"I hope you enjoy your Big Mac, have a nice day ma'am."
I turned and gave a fake smile to the lady, who nodded as she walked to her table. A Big Mac Meal, add bacon to the burger and make the drink a Sprite sat upon the red plastic tray she set down on one of the wooden tables. The lady was a regular, I saw her at least once a week. As soon as she turned her back, the plastered smile stayed on my face as the next customer stepped up to the counter. "Hello sir, what can I get for you?" I asked sweetly.
The teenaged boy looked at the menu, scratching his chin. "I'll take two Double Cheeseburgers." He replied.
I nodded. "And would you like to make those meals?"
"Just one. And make the drink a Coke Zero."
I nodded and put that into the register. The price came up and he slid the money across the counter, which I took and put in the register. After a moment his order arrived, which I went through the old drill of setting on the tray and handing to him. "I hope you enjoy your meal, have a nice day sir." I smiled as he walked away. There was nobody else in line, it looked like everybody was eating their meals and I sighed in relief.
"Lunch rush is killer, huh Maggie?"
Maggie was my nickname. My full name was Margarette, Margarette Lee. Everybody at work called me Maggie, especially Cory. It wasn't exactly a secret around the workers that he had a thing for me. But since I wasn't exactly sure of my own feelings, we remained good friends. He hangs out at my house a lot and I hang out at his place a lot, we practically live together.
I looked over at my co-worker and nodded. "You said it Cory." I answered, chuckling a bit. McDonalds' was a popular fast food restaurant, we had places all over the world, or at least I think we did. I'd started working here when I was sixteen, so nine years ago. Twenty-five and working at McDonalds. Not a good career.
Cory chuckled. He was pretty handsome, if you didn't pay attention to the acne on his chin. He had bleach blonde Justin Bieber-style hair and hazel eyes. He was tall, skinny as a twig and pale as a corpse. He was a good head taller then me, but that didn't stop me from ruffling his hair. I called him Bieber a lot to bug him, which worked considerably well as we hated Justin Bieber when we were younger. Justin Bieber's career died because he was full of himself and an idiot. Served him right.
As for me, I'm not much to look at. My hair is short, like, really short. And brown. I sweep my bangs to one side, which are bleach white. My eyes are blue-green, really pale and stick out against my long and dark eyelashes. I'm kinda chubby, but I've slimmed out a bit since I started working here since I'm always on my feet. I'm tall for a woman, a full six feet, but that's about it that's really noticeable. Other than that I'm just your average twenty-five year old woman who works at McDonalds.
I looked back at the clock and saw that it was 1:30pm. Time to switch shifts with Lizzie. "Oi, Lizzie! Your turn!" I shouted. Another thing about me was that my voice was very loud. When the short chubby redhead came running, I walked over to the cleaning supplies and armed myself with a cloth and a spray bottle of soapy water. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Cory following and I rolled my eyes. "Yeah Bieber?" I asked.
His response was just to punch me playfully across the arm. "Whatever Maggie. I'm switching with Niki, so I figured I'd help clean." I shoved my cleaning weapons into his hands and took the mop instead.
"You take tables, I'll take floor."
Just a typical day at work.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
The clock read midnight.
I knew I had to go into work at seven in the morning, but I just couldn't sleep. I was inside what was affectionately referred to as the 'TARDIS', because of how unorganized it is. I'm an insanely huge Whovian, have been since I was thirteen. Best show ever. You could tell when you walked into my room what I liked.
The walls were TARDIS blue except for the accent wall, which was lime green just like the Eleventh Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver. Not ashamed of my fangirl crush on Matt Smith, he was fantastic at playing the Doctor. Back on track, one entire wall, save for the window to the backyard, was dedicated to the show. Posters hung on the walls, portraying mostly David Tennant and Matt Smith, but also classic Doctors like Patrick Troughton and companions like Donna. My personal favorite was one of the Doctor and River Song, because they were the best couple. Ever. No doubt about it.
I had a table against that wall with all my Doctor Who stuff on it. Eleven's Sonic Screwdriver, the Master's ring, the Journal of Impossible Things from season 3, a Timelord Psychic Container, some Dalek Plushies and my beloved Matt Smith action figure from the season 5 finale, complete with a fez and a mop. And right beside that table was the prize of my collection; a lifesized cardboard cut out of the Eleventh Doctor, smiling. I loved Matt Smith's smile. Whenever he cried in the show it reminded me way too much of a puppy that somebody just kicked.
That wall was the only organized thing in the room.
The accent wall was where my closet was. My closet took up the inside of the wall, so it was a nice size. I didn't have a lot of stylish clothes, never got into that. Waste of time in my opinion. I had lots of Doctor Who clothes, even more Pokemon clothes and even the rare My Little Pony shirt would pop up here and there when I cleaned the closet out. That wall had Pokemon posters all over it. From generation one to the newest generation, it was all there. My action figures, plushies and anything else Pokemon related were kept in a large bin. Action figures and plushies to the side, books and drawings in the centre and miscellaneous items on the other side. My favorite pokemon had his own section. Right on the wall was the biggest drawing I had ever done, Raikou. He would always be special to me, ever since about twenty years ago. But that's a story for another time.
The wall with the door on it was all of my My Little Pony stuff. Twenty-five and still a Brony, I had no shame anymore. Posters of every character in the Mane Six, drawings of my OCs and even signed pictures from ComicCon hung on the wall. I especially loved my Derpy Hooves one, her hoof on a giant muffin and a big goofy smile on her face. Signed and everything. Got it at least ten years ago. I think. Memory sucks, always has. Figures, plushies and comics were littered all over the floor, except for near the door so no feet of destruction destroyed my precious things.
The wall by my bed was a disaster. Random posters of random stuff were on the wall. Thankfully there was nothing on the floor. A giant net hung from the corner, holding every stuffed animal I'd ever owned. My bed was normal, except for the Doctor Who theme. TARDIS blanket, Dalek Pillows and the sheets had fezzes, bowties and stetsons all over them. Total win. I had the Pillow Pet I'd gotten when I was 10, a dog named Cocoa, on the top of the pillows because not a night passed where I didn't have my head on it. My Grandma got it for me after all. Tucked beneath the covers was perhaps my best friend.
I pulled her out and hugged her to my chest. The Pinkie Pie plushie I'd gotten when I was fourteen, forever cuddled in my arms while I slept. The light from my laptop lit up each stitch that I'd done to fix her tears and the tangles of her bright pink mane. She was old, eleven years old. Ever since the day I got her she was something special. I told her my secrets, my dreams and everything that I could never tell anybody else, not even my closest friends or my family. She held all of my deepest and darkest secrets.
I scrolled through my newsfeed on Facebook. Every time I saw one of my friends with their happy status updates, I felt like crying. Actors, singers, authors, athletes, chefs and even pilots were happy. All of their careers and dreams had blossomed and now they were all successful except for a select few. I knew one in jail, one who was a janitor and Cory. Tears came to my tired eyes when I saw my best friend, Lily, and her latest update.
"Oh my gosh! I just got asked to tour with my favorite band! See y'all on the big stage as an opening act!"
Ever since we were kids she'd had the voice of an angel. She could sing in French, Japanese and even Bosnian, which came in handy when she toured in those countries and even in Canada, where we were born and raised. I'd convinced her at age sixteen to go on Canada's Got Talent and it took off from their. A music producer hooked her and now... She's a star. Rich, famous and she's even married. Only she would do the classic thing where a rich person marries a poor person just like in the movies we used to watch. She fell for the refreshment guy and they became one of the hottest red carpet couples. The story of how she fell for him, like Raikou, was a story for a different time.
I was so envious of her. I always wanted to be an actor, ever since I was a kid. I was the shining star at my elementary school, the big name with plays and stuff like that. But when I got to highschool... My ego was too big. I was mediocre compared to the seniors, and they knew it. They showed me up so many times and left me being second best. Well the show business doesn't take the people who came in second. My first audition was the most nerve wracking moment of my life, and mere weeks later it became the worst moment of my life when I found out that I didn't even come close to getting the part.
After that... I lost the will to act. I gave up and locked myself up in my room. That was six years ago. Now I work at McDonalds', doing whatever I can to help my parents. I still live with them, helping to support them and keep this house running. They encourage me and all that, but I can see the disappointment in their eyes and it reminds me just how much I've failed them. All my good grades, imagination and kindness were wasted the minute I got the results from that audition.
I put a hand to my cheek and sniffled. I looked into the mirror at the crying wreck that I was. Margarette Lee; failure. I didn't know when I started crying, but the trails felt sticky against my cheeks. I closed my laptop and let darkness claim the room before curling up in a ball, hugging Pinkie Pie close to me. Her fur was still soft, even after all these years and I could take comfort in the feeling of her artificial fur. With my nose buried in her coarse mane, I let myself sob. Like so many nights before, I cried myself to sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Margarette!"
My eyes snapped open and I shot up, looking around wildly. This wasn't my bed! I was... I was on a cloud? An entire landscape of clouds! They were gold and pink and covered everything. I blinked my tear-lined eyes and looked behind me to see... My Pinkie Pie plushie? "P-Pinkie?" I asked nervously. What was going on?
To my surprise, the plushie suddenly exploded and revealed... The real Pinkie Pie! "Well hiya there Margarette!" She greeted as if this was completely normal.
My eyes were like saucers at this point. "How are you here? You're a cartoon!" I cried, starting to feel a bit freaked out. This wasn't happening, cartoon ponies didn't just come to life! That only happened in fanfiction! I'd read so many of those on FIMFiction, and most of them were pretty good. Back on track, WHY AM I LOOKING AT PINKIE PIE!?
Pinkie Pie just giggled. "Well that's a silly-billy question! You're dreaming, you silly filly! Or, what do they call you human girls? Silly humans? Silly females?" She started rambling before shaking her head that reminded me way too much of the Master in the End of Time parts 1 and 2, "Anyways, the reason I'm here is because you're all saddy-waddy, and Pinkie needs to cheer you up! Princess Luna sent me here to your dreams, and I have no idea what a cartoon is. Is it something on those magical talking boxes in your world?" She asked me, looking genuinely confused.
Oh yeah, there was no technology in Equestria. Wait, why am I thinking about it like it's a real place? I decided to not answer the question in fear that she would get sidetracked like she always did in the show. "Why would Princess Luna send you? I mean, I know she can enter dreams but... How does she get somepony into a human's dreams? We're not from the same world!" I asked, feeling very confused. It made loads of sense that this was a dream, I knew ponies didn't just appear in real life like in the fanfictions I read.
Pinkie nodded. Of course she totally understood. "You see, Princess Luna doesn't just enter the dreams of ponies. She also enters the dreams of Manticores, Hydras and even just the animals in the Everfree and at Fluttershy's cottage. When she sent me here, she told me that her power for entering dreams connects to every world, but she doesn't really use it because she can get stuck if the magical essence in one world is weaker than the magical essence is in Equestria.
I got here because she's fuelling this back in Equestria. Back there she has her full powers, and she's really super duper powerful! She could do this every night if she really, really wanted to! Even if you really, really wanted to do this every night, it would happen." She explained, sucking in a deep breath. I still didn't know who she spoke so much in one breath. Just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie I guess.
Since I spoke about as fast as Pinkie did on occasion, I understood what she said. Things like that come in handy sometimes I guess. I sat down cross legged and sighed. "But why does Princess Luna care about me? I mean sure, I'm sad. I have a job that isn't all that great, my career failed and I have to sit back and watch as my friends turn into successful people, but there are so many kids out there who need happiness more than I do. There are kids starving, kids with no parents and even adults who wish they could just... Die. Out of all the people on this earth, why did she choose me?" I asked, feeling tears start to come to my eyes. This conversation was starting to depress me.
Pinkie offered a sad smile. "Oh, Princess Luna wishes she could visit those people every night and give them happiness. But she just can't. To enter the dream of a species from another world, they need to believe in us. They need to have watched us on those magical talking boxes you have, they need to enjoy us. They need a connection with us, a connection strong enough for Princess Luna to feel. With that connection, she can gain enough power to send a pony into another world through dreams.
The connections between every world helps fuel our magic. Without all these connections, all the love that we can sense, our world would fail. That's why ponies like the Changelings are bad, they feed off of that love and take away our powers. Why do you think Queen Chrysalis beat Princess Celestia? She'd eaten so much love that even Celestia herself felt weaker than she should have. Our world is full of friendship and acceptance, of giving second chances and forgiveness. Without that, we'd fall into ruin. Everypony would be saddy-waddy and that just can't happen.
That connection between worlds in the reason Celestia and Luna have so much power. That love, that happiness and that friendship is the reason we have a sun during the day and a moon during the night. It helps keep our plants growing and it puts the smiles on our faces. When we go to bed at night and when we wake up in the morning, that happiness is the first thing we feel. It powers the Unicorns, makes the Pegasi want to fly and gives the Earth Ponies, like me, strength. But most of all, it keep us happy. To know that others in other worlds feel such strong joy that we can sense it is happening, it puts a big ol' smile on everypony's face." She explained.
I felt the tears going down my cheeks. That was... Amazing. "Pinkie Pie?" I asked.
"Yes, Maggie?"
I sniffled. "Why me? Why are you visiting me of all people?" She'd already explained the connection, but there were other sad Bronies out there. Why me?
"Because that's what best friends do. You've said it yourself Maggie, I'm your best friend." Her hooves wrapped around me in a hug and I hugged her back, trying so hard not to cry. But the tears came, rolling down my cheeks as I hugged Pinkie Pie.
"Eleven years ago when you bought me, do you remember who you really wanted? You wanted Rainbow Dash, because she was your favorite. But then you saw that my bin was almost full and hers was almost empty and that all the kids were taking Dashie instead of Pinkie. So you decided to get me instead, because deep down you felt that I deserved some more love.
You've told me all of your secrets, all of your dreams and everything you've ever felt. You've told me things that you don't even tell your family, who you've been with for twenty-five years. And that is what best friend do; trust each other more than anything else. Even if outside of this dream I'm just a plushie snuggled into your arms, you still speak to me like I'm alive. And that's real friendship Maggie, no matter what I am, where I'm from, you consider me your best friend," She had tears in her own eyes as she pulled away to look into my eyes,
"That's why Princess Luna sent me to you. Because of how strong your connection was. Your connection to Equestria is stronger than most, which means it's easy for Princess Luna to send somepony, even herself, to your dreams. When one of the connections gets weaker with sadness, it weakens us. Your connection is so powerful that everypony feels it, feels that lingering frown and that little sadness hidden away deep inside their minds.
But I'm not here to save Equestria. I'm here because you're my very best friend, and best friends cheer each other up." She smiled brightly, which made me smile. Pinkie Pie's smiles were seemingly contagious. Just like in the show.
Pinkie Pie looked around before turning back to me, eyes saddened. She was getting paler, and so was the world around me. "I have to go now Maggie, Luna's magic is starting to weaken and if she doesn't bring me back I'm going to be trapped here and she won't be able to find me." She told me, smiling sadly.
"No, don't go! Please don't leave..." I begged, reaching to hug her but my arms went right through her. "P-Pinkie?" My eyes started welling up again.
Her bright blue eyes looked deep into mine. "Just promise me one thing."
"Anything!"
"Promise me that you'll try to be happy. You'll try and see how good your life is how you have it and that you have super duper friends and a loving family. Promise me that you'll try to do something that you really want to do."
I gulped. That was a hard promise. Negativity made me see every problem, but the positives were so much more. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." I murmured, doing the gestures.
Pinkie Pie smiled brightly, before she faded away along with the cloud world around me. I hung in blackness for a moment, before closing my eyes and letting myself slip away from this dream.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
I woke up smiling the next day.
I went to work with a smile on my face, waved to people and even struck up some conversations with others. I got to work, got behind the register and took orders with a genuine smile, even giving compliments to the customers, which was something I hadn't done since I was nineteen. I don't know why I was so happy, maybe it was just knowing that Pinkie Pie came to visit me just to cheer me up. I felt like a whole new woman. I started humming an old song from my teens as I took orders.
Hours later, when the lunch rush was settled and me and Cory had switched with Niki and Lizzie, I was surprised when he came up to me. "Yeah Bieber?" I asked teasingly, ruffling his hair.
Cory smiled, his pale face blushing slightly. "Um... I was wondering if you wanted to go... Out on a date with... Me?" He asked nervously, biting his lip. He gave me a sheepish smile, fiddling with his hands.
My face turned pink and my eyes widened. I still wasn't sure of my own feelings! I was about to say no, then I thought of something. What if you realize that you like him, but he doesn't want anything to do with you because you rejected him? A smile crossed my face and I stepped forwards.
I'll never forget the look of shock on Cory's face when I got on tiptoe and kissed him. Nothing passionate, just a soft peck on the lips. But that said what words never could.
I pulled back and put my arms around his neck, holding my own hand to keep a bit of a grip. "Lets see where this goes." I whispered in his ear.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Over the next five years I started saving my money from work and from doing stuff around the house. I left McDonalds' after three years and worked at a library for the next two. By the end of it, I had just enough money and bought myself a plane ticket to Africa.
I'll never forget the trip.
I stayed there for a couple months. Pinkie Pie came with me. I volunteered at one of their schools, helped the kids with their chores and every evening, after they ate, I told them stories. About magical princesses who ruled over a peaceful land, of six friends joining together to stand up against evil and even about a conquerer who fell before the power of friendship. I told them about kings of shadow, shining crystal kingdoms and magic.
Those stories?
Episodes of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.
But they never knew, so it'll be me and Pinkie's little secret. I brought her to the story tellings, told the kids that she was the one who brought happiness and laughter wherever she went. The next time I saw her in a dream, she hugged me and cried tears of joy.
Whatever food I'd brought I'd share with the kids who I saw needed help. If somebody was too weak to lift something I'd do it for them and ask the stronger people to help.
I was sad when it came time for me to go, but the people in the small town I'd visited made sure I knew that I'd made them happy. Even fi I couldn't visit them all, I got to visit most of them. The adults promised to keep going with story telling, the children were happier and even the ones I hadn't met were saying goodbye and thanking me.
And then...
"Miss Margarette?"
I turned to see one of the little boys looking at me shyly. "Yeah buddy?" I asked, crouching down and smiling.
"Why are you sharing your happiness like that? You've never met any of us before a couple months ago."
I put my hand on his small shoulder and smiled softly. "Because sometimes all we need is a little happiness." I murmured, feeling happy tears start well up in my eyes.
I hope you're proud, Pinkie Pie.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pinkie Pie faded into existence beside Princess Luna, a soft smile on her face. "She's happy now." The Element of Laughter told the Princess softly, happy tears in her eyes.
Princess Luna nodded. "Five years ago when this all began I thought it would be better to send Fluttershy, but you insisted on going. Now she's happier than Fluttershy could've ever made her. How did you do it Pinkie Pie?" The Lunar Monarch asked, giving her subject a questioning glance.
Pinkie chuckled softly. "I showed her happiness," She turned and looked Princess Luna right in the eye, the happy tears trailing down her cheeks,
"Sometimes all we need is a little happiness."
End
