A/N: This is a one shot. I actually had this dream after chapter 10 of A World Apart. I was just going to keep it to myself but the other day I checked to see how many trackers I had and was surprised at the number. So I decided to write it for you guys. I might throw in more one shots but none of them will be planned. Enjoy and as always, comment and criticize.
As I sat at my desk tapping away at my keyboard, I paused for a moment. Sometimes I can be an idiot. How the hell did I misspell that word? I look at my mini fridge and think about getting a cold beer out, but I promised myself I wouldn’t drink till I finished the chapter. I wanted my trackers to have it before I got to drinking. I looked back at my main screen and rubbed my eyes. It was getting late. I used the spell checker and fixed my mistake, then went back to writing. Out of the corner of my left eye I saw something on my laptops built in screen. It looked like something moving. But all that was there when I looked at it was my regular cycling wallpaper. It was a Pinkie Pie picture. I laughed for a second then went back to typing. Then I heard giggling coming from the laptop. But all the sound was supposed to come from my main screen. As I looked at the laptop again, I saw a crack form. Oh crap, this cant be happening. I cant afford to fix it, being out of work for over a year. Another crack appeared, and I noticed the picture on the screen was still there. What the hell, aren't they supposed to go blank or show funny colors when they break? As I leaned in to see what was breaking my laptops screen, the center burst out. I closed my eyes in time to avoid the broken glass, but I felt it shower against my face. Then I noticed a funny smell come into my room. “Cotton candy?” I exclaimed. I opened my eyes and was face to face with the impossible.
“Hi. Whatch ya doin?” the pink face asked
“Um.” was all I could say.
“Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie. I saw you thru one of Twilight's funny mirrors and you looked sad. So I came to cheer ya up.”
“Ummm.” I said, looking behind the pink ponys head to the broken screen, still showing the wallpaper.
As she saw I was looking behind her, she turn and looked as well. Sheepishly she said “Oh, sorry I broke your funny mirror, let me see if Twilight can fix it.” With that she ducked back into the screen.
As I stared at the hole left behind I could just hear faint voices. I couldn’t make out what they were saying, but I knew exactly who was talking. Just then the pink head poked back out.
“Twilight says she can fix this but I want to cheer you up first.” And with that she broke the whole screen and stepped out and onto my desk. She looked at my main screen and saw the writing I had already done. “Oh, your a writer. I see a lot of those in the mirrors. You don’t write those gross storys about ponys mating do you?” She seemed disgusted at the thought.
Gathering my wits, I responded with real words. “No, I don’t write those kind of stories.”
“So what do you write? Are they fun stories or sad stories? I cried for days after reading My Little Dashie. It was so sad. I told Rainbow Dash about it and we cried together too. I don’t think I ever saw her cry before.” She looked so sad thinking about it.
“No, nothing quite like that. But I read it too and I almost cried.”
“You didn’t cry? Why not?”
“Because when you’ve seen and done some of the things I have, you get a little desensivitized.”
“What could make you so cold as not to cry?”
“I'd really rather not talk about it. I will say this, I was in the military about 15 years ago. And we had to do some bad things as part of our jobs. And before that I lost both my parents. I've been on my own trying to survive since I was 16.”
“How old are you now. You look a lot older than most humans I see in the mirrors.”
“I'm 32. I've been out of work for a year and a half.”
“What kind of work did you do?”
“A little bit of everything. One of the lessons my dad taught me before he died was to be what we humans call a jack of all trades. For many years it kept me working but the things that have happened on earth have made a lot of people suffer. And right now it doesn’t look like its gonna change soon.”
Her hair started to deflate somewhat. “Thats so sad. I heard there was trouble here but I didn’t know it was that bad.”
“We will survive this and over come it. But if you don’t mind me asking, how the heck are you sitting on my desk talking to me. Aren't you a cartoon character?”
“Yep. But all of the fans who have taken the story to heart and make cool art and storys have caused us to be alive in our own right. We exist because so many of you humans have made us come to life.” she got a confused look on her face. “At least that’s what Twilight says. I don’t understand what she says sometimes.”
“Oh well. Some people like to talk over others heads to make themselves feel better.”
“Whats that mean?”
“They use big words to make themselves feel smarter than others.”
“Oh, she doesn’t do it on purpose. Shes just really smart and forgets we all aren't as smart as she is.”
“I think your right. But people here do that.”
“Thats just mean. Just cause your a smart smarty pants doesn’t make you better.”
“So, anywho, why exactly are you here?”
“To cheer you up. I've met other writers who looked sad and I figured out helping them write makes them happy. So I’m here to help you write.”
“Um, you don’t know what the story is about.”
“Well, duh. So tell me what its about.”
“Thats a bit complicated.” I explained my story so far. Pinkie had tons of questions. But somehow I couldn’t get mad about it. And all her questions were actually helping give me more ideas.
Pinkie jumped into my lap. I was quick enough to avoid male injury when she did. I eeped a bit still. She ignored it and said “Lets read the story so far and see if I can figure out any ideas.”
We sat and read all the chapters. Again she had a ton of questions. And again the questions led to ideas. At the end of the last finished chapter, she started to jump up and down in my lap. This time I wasn’t fast enough. I yelled out in pain.
“Oh my gosh, did I hurt you?”
“Yes, you just landed on my boy bits.” I had to censor myself.
“OH! I’m so sorry. I forgot humans had those there. For ponys they are a bit more protected.”
I slowly recovered. I wouldn’t get the chapter done tonight. I knew just what I needed to ease the pain. I opened the fridge and grabbed a cold beer.
“Whats that? Is it a soda? Can I have one?”
“Is not a soda, and I think it would be a really bad idea for you to have one. You’ve done a lot to help me with my story but you’ve done some damage too. I'd hate to see what you'd do if you got drunk.”
“Drunk?”
“What happens when you drink too much alcohol. Some humans do it to help ease pain.”
“So its like one of Zecora's healing potions?”
“You could say that. But it makes you stupid for a while too.”
“That doesn’t sound good.”
As I gulp my beer, I pull out a cigg and light it. The pink pony scrunched her nose at the smell. “Why are you breathing in that smelly smoke?”
“It calms my nerves.”
“It smells worse than dragon breath.”
“And its bad for me too, just like the beer. But it helps me fell better.”
“That doesn’t sound right.”
“In our world, unlike yours, there’s a lot of suffering. And some people like me use bad things to get relief from them. Its a temporary fix but its better than nothing.”
“That sound so sad.”
“It is, but such is life here.”
Just then a face appeared in the hole in my laptops screen. It was Twilight. She said “Pinkie, its time to come back. Its been two hours and if you stay much longer you might not be able to get back.”
Pinkie looked a little annoyed at being rushed. But she knew she had to get back. Before she walked to the screen to go home she looked right into my eyes. “Please promise me one thing Mike. Promise me that you’ll try to find a way to be really happy.” Her eyes seemed to get larger and she had puffed out her lower lip.
I couldn’t resist feeling bad for troubling her with my problems. But I also felt she really just wanted every pony and every person to just be happy. “I promise.”
“Pinkie Promise?”
“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” I recited
“You better do it, or I'll come back and try out what they said in that Cupcakes story.” she said with s gleam in her eye. I was honestly scared of what she said. Then she giggled. “I'm kidding. Id never do that to anypony.” I giggled myself at that. She had pranked me. “Bye Mike.”
“Bye Pinkie.”
With that she jumped back thru the screen. Then Twilight appeared and said “I hope Pinkie didn’t bother you too much. She just hates to see anyone sad. I thought I hid my mirrors into the human world but I guess I missed one. By the way, I've read your story myself and I find it fascinating. I look forward to more.” And with that her horn glowed. My laptop screen magically started to reform. Then with a dimming purple glow, it was repaired.
I sat there stunned for an hour, staring at the screen. The pictures cycled thru, but no sign of the hole or the ponys. I downed the now warm beer and headed for bed. I turned around at looked at the screen and saw a Pinkie Pie wallpaper pop up. I smiled. Then as I was turning away I could have sworn it winked at me. And her voice distantly said “Forever”