Pinkie smiled brightly at the shining counter in Sugarcube Corner. Light streamed in from the open windows, brightening up the room with a glow that only Celestia’s noonday sun could make. She glanced around at the now clean bakery. The foals, Pumpkin and Pound, had been a bit fussy with her today. They had made a big mess at lunch time, so Pinkie had busted her flank cleaning after she put them to bed.

Pinkie sighed happily at the place around her. This place was perfect for her. Much better than the old rock farm she had used to live at. She had chosen to follow her passion for parties and move to a place where she was needed. Ponyville was close enough to her home that she could still visit her family whenever she wanted, and vice versa. When she had first come here, she didn’t have much money. She had been very hungry, and the smell from the bakery had attracted her. She had been about 19 when she had moved here, and noticed a help wanted sign in the window. She had gone directly to the owner of the shop, a Mr. Cake, and asked him about it. When he asked her why she was interested in the job, she had simply responded with the words “I’ve never known a cake to make somepony frown!~”

“And to this day,” Pinkie said to herself, “I haven’t seen one make somepony frown!” She giggled and hopped over to the door. She stopped, however, as her ears went floppy, her knees twitched and her eyes fluttered. She gasped loudly and ran to the window, looking up at the sky. “That was the combo for a BEAUUUUUTIFUL rainbow!” Sure enough, high in the sky was a gorgeous rainbow, the different colors blending together as the sun shone through it. Pinkie tilted her head to the side. “Waait… There hasn’t been any rain today…” Suddenly, her ears flopped, her eyes fluttered, and her knees shook and twitched again. Pinkie gasped and hopped quickly away from the door just as it opened to reveal her bestest friend, Rainbow Dash!

Rainbow looked at her best friend curiously. Pinkie was somehow half suspended in the air, her mouth agape and her eyes wide. “Pinkie… What are you doing?”

Pinkie fell to her hooves, a bright smile on her face. “Oh, well, I just had two combos in a row! I was wondering why there was a beautiful rainbow in the sky if we hadn’t had any rain, and then my Pinkie Sense told me to beware opening doors! So, I figured you’d be coming in, since you make the prettiest, specialist rainbows out there, Dashie, and I WAS RIGHT!!” Pinkie squealed in delight as Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.

Dash grinned boastfully, however. “Yeah, I DO make the best rainbows around here! Heck, I probably make the best rainbows in ALL of Equestria!” Pinkie fell to the floor, snorting and laughing. Dash cocked her head to the side, confused. “Why are you laughing?”

“Y-Your face l-looked so silly when you said things like that!!”

“Like what?”

“LIKE THIS SILLY!” She continued to giggle as Rainbow Dash just shook her head in confusion. Rainbow just figured it was Pinkie being Pinkie again. Pinkie hopped up to a standing position, still giggling slightly. She tiled her head slightly, smiling brightly. “Why did you come over, Dashie?” She gasped widely, if possible an even bigger smile alighting her face. “Are we gonna do some pranks?! Oh, I’ve been planning a really funny one involving some cupcakes, streamers, and 76 trombones!”

Rainbow laughed, snorting a bit herself. “Pinkie Pie, you are SO. Random.” Pinkie just giggled and waited for Dash to answer her question. “Actually, Pinkie, I was wondering if you could throw a party tonight. I know it’s short noti-“

“A PARTY?!?!” Pinkie gasped loudly, her mind racing. “OhmygoodnesshowonearthcouldIhaveforgottenthattodayisTank’sbirthday,OhmygoodnessIneedtograbmypartycannon,there’shardlyanytimeand-“

“PINKIE PIE,” Rainbow shouted, unable to follow the frantic mare’s speech.

“-And I said, Oatmeal was better than PEARS!! Oh, sorry.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes again, not even questioning what the pink mare had started rambling about. “It’s just a party, Pinkie. I knew you were totally awesome at parties, and who better than the most awesome partier to make a party for the most awesome turtle ever?”

Pinkie giggled. “Aww, thanks Dashie! Oh, but he’s not a turtle. He’s a tortoise.” Rainbow smiled and nodded. Pinkie couldn’t help but giggle at Dashie’s smile. She always loved seeing her best friends smile.

“So, the party will be tonight around 7, alright? Think you can handle?”

“You can count on me, Rainbow Dashie!” Pinkie giggled and waved goodbye as Dash flew off to go buy presents for her pet. Pinkie started planning immediately, thinking of the different balloons she’d need and streamers and cake and punch and – there was so much to plan!

Pinkie began to walk towards her room upstairs where she kept all her party stuff when she stopped. She felt strange. “Pinkie Sense?” No, this didn’t feel like her Pinkie Sense… She gasped as her hoof flew up to her head. Suddenly, her head felt like daggers… T-this wasn’t fun! What was this?? Her head hurt badly and she couldn’t stop it from hurting. She felt tears in her eyes. They weren’t happy tears. Why weren’t they happy tears? She was happy. She had to be happy.

Opening her eyes as far as she dared, she saw the gingerbread colored walls and bright interior of the bakery slide away to a horrible white. Everything around her was bright and dark all at the same time, the colors blurring and shapes melting into a horrible blackness, a gaping hole of pain and misery. Pinkie heard herself scream once, seeing moving shadows of what looked like ponies around her. She tried to back away, but she couldn’t move, something was holding her back.

Pinkie heard her own frantic breath. She wanted to go back, where had Sugarcube Corner gone?! S-she needed to be happy, she needed her friends, where were her friends?! The shadows came closer. Pinkie heard herself panicking as she began to hyperventilate. She was crying so much, everything shone and swam through her tears.

Pinkie gasped as she felt something prick her side. Everything was swimming… She felt a small smile grow on her face. The black was going away… the colors were coming back…

Pinkie shook her head from the daydream. That had to be what it was. A daydream. She had gotten too excited and had dreamed up some horrible nightmare. That was it. “Silly Pinkie, no more stressing about the party! All I need to do is fire up my party cannon!” With a small giggle, she forgot her troubles and hopped upstairs. Everything was fine. Her friends were happy. Her friends were well. Everything had a smile.

Pinkie just ignored the tears drying on her face.

Author's Note

Woot~