It was one of the happiest days of the year for Pinkie Pie: Christmas Day. The day to celebrate with lots of parties and gifts for everypony to share and care. She would host parties for nearly everypony in Ponyville in in the weeks before Christmas Eve, and on the day of Christmas itself she would spend the day with all of her best friends. That was to say nearly every pony in Ponyville, as she was acquainted with all of them in one way or another. Rarely, however, did she ever receive a gift for herself on Christmas Day. Apart from her close friends, no one seemed to deem it necessary to gift her something. Alas, there were no presents for Pinkie Pie on Christmas Eve this year; although she was accustomed to this happening, she simply shrugged it off as she always did.
However, in the morning, she awoke to a single red box underneath her Christmas tree. It was tied with a ribbon, and bore a tag that read: “To: Pinkie Pie From: Your very bestest friend”. Pinkie was overwhelmed at the sight of the present. All nicely tied up, and right there for her to open. She quickly cycled through whom it could have been that had given her the present. Twilight? Rarity? Spike, perhaps? She quickly lost her train of thought, per usual, and returned to glaring at the present. So many possibilities! And someone had found the time to repay good old Pinkie Pie for all the parties she had thrown for them. She undid the ribbon with her teeth and pried the lid open slowly with her hoof. She didn’t want to spoil the moment, after all. That would destroy the fun of opening the present, and destroying fun is like destroying happiness.
Finally, the lid came off and she cast it aside. The box was well, a box. Inside sat a single seed, sitting on a note saying: “PLACE IN WATER”. Well, duh a plant needs water to grow.Pinkie giggled as she grabbed a glass of water in the abnormal and quirky fashion that was to be expected of Pinkie Pie, and sat the glass right next to the box. She fumbled to grab the seed, but managed to hold it together between her hooves. She dropped the seed into the water and waited. A moment passed. And another. Minutes turned into hours, and the day breezed by as she scrutinized the seed inside the glass. She even ignored her friends knocking as they tried to bring her presents. She couldn’t miss a single moment of this.
Four hours passed. Her eyes grew weary, and she slowly drifted to sleep. Even Pinkie Pie needed rest every once and awhile. She dreamed sweet about all sorts of things. Candy, friends, and especially parties. But one recurring item in these dreams was the seed. What sort of plant was it, anywho? Why did somepony send it to her? And, she suddenly realized -- why did it only need water to grow? But it was far too late for Pinkie to contemplate this, for she had already lost her mind to sleep, and her body followed suit shortly afterwards.
Pinkie Pie opened her eyes slowly, and groggily glanced at the glass. It had shattered completely, leaving water soaking the floor. Her tree had been tipped over, and her simple cottage bore scrapes across all the walls.
