from the sky and landed directly in Trixie’s path. Screaming, the mare lept back, her hat flying off her head as she stared at what appeared to be some kind of two-wheeled device.
“Gah! What in all of Equestria is that thing?” Slowly, she got up and set to examining the strange vehicle. She placed a tentative hoof onto its surface and shivered. It was cold, lifeless, and uncaring– inanimate.
“Brr. Such an obnoxious contraption.” Suddenly she saw purple writing on the metal. “The Breeze Wonder 500? Hm, well Trixie certainly shouldn't trust something with wheels. But perhaps it is time to let bygones be bygones.”
Smiling, she propped it upright and saw that she was supposed to stand on it. Cautiously, she stepped onto the small platform and balanced herself on two hooves before she turned the handlebars. It jerked slightly forward and she gasped, but, regaining her composure, she steadied the mechanical beast so that she started speeding along slowly. Slowly a laugh started to escape her throat. “Haha! Feast your eyes, for the Great and Forgiving Trixie, has conquered her fe–”
The device quickly sped off, Trixie had lost control. Before she could stop it, for she didn’t know where the brakes were, she was thrown into the pond with a massive ‘SPLASH’ followed by a plume of water shooting towards the sky like a mushroom cloud.
After a few seconds, Trixie broke through the surface, gasping for breath, with a lily-pad atop her waterlogged hat. She glared over at the device which stuck through the surface of the water like a sunken vessel.
“This is the thanks Trixie gets for letting bygones be bygones? Curse you wheels,” she growled, “curse you.”
“Ready to take down my letter, Spike?” Pinkie Pie asked. Twilight had left the room to grab some tea and Pinkie was ready to recite her letter for Princess Celestia. Unfortunately for her, Spike had some gripes he wanted to address first.
Arms folded over his chest, the dragon stared at her. He tapped his foot against the floor as if to emphasize his aggravation. “Uh-uh. No way. Not until you apologize for making a mess in here the other day...and ruining my cookies.”
Pinkie closed her eyes and let out a sigh. “You’re right. I am sorry Spike. I’m really, really sorry..”
“For what?” Spike goaded on.
“i’m sorry for knocking down all the books, messing up your floor and, of course, getting mud on your cookies. It was all wrong and stupid and really makes me feel terrible.”
Spike smiled and nodded, reaching out to shake Pinkie’s hoof. “Apology accepted.” Pinkie returned the gesture and Spike pulled out a clean sheet of parchment and a red feather, already dipped in ink and ready to write.
Twilight trotted into the room, taking a dainty sip of tea from a sunflower-painted cup that she levitated directly in front of her nose. She was calm and content, clearly in a much better mood than she was the previous night with all of her friends so angry about Pinkie.
“And I’m sorry Twilight for acting like such a big meanie jerk pants to you last night. Can you forgive me?”
Twilight smiled, walked over and placed a reassuring hoof onto her friend’s side. “I already have.” Pinkie returned the smile. Twilight trotted over towards Spike, still levitating the tea. “And don’t forget, you should apologize to the others.”
“Yeah, I really let myself get carried away, didn’t I?”
Twilight laughed. “Only a little.”
Pinkie Pie turned to Spike and cleared her throat before reciting her letter.
Dear Princess Celestia,
It’s me, Pinkie Pie. How have you been? I know it’s been a while since I’ve made out a letter to you, well, come to think of it, it’s been a while since any of us have. Anyway, today I learned a lesson in friendship. Recently I bought a Breeze Wonder 500 and for the past few days have enjoyed riding around on it, feeling like a big shot with my new wheels. Anyway, while I still agree that having something fun to play around with might be awesome, if it hurts my friends then it really is totally not awesome. Being careless is never a good thing when others might be hurt. And sometimes, those things that seem to be super-duper fun can even be bad for me. I’ll miss my little Zippy, but I know that in order to move on I have to leave him...I mean...it...behind.
Your Faithful Subject,
Pinkie Pie
Spike rolled the letter up into a tight tube and sent it off, as he always did with letters to the Princess. He brushed his hands against each other when he heard Twilight clear her throat. He gave her a confused look, when she floated over a second letter, this one with a tag hanging off of the end of it with writing scribbled down on it. .
Spike read the tag and eyes suddenly lit up in understanding, he knew what she was sending. Smiling up at Twilight, he sent the second scroll off in a green cloud to Princess Celestia. Pinkie watched the cloud slip through the open window and vanish from sight.
“What was that, Twilight?” she asked.
The alicorn looked back at her friend and smirked, “Oh nothing, just thanking somepony for doing me a favor.”
Or rather, doing US a favor. Twilight thought, taking another small sip of her tea, shiftily looking out the window with a smirk on her face. It was the smirk of mischief.
Princess Luna was at the sink in her royal chambers brushing her teeth when the sound of hooves approached from behind her. She turned to see her sister standing in the doorway. She held up the second scroll that Twilight had just sent to her.
“Twilight Sparkle has sent me another note addressed to you.”
Squinting, Princess Luna saw a tag hanging off of the end of it that read, “To Princess Luna” in dark blue quill ink, letters in the familiar, formal cursive that was a trademark of Spike. Luna then read the letter to herself. It wasn’t much, just a simple, three sentence-long note.
Dear Princess Luna,
Thank you so much for the dream. It worked wonders and really helped Pinkie Pie see things clearly. I truly owe you one and will definitely consult you in the future.
Your Fellow Princess,
Twilight Sparkle
Smiling at the show of gratitude, and feeling a bit of pride in herself for doing right, Princess Luna leaned away from the letter and chuckled.
“Well,” Princess Celestia used her magic to roll the letter back up into a scroll. “Do you mind explaining to me why Twilight sent you two letters since last night? What is going on between you two?”
“Oh dear sister,” Luna grinned, wiped her mouth on a towel and trotted out of the bathroom with her nose held high in a snobbish manner, like so many of the ponies that lived near the castle. “Don’t ask me about my business.”
