Painting Clouds

by Tenchi-sama

Rating: everyone
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Sad, Pinkie Pie
Length: 16303

Driven away by fear and paranoia, Pinkie tries to start a new life elsewhere, but is haunted by bizarre dreams and a longing for her old friends.

Pinkie is overcome with paranoia which drives her away, and she tries to start a new life in the town of Fillyshire. She works at a hardware store with a clumsy co-worker called Topsy Turvy, and picks up painting as a hobby. Meanwhile, she is haunted by bizarre dreams and a longing for her old friends. [This is a rewrite of an older fic called "Pinkamina Story".]

Published 2012-03-13 08:44:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-03-29 01:23:54 UTC

The Last Day

How It All Began

Note:  I plan to make some significant changes to the story in the near future.

You can still read this version if you want (based on feedback, it seems fine in its current state), or you can put it aside and wait until I make the revision—though it might be a couple more months before I start posting the revised chapters (I have other stories I'm working on, including another pony fic).

    To think that just weeks ago, she was in a happy place.  Everything was fine.  It was surprising how much could change in that time, Pinkie thought as she sluggishly crawled out of bed.  She stopped to regard herself in the mirror, and looking back at her was a pink pony with straight flat hair hanging to one side, and lifeless eyes.  Next was the kitchen, where she got herself some breakfast; just some cereal and a glass of water.  Among the things that changed, she had gained an aversion to candy and similarly sweet things, because of what it reminded her of.

    This was a Friday, so one more day of work at the hardware store before having the weekend off.  She had taken this job when she first arrived in Fillyshire, and the kindly mare that ran the store even arranged for a place to stay.  So she made a slight effort to make herself presentable, and headed out to start her day.

    It was one of those days when the past events weighed more heavily on her mind.  While she went through the motions of working away in the stockroom, her thoughts drifted back to how it all started.

    Sunshine bathed the town of Ponyville, and Pinkie Pie was trotting along with a bounce in her step.  Maybe it was her imagination, but there was a peculiar feeling in the air which she could not put her hoof on.  For a brief moment the sunlight seemed to dim and she felt a slight chill.  Maybe just a cloud passing over, she thought to herself, and continued on her way.

    Further on, she saw Twilight and Fluttershy up ahead chatting about something.  "Oh, hey girls," she said to them.

    Twilight was caught in the tail end of what she was saying to Fluttershy, saying "... that stupid pink ... err, hi Pinkie Pie."

    Pinkie gave her a suspicious look and said, "Wait, what was that?"

    Twilight hesitated for a moment under her gaze, and then responded, "Oh yeah, I was just telling Fluttershy about a prank that Rainbow Dash pulled, which went out of hand."

    "Prank?"  What she wanted to say was, "Are you sure you weren't about to say stupid pink pony?" but she kept it to herself.

    "Oh yes," Fluttershy added, "Rainbow has been doing a lot of pranks lately.  Like yesterday, she took a bottle from Berry Punch's house, and poured it in the water that I leave out for the animals nearby."  Her expression became sad.  "Suddenly, the poor little critters were acting strange... like droopy and dizzy.  I got worried and thought they were falling ill."

    "So, where are you ponies off to?" Pinkie asked.

    There was a hum, maybe like a gust of wind just as Twilight started to speak.  What she picked up sounded like: "Why don't you mind your own business for once."

    Pinkie made appalled gasp, "Well, that was a bit uncalled for."

    "What are you talking about?"  Twilight arched an eyebrow.  The white noise was gone.  "I don't see what's wrong with going to Rarity's and seeing if there's something we can do to help her business."

    "But, that's not what you just..."  The pink earth pony shook her head and raked her hoof over her face.

    "Are you okay, Pinkie Pie?" asked Fluttershy.

    With her eyes downcast, she said, "I don't know.  Maybe I'm just tired or something."

    "You didn't drink any of that water did you?" the yellow pegasus asked, suddenly sounding worried.

    Pinkie giggled at the mental image of drunken bunnies.  "No, it's not that."

    "Well we should be going," Twilight added.  "Perhaps you'll feel better if you have a rest.  Or you could come along if you want."

    "Nah, it's okay.  I was up late last night, so it was probably just that."

    At that, they nodded and said their goodbyes.  Then Pinkie was left wondering what just happened.  Was she starting to hear things... or were her friends messing with her?

    A ringing sound distracted Pinkie from her train of thought.  It was coming from the large set of doors at the back of the stock room.  She headed down and slid open one of the doors to see an older male pony with a delivery uniform and a clipboard.

    "Oh, of course," Pinkie said, "the stock delivery."  The store got deliveries on Tuesdays and Fridays, replenishing things that were running low.  There wasn't much being delivered this time, but there were some fairly large boxes to bring in.

    The delivery pony flipped the clipboard around and held it out to her.  "Just sign at the bottom."  Pinkie took the pencil with her teeth and scribbled her signature along the dotted line.

    When she returned the pencil, the courier nodded and headed back to the cart, and her co-worker was on his way to offload the packages.  His name was Topsy Turvy, he was a white pony and his mane was a pale brown.  Pinkie and her co-worker started by lifting the boxes off one at a time, using the grip holes on the sides, and placing them neatly to the side.  Once everything had been removed, the cart was on its way.

    Now it was time to bring this stuff in, unpack, inventory, and put away.  Pinkie went to one of the larger boxes, nearly her height, and she started to nudge it forward with her forehead, slowly picking up speed as she made her way inside.

    Her thoughts again started to wander.  She wished it had ended with those misheard words, but that was just the start of it.  It was not long before Pinkie Pie was certain that something was wrong.  Maybe that peculiar feeling she had was related to how the ponies were acting, she pondered.  Perhaps something was affecting their behavior.

    Pinkie decided to take a stroll, hoping that the fresh air and some sunshine could do her some good.  It was a nice change from the day before, which was overcast with a few light showers, though there were still some puddles and wet patches around.

    Continuing along the path, she saw something up ahead.  There was a large puddle to the side, and there was something sticking out.  A pony tail!  She made a loud gasp and ran over to the edge of the puddle.  She reached out to grab the tail, but it felt strange.  When Pinkie pulled at it, it turned out to be nothing more than a stick with bunches of fabric stuck to it.

    Her attention was drawn to the sound of snickering, and she turned to see Rainbow Dash hovering nearby grinning.  The pink pony just frowned back at her; not exactly the reaction she was expecting.

    "Come on, you know it's just a little fun," Rainbow said.

    Pinkie's frown faded and she let out a nervous laugh.  "Yeah, you're right... just a little fun."

    Rainbow Dash landed, tucked her wings away, and walked a few paces closer.  "I don't get it.  This is usually the point where you talk about getting me back."

    "I guess I'm just not in the mood right now."

    "Alrighty then," Dash replied, and she spread her wings and lifted off again.  "I'll see you around."

    Several minutes later, Pinkie felt another chill.  This time she had passed under the shade of a large tree.  While passing underneath, she could hear a creaking sound from one of the branches.  Then there was an unpleasant chuckling coming from above.  She looked up and saw something moving around, and for a moment she thought she glimpsed rainbow stripes.

    "Rainbow, is that you?" she asked, but there was no response.  Pinkie decided to let it go and continue walking.  Then out of nowhere, something whacked her hard on the back of her head.  She let out a yelp and stumbled into a muddy puddle.  There was a throbbing pain in the back of her head, and mud covering her forelegs and some of her mane.  She felt hurt and humiliated.

    "Why," she uttered almost as a whimper, and while turning towards the tree, she said "that was just..." she was going to say "mean", but it escaped her when she noticed that no one was up there.  Then looking back down, she saw what had hit her on the head.  It was a piece of a branch.  It could have just fallen off by itself.  But then another part of her was thinking, maybe Dash was quick enough to get away before she turned around.

    She was startled back to reality with a crashing sound at the other side of the store room.  Topsy had been reaching out to place something on a higher shelf, and he slipped and stumbled into a cluster of gardening tools.

    "Jeez Louise, you almost gave me a heart attack!" Pinkie yelled in agitation.

    "Sorry, my bad," he called out as he pulled himself out of the pile and started to sort it out.  While he did that, she had finished putting things away, and then she sighed and went over to help.

    "Sometimes you remind me of a pony I used to know," she remarked.

    "Oh really?" he perked up at the reference.  She never usually talked things from her past, but on the rare occasions that she did, he seemed eager to hear it.

    "Yeah, there was this grey pegasus pony; can't really say I knew her, but I've seen her around."  From there she continued to reminisce.  "There was this one time when she accidentally damaged the town hall with a thundercloud.  I think it happened when she was playing around with…"  The pink pony suddenly fell silent, and her smile was quickly replaced with a look of sorrow.

    "I… I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked," Topsy said.

    Pinkie gave a dismissive hoof and mumbled that he shouldn't worry about it, and she went on with her next task.  This time, she took a notepad and hung it around her neck on a piece of string, and a pencil clipped to the side.  She took this out to the shop floor where she would inspect the shelves to see what needed to be restocked.

    The owner, Mrs. Plough never had any complaints about her work – if anything she would occasionally compliment Pinkie for doing a good job.  Once, the mare asked if she wanted to spend some time serving customers, so she'd have something different to do.  However, Pinkie declined because she didn't feel particularly sociable, and had become quite withdrawn.  Mrs. Plough probably saw it in her eyes, and decided not to press the issue.

    While busy with her next task, Pinkie continued to think about what happened that day.  It didn't take long before more weird things started.

    Walking along one of the main streets in Ponyville, Pinkie Pie was still a little damp from washing the mud off.  She also felt a dull pain from being hit by that wayward piece of wood.  There was that ambiguous sound again.

    There were three ponies standing together and chatting away, and she thought she could hear whispering and giggling.  When she walked past, she turned to face them and the whispering suddenly stopped.  Was it about her?  Further along, there was a stallion serving at one of the market stalls, talking to a couple of other ponies.  Again, they seemed to be talking about something, and the tone changed when she got closer.

    "Calm down Pinkie," she thought aloud, "you're starting to get a little paranoid."  With a rising feeling of unease, she returned to Sugarcube Corner and went upstairs to have a lie down.

    A couple of hours later, after waking from her nap, Pinkie was alternating between sitting and pacing around, not sure what to do with herself.  There was a knock at the door, and she headed down to answer it.

    At the door was Twilight.  "Hey Pinkie Pie.  I wanted to see if you were feeling any better," she said.

    "I don't know, I guess so."

    "Anyway, I'm having a little evening picnic out in the field, and I was wondering if you would like to come," Twilight added.  "Sadly, Rarity and Applejack were busy, and Spike was tired and just wanted to stay in.  So it's me, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash."

    At the last name, Pinkie suddenly looked hesitant.

    "What's the matter?" the unicorn asked.

    "Oh it's not important.  I'd be happy to come along," Pinkie Pie responded, though slightly lacking in enthusiasm, and they headed out.

    The sun was low in the sky, and it bathed the scenery in warm colors.  When the two ponies got to the spot, a picnic layout and various other things were already set up.  Also, the two pegasi had already settled in.  They both turned when they heard them approaching.

    Pinkie smiled at Fluttershy, but when she turned to Dash she quickly averted her gaze.

    Rainbow Dash happened to catch this.  "Pinkie Pie, are you still upset about what happened earlier?  It was just a stick with some dumb fabric on it."  Suddenly, Pinkie's gaze shot back to meet Dash's, with anger and irritation in her eyes.

    "Well what about the other thing you did?  Later on, when you were hiding in a tree, and threw a piece of wood at me!"

    Dash's eyes went wide, and became self conscious as all eyes were now on her.  "I don't know what you're talking about."  Then shifting glances with the other two, she added, "Seriously you guys, you know I wouldn't do that."

    "Oh yeah?" Pinkie persisted.  "I have the bump to prove it."

    Twilight checked the back of her head, and noticed a small bump that was starting to bruise.  But not wanting to jump to conclusions, she said, "Tell me what happened, exactly."

    "Okay, let's see."  Pinkie glanced upwards as she tried to recall it.  "I was passing under a tree, and I heard movement up there.  I could've sworn I saw Rainbow's tail… then suddenly a piece of wood smacked me in the head."  In reaction to the memory, she flinched and reached back to nurse the sore spot where it hit her.

    Fluttershy didn't like what she was hearing.  "Rainbow, did you really do that?"

    "No, of course not," she protested.  "Look Pinkie, I'm telling you it wasn't me."

    Pinkie cast her eyes downwards, feeling embarrassed for accusing a friend of such a thing.  While everyone was sitting down she looked back at Dash, but there was something strange about her.  Nothing obviously different, but she felt it.  Then she turned to Pinkie and gave her an almost sinister grin.  The pink pony blinked hard and rubbed her eyes with the side of her hoof.  When her view of Dash returned, she was in a conversation with Fluttershy and Twilight.

    Then there was that sound again.  She thought she heard one of them mention her name, and then something along the lines of, "yeah, it makes me wonder why we put up with her."

    "Hey, I'm right here guys," she asserted, bewildered at what they were saying, but they looked at her with slightly confused expressions, as if nothing happened.  "You know what, fine, be that way.  See if I care!"  Pinkie got up and started to walk off.

    "Wait, where are you going?" asked Twilight.

    "If it's all the same, I want to be alone," Pinkie responded, sounding more hurt than angry.

    Her friends were continuing to act strange, and she had no idea why.  All she knew was she kept hearing that sound… or was it even a sound?  Was it background noise, or was it in her head?  Whatever it was, it was usually accompanied by ponies saying mean things about her, and then acting like it didn't happen.  She wished that that was the extent of it, but something far worse was still to come.

    Now Pinkie's shift had ended, and she did a few last minute things before heading off.  Outside, the buildings and landscape of Fillyshire was not too different from Ponyville, as it was just another small town several miles away.  Here, the ground was drier and the grass was starting to go brown.  It seemed that the pegasi in this town were getting a little lazy and negligent.

    When she got home, she kept the lights off and sauntered over to the couch.  She didn't want to relive it again, but she knew it would weigh down on her until she let the memory run its course.

    About an hour after she walked away from the group, Pinkie was wandering along a high ridge overseeing the lake.  The sun had now sunk below the horizon – one of the reasons for Twilight's picnic was to watch the sunset.  She stopped and looked out at the lake.  Watching the dark glistening surface of the water felt peaceful.

    She noticed a sound and turned to see Rainbow Dash landing several paces away.  Maybe it was the dimming ambient light, but there almost seemed to be a strange dark aura around her.

    "So this is where you've been moping around," Dash said, and Pinkie felt there was a mocking tone in her voice.

    Pinkie Pie frowned.  "Just leave me alone."

    "By the way," the pegasus started, "you still have a spot of mud from when I knocked you into that puddle."  Then she started snickering.  "You should've seen your face.  It was all hurt and shocked, like 'oh I would never expect a friend to do that to me'".

    Pinkie gasped, but then trying to assert reason, she said, "Rainbow, you're not yourself.  Why are you acting this way?  In fact, why is everypony…"

    "Mocking you behind your back?" Dash responded, finishing her sentence.  "Haven't you figured it out yet?"  Her features had gotten darker still.  Was something controlling her, and making her say these things?

    "Stop it, you don't know what you're saying," the pink pony pleaded.

    "The rest of us actually make ourselves useful, but what do you do… you know, other than eating candy and being annoying?"

    "Don't talk like that," Pinkie said more firmly, but with a tremble in her voice.

    "Like a dumb little piggy," Rainbow returned, clearly as an aggressive taunt.

    "You take that back!"

    "Or what?" she asked, and that ambiguous white noise was getting louder.  "Are you going to make me listen to one of your stupid songs?"

    "I SAID STOP IT!"  Pinkie screamed at the top of her voice as she threw herself at her antagonist.  She barreled into her, knocking the blue pegasus on her back.  They frantically grappled and struggled and rolled around the ground.  Dash then kicked with her hind legs, knocking Pinkie off of her.

    Now free, Dash flipped over and got back to her feet.  Taking off and slowly hovering further into the air, she said, "Okay, now it's my turn."  Her wings started flap faster, then she flew head on towards the earth pony.  When they collided, the impact sent them both rolling down the slope.  They were grappling and tumbling, but they also lost control as the slope got steeper the further they went.

    The last part near the bottom was almost a sheer edge, and Pinkie felt herself leave the ground and fall through mid air.  All she recalled was a dull thud, a faint snapping sound, and bouncing and landing again.  There must have been a few shrubs at the bottom.  Aching and slightly stunned from the fall, she lay there for a few moments.  Good thing something broke my fall, she thought, hopefully Dash was just as lucky.

    Broke my fall?  Her eyes shot open again.  Pinkie slowly got up, and looked to where she had first landed.  Rainbow Dash was lying there, and she wasn't moving.

    "Come on Rainbow Dash, rise and shine," she said with a forced cheerfulness, but there was a rising fear in her voice.  There was a sinking feeling when she realized where the snapping sound must have come from.  She slowly took a step closer.  "Don't worry, I'm not mad at you for what you said."  There was still no movement, and she started to feel like she was suffocating.  "Please, say something."  Her voice came out as little more than a whimper.

    Taking the last few hesitant steps, she leaned down.  Dash was on her side, and Pinkie tried moving her foreleg, but it fell limp.  Then she leaned in and, using her nose, moved the prone pegasus' head to the side, but it just slipped back down, and it felt a little cold.  The pink pony recoiled; her heart raced, and her breathing was rapid and shallow.

    "Rainbow?" she whispered with a tremble.  Her vision blurred as tears started to well up.  Just then, a distant sound caught her attention.  It was Twilight's voice.  Her grief was rapidly replaced with a feeling of dread and panic.

    "Pinkie Pie, are you there?" called out Twilight.  "We heard yelling."

    As the voice got closer, Pinkie was terrified of what would happen if they saw her, and Dash lying there lifeless on the ground.  After this, there was no way she could stay here.  She slowly backed away from the source of the voice, and then turned and ran, moving as fast as her legs could carry her.

    Pinkie lay on her couch in the dark, feeling another tear trickle down her cheek, and the occasional faint sob.  This was why she hated thinking about it.  Sometimes it felt like she was reliving it, and the pain she felt would come flooding back.  To this day, she still couldn't figure out the strange things she experienced, or why Rainbow Dash acted the way she did.  There was no way of knowing for sure.  Maybe that was why a part of her kept dwelling on it.

    The terrible thoughts finally started to fade from her mind.  Between a day of hard work and the emotional ordeal, she was left feeling drained.  Weariness slowly swept over her and she drifted into sleep.

Author's Notes:  Well that's my first chapter done, and I hope you're enjoying it so far.  Let me know what you thought about it (though please be gentle).  If you're wondering, there are three more chapters still to come, which will hopefully be soon.

Edit:  A little while after posting this chapter, I noticed that the MLP Facebook page mentioned a land called Fillysire.  Just wanted to clarify that this is not related to the town (Fillyshire) in my story.  The similarity is purely coincidental, and I wasn't jumping on some naming bandwagon.

Starting Over

Painting With Her Eyes Closed

    After what had happened, Pinkie Pie ran, and she didn’t stop running until she was back at Sugarcube Corner.  Realizing that it was not safe to stay, she started to gather some essentials and packed a pair of saddlebags.

    Just before leaving, she turned round to take one last look.  Now that the adrenaline was starting to wear off, it hit her… it was really happening.  She was about to leave behind everything she knew and held dear.  In that instant, the puffiness in her hair simply died, and it fell limp to the side of her head.  The moment passed when the urgent need to leave reasserted itself.

    Pinkie was now heading out of town at a brisk trot, and the occasional gallop, all the while trying to avoid being seen by bystanders.  If somepony were to see her, they might figure out where she was going.  Before long, her pace had slowed down significantly.  The panic-stricken run had taken a lot out of her, and she was now carrying a considerable amount of extra weight.  Also the town of Fillyshire was several miles away, so she really needed to pace herself.  Gummy was left behind, but she knew they would go to her house, and that Fluttershy would probably take care of him.

    On her way out of town, the sky continued to dim and lights in the street were all lit.  Then not long into her journey, she was guided by little more than the moonlight itself.  The road curved and swayed, and seemed to go on forever.  She was so desperate to keep going and get as much distance between her and Ponyville as possible, she was not aware of how fatigued her legs had become, or how much she had slowed down.  Then with very little warning she started to waver, like she was about to collapse at any moment.  She barely made it to the short grass before her legs gave out, and she dropped to the ground.  The decision to stop and rest had now been made for her.

    While on the ground, she wriggled out from the saddlebags and pulled out a drink.  Since it was dark and she was in the middle of nowhere, she finally managed to convince herself that she was safe, for now at least.  Shivering from a chill breeze – which would only get colder as the night wore on – she reached in the bag and pulled out a scarf.

    After about half an hour, Pinkie got up again feeling some strength had returned to her, and the long walk continued.  It was only after another hour of slow walking when she had to stop again.  This time, she was overcome with tiredness, and before she knew it she had dozed off.

    Pinkie was stirred by the sound of a passing cart, and she looked to the horizon to find that the sun was starting to emerge.  It must have been a good few hours later.  By the time she reached Fillyshire, some of the early workers were up and about.

    However, seeing this made her realize something.  Preoccupied with simply getting away, she neglected to think about what she would do when she got there.  Pinkie would need a place to stay, and a job so she could support herself.

    She spent close to an hour walking around town and waiting for places to open.  And now it was time to start searching for spare accommodation and work.

    The first place she checked was a clothes store, but they apologized and said they didn’t have any job openings.  Next was a book and calligraphy store, but the owner said he wanted someone with knowledge of the things they sold.  On her way, there was a colorful confectionary store, but the sight of it was just a painful reminder of what she had just run away from.

    Doubt was starting to sink in, but she had to keep trying.  Then she came across a hardware store, with a sign outside that said “Mrs. Plough’s Tool Shed”.  Looking in the window, there was a help wanted sign.

    Inside, it was kind of dark and dusty.  After a few moments of glancing around at the high isles of tools and equipment, she was approached by a kindly grey brown mare.

    “Why hello there,” she said, “how may I help you?”

    “Yeah, I’m interested in the job opening,” Pinkie replied, tilting her head slightly towards the door.

    “Oh, of course.  I’m the owner, Mrs. Plough,” the mare said with a smile.  “So, can you tell me something about yourself?  Like, have you worked in a store before?”

    “Yeah, though I used to sell cakes and stuff.”

    Mrs. Plough looked at her for a moment with a thoughtful expression.  “You know, it doesn’t take a genius to see that you’re running away from something.”

    Pinkie’s flinch and averted gaze pretty much confirmed it.  Then again, she was a pink pony with balloons as a cutie mark, and used to sell sweets… and was now trying to get a job at a place like this.  Not to mention the saddlebags and harried look on her face.

    “Don’t worry I’m not going to pry.  If you really are interested in this job, I’m willing to give you a work trial.”

    “Wait, just like that?  How do you know I’m suitable?” Pinkie asked.

    The older pony smiled and said, “I’m usually a good sense of character.  You seem like the kind of pony who is not averse to a little hard work.  Besides, the point of a work trial is so I can see for myself.”  She threw a glance at the doorway leading to the stockroom.  “And I’m sure my assistant looks forward to getting an extra pair of hooves around the place.”  She leaned a little closer, and in a hushed voice remarked, “Quick word of warning.  He’s a good worker and all, but he does have a bit of a clumsy streak.”

    As if on command, there was a loud noise from the back, like a box had fallen and spilled a pile of small things on the floor, followed by a male voice calling out, “My bad!”

    “Anyway,” she said as she went back on topic, “can I assume that you’re still looking for accommodation?”

    Pinkie nodded sheepishly.

    “Well I can help you with that too,” she piped up.  “We have a deal with the local letting agency – actually something a lot of businesses here have – if I employ you, I can also arrange a place for you to stay.  As part of the offer, you would get a small discount, and rent would be deducted from your pay.  So, are you interested?”

    “Yeah, that would be great,” Pinkie responded with a touch of enthusiasm.

    “I’m glad to hear it,” the grey brown mare said.  She went and showed her around, explaining some of the things she would be doing, and said that work would start the following day.  However, with so many high shelves, she suddenly felt a longing to be a pegasus pony.

    Afterwards, Mrs. Plough got her assistant to take Pinkie to the letting office, to make the appropriate arrangements.  She saw that he was a white earth pony – albeit a little marked and scuffed – with a short and slightly scruffy mane that was a pale brown color.

    As they left the store, he said, “So, you new around here?”

    “Yeah, I just arrived actually,” Pinkie replied.

    “I thought so.  I’m sure I would have noticed a cute pony like you around…”  He suddenly stopped.  “Err, I mean,” he fumbled with his words, “so… what’s your name.”

    “Well, my name is Pinkamina Pie… but you can call me Pinkie, I suppose.”  She was surprised by the sudden reluctance she felt to share her shortened name.

    “Pinkie Pie, that’s a nice name,” he said brightly.  “Mine is Topsy Turvy.  So, where did you come from?”

    “I used to live in Ponyville… but I’d rather not talk about it,” Pinkie replied, with a pained expression.

    “I, I’m sorry,” Topsy tried.  Pinkie just gave a shrug and they headed on.

    Once the boring bureaucratic part was sorted at the office, she was taken to her new apartment.  She put the saddlebags down and made a few cursory glances around.  There was a sitting area with a couch, a kitchen at the back, and the bedroom door to the left.  Along a small corridor, there was a door that led down to a basement.

    “Would you like some help with unpacking or something?” he asked.

    “No, I’ll be fine,” Pinkie said, “besides, you should probably get back to the store now.”  Just as he was turning to leave, she added, “Thanks anyway.”

    This will do just fine, she thought to herself.  After another moment of thought, she let out a giggle and said, “He said I was cute”.  Thoughts of the clumsy pony and his kindness had cheered her up a little, for now at least.

    And so her new life in Fillyshire began.

    When Pinkie fell asleep on the couch after returning home from work, it marked the end of her fifth full week.  Sometimes she disliked the monotony of the work, but she appreciated having something to focus on.  It helped to distract her from certain unwelcome memories.  Except days like this when those thoughts and memories almost seemed to be calling out to her, making it difficult to ignore.

    During her free time, she wanted to find something to occupy herself.  Also, the best way to move on was to make something for herself here.  One day, the idea of art piqued her interest, and then she remembered that the Book and Calligraphy store had a stock of art supplies.  So one day she returned to get some things, including a set of paints, a few brushes (and one of those things to strap to her hoof, so she could hold them), among other things.  At first she used simple parchment to practice and to get the hang of it.  Then a few days ago, she bought a full-sized canvas to work on.

    Pinkie was aware that since leaving Ponyville, she never heard that white noise again.  She never did figure out what it was, but was just glad it was gone.  Unfortunately, as one odd occurrence stopped, another one took its place.  For over a week now, Pinkie noticed that she was starting to sleepwalk.  Not only that, but some of her pictures… she had no recollection of painting them.

    By the time Pinkie Pie woke up, it was late in the evening, and the sky was a fiery hue as the sun got ready to set.  She slid herself off the couch only to find her limbs hadn’t quite woken up, and she collapsed to the floor with a thud.  If she wasn’t fully awake before, she was now.  As she was getting up, her stomach started growling at her for not eating anything after getting back home.

    “Okay, I hear you,” she mumbled while walking into the kitchen.  She found some dried alfalfa left over, and there was still a bottle of carrot juice.  There’s barely anything left, she thought to herself, better go get some stuff tomorrow.

    After munching some hay and drinking her vegetable juice, she headed down to the basement.  There were paints, paint brushes, a mixing pallet and a small metal can with cleaning solution sitting next to the painting stand.  Also scattered around were sheets of parchment with crude (but gradually improving) pictures.  Some of the pictures had unpleasant imagery.  There was a picture of a colorful building in flames, and another of a pony being chased and tormented by something unseen.

    When Pinkie looked at the pictures, there was something off about them.  She didn’t know if it was caused by the lighting, or something wrong with the paint, but the pictures had a peculiar haziness to it.  As well as this, she remembered running out low on colors which she didn’t recall using much of.  Looking at the pictures, she paid attention to the more eerie and vivid ones.  It started to bother her because these were the ones that she could not recall doing.

    She picked up the canvas and placed it on the stand, but before starting to paint she picked up a sketching pencil and affixed it to her hoof strap.  One thing she learned was that it was useful to start with a basic sketch, to sort out the layout and proportions.

    The following morning, unable to put it off any longer, she went to the grocery store.  Strapped around her neck was a shopping basket, and she wandered through the aisles.  On her way around she got a bag of oats, some bunches of fresh alfalfa, and a few other minor things.  When she was done, she put the basket on the counter.

    “Oh, hey Pinkie,” the pale green unicorn assistant said brightly as she started levitating the items into bags.  This was where she did most of her food shopping, and some of the assistants had gotten to know her.  “If you’re interested, there’s a special offer on mixed flowers.”

    “Maybe another time,” Pinkie replied, her mind drifting elsewhere.

    “Hey, have you heard about the issues with the local pegasi?” asked the assistant.

    Pinkie Pie gave a shrug.

    “It seems that they have been neglecting their obligations, like barely bringing any rain, which is why this place has been so dry.  I’m telling you, if they don’t get their rears into gear soon, it’s going to start affecting our supplies.”

    On her way home, the pink pony noticed a familiar sweet smell in the air.  It was coming from the confectionary store a few doors down.  She walked over to the window and looked inside.  One of the ponies inside was placing a new tray of something down behind the glass counter.  Seeing them suddenly stirred a memory inside her, and her hair puffed out slightly.  They were apple and cinnamon muffins, like the ones that were at the picnic.

    That picnic.

    Pinkie’s hair fell back down, and she walked off trying to occupy her mind with something else.  Well, the initial sketch for her new painting was complete.  It took longer than she thought, but today she could finally start with the actual paintwork; that was something to look forward to.

    When she got home, her plans changed when she suddenly felt the need just to lie down and rest.  So she had a drink of water and went to lie down on her bed.  It didn’t take long for her to doze off.  Her dreams were strange; she was aware of things happening, but it was like being stuck in a cloud and everything was obscured and blurred out.

    She woke to the sound of her alarm clock, but the sound was faint.  When Pinkie opened her eyes, she found herself on the couch.  No biggie, must have just forgotten to turn off the alarm, and did a bit of sleep walking.  As she got up off the couch, she looked up at the clock on the wall.  Sure enough it was her regular wake up time, and then she saw the section underneath which rotated through the days of the week.  What she saw made her heart jump.

    “Monday?!” the pink pony gasped.  “But… how could I possibly lose an entire weekend?”  She dreaded to think of the implications.  But if it really was Monday, she ought to get ready for work.  When she went to make breakfast, she did a quick inventory and found that much of it had been eaten – easily a couple of days worth.

    When Pinkie Pie got to work, she was hoping to see the Saturday shift store assistants.  No luck, unfortunately.  The mare store owner gave her a welcoming smile and said, “Good morning, I hope you enjoyed your weekend.”

    Speaking of Saturdays, this was a fairly busy day for the Tool Shed, and to make it worse, it was clear that the ponies working that shift were not doing so well with keeping up.  This left Pinkie with a lot more work when she came back on the Monday.

    She walked through the store room, thinking of the time it would take to straighten the place up.  Topsy came up beside her and said, “Yeah I know.  Those weekend ponies say they can only work Saturday, but I bet Mrs. Plough is glad it’s just the one day.”

    “Pffft, like you’re one to talk,” the pink pony jested.

    “Hey,” her white assistant protested, “I may… occasionally mess the odd thing up, but at least I make an effort to straighten it out.  But this-” he regarded his surroundings, “This is just plain sloppy.”

    “Then I guess we better stop yakking and get to it,” Pinkie commented.  She went to a wall with deep shelves and started to straighten up some boxes on the floor.

    “So umm, how was your weekend?” Topsy asked.

    Not stopping what she was doing, Pinkie shrugged and said, “Nothing much really.”  Not like she could elaborate even if she wanted to.

    As the assistant stopped to think about what he himself had done, he noticed something.  “Been doing some painting recently?” he asked, and suddenly the pink pony became rigid.  “Emm, I’m just asking because I noticed a spot of paint on your foreleg.

    Pinkie lifted each foreleg in turn, and noticed there was a spot of blue near her right hoof.  “Yeah, I guess I was.”

    Topsy laughed a little.  “You should have seen me when I tried to use paints in school.  It was not a pretty sight.”  His amused expression faded, as if to say, perhaps it’s best that you didn’t.  “Anyway, don’t suppose I could take a look at one of your pictures?”

    “No,” she replied, a little more firmly than she intended.  “I mean, I’m just starting and I’m not very good at it.”  The last thing she needed was for him to see those pictures.  Goodness knows what she had painted this time.  It was probably safe to assume that it didn’t follow the outline that she drew.  Before she knew it, they’d all be watching as she was taken away by ponies in white coats.  Perhaps saying things like: I always knew there was something wrong with her.

    “Is something wrong?” her colleague asked.

    It snapped her attention from the paranoid thoughts.  “No, it’s nothing.”  When she turned to him, she saw him look closely at her face.

    “Oh, I see another spot of paint on your cheek.  Just a small one, let me just…” he moved closer and reached with his right hoof.  Pinkie was aware that his face was just inches away from hers, and it felt like room had gotten a little warmer.  Just then, he stepped back and said, “Okay all gone.”

    “Umm yeah,” she replied, looking a little self-conscious, “I guess I’ll get back to what I was doing.”

    Later that day, as she headed home anxiety welled up inside her.  There was the anticipation (and fear) of getting back and having a look at what she had painted during those lost days.  Pinkie took hesitant steps down the stairs and sure enough, work had been done on the canvas.  Large sections were still incomplete, but she did see that it had a lot of shade and was portraying an eerie environment.

    As she looked at the painting, she was unsettled by the dark imagery that was forming, but there was something else.  Deep inside, she felt a strange longing for the picture to be completed.  What was so important about this painting?  The more that Pinkie thought about it, the stronger her curiosity became.

    The days continued to pass, and she was losing a couple of hours each day after work.  By Thursday evening, the painting was getting close to completion.  The picture was of a stormy sky, and dark menacing shadows in the background.  In the centre of the picture was a group of ponies.  They looked distressed and roughed up, and there was a sense of despair and fighting for a lost cause.  But just like some of the other pictures, it had that same haziness to it.  This disappointed her a little, as she hoped it wouldn’t happen with a proper canvas.

    She decided to tidy things up a little, and put the brushes in a can filled with fresh cleaning solution.  After she was done, the pink pony suddenly became aware of how tired she was.  She let out a wide-mouthed yawn, gave her legs a long stretch and got ready for bed.

    Pinkie Pie found herself in her basement, only things were different somehow.  The first sign was that her hair was full and puffy again.  She looked to the painting, but it was covered in a sheet.  She slowly approached, but just as she reached her hoof out, there was a ringing sound from upstairs.

    She turned towards the sound and headed up.  When she passed through the door, her surroundings suddenly changed.  It took a moment for it to register, but she was standing on the shop floor of Sugarcube Corner.  Thinking about this place would normally provoke painful emotions, but this time it was calming and comforting.

    There was that familiar ringing again, and she looked to the door and saw Twilight entering.

    “Hey Pinkie Pie,” she said with a smile.  She appeared to be happy to see her, but why?  “You coming?”

    “Where?” Pinkie asked warily.

    “You know, the get together at the library.”

    Deciding to play along, she followed Twilight.  After some walking, she found herself entering the library and everypony else was there.  Looking around, she saw Fluttershy and Rarity sitting and chatting away, and Applejack was at a table picking out one of one of the sweet treats (some of it looked like it was from Sugarcube Corner).  Pinkie turned toward the stairs, and she let out a startled gasp when she saw Rainbow Dash walking down.

    Dash noticed this and gave a little chuckle.  “Wow Pinkie Pie, it looks like you’ve seen a ghost.”  She then walked past to where the others were.

    Looking at them, Pinkie found her suspicions and apprehension slipping away.  The raw desire just to be there with them was overriding all competing emotions, and so she joined in.  They were all being nice to her, as if nothing had happened.  Even Rainbow Dash was there.  She started to feel happy and at peace (it seemed so long ago since she last felt this way), and she didn’t want it to end.

    That was not to be.  The ponies started to fade, and the music and talking was becoming distant.  “No, I don’t want to leave,” she pleaded.  The light was dimming, and her hair started to fall flat again.  Before she knew it, the room was dark and she was alone.

    “No.”  It came out as a faint whisper.  Pinkie was lying in her bed, still gazing at where her friends were just moments ago; replaced by a dark silent bedroom.

    While she lay there, a sound from outside caught her attention; the sound of heavy rain.  She slumped out of bed and approached the window, pulling aside the curtain a little with her hoof.  Looking outside, she saw the dry surroundings being drenched, and it reminded her of somepony else used to bring the rain.  She lowered her head in sad resignation, and a faint rumble of thunder rolled through the night sky above.

Author's Notes:  That brings us to the half way mark, and I hope you stick around for the remaining two chapters.  By the way, the exchanges between Topsy and Pinkie, it was just something I added during a redraft (meh, I just thought it was cute).  It won't be turning into a full-bown ship or anything (hence why I didn't add the tag).

Follow the Pink Pony

Trapped Behind Her Wall

    On her way to work Pinkie could smell the moist air, and noticed that the place already looked a little healthier after the rainstorm.  There was also an unusual bustle of ponies carrying equipment.  When she got to the Tool Shed she could see part of the town square down the street, and noticed that something was being constructed.  Possibly some kind of stage?

    “Oh, good morning Pinkie Pie,” Mrs. Plough said with a cheerful smile as the pink pony entered the store.

    “Emm, I don’t suppose you know what’s going on out there, do you?”

    “What, haven’t you heard?” the mare asked.

    The blank expression and shrug answered that.

    “There’s a town assembly taking place over the weekend, and I heard that Princess Celestia herself will be making an appearance.”

    Oh no, Pinkie thought, I can’t let Celestia know I’m here.  No doubt Twilight would have written to her about what happened to Rainbow Dash.  She forced a smile, and said, “That’s good news.”

    “I’ll say,” replied the older pony, “It’s a rare honor for her to come here.  I also heard that the council will be proposing plans for a railway station.”

    “That sounds good,” Pinkie replied continuing her feigned interest.  “Anyway, I better get started,” she said as she continued into the store room.

    The first thing she saw was her fellow assistant picking up small assorted tools scattered on the floor.  Breathing a sigh, she approached him and helped out.  As they both put the stuff back in the box, Pinkie noticed her right hoof was trembling slightly and quickly tried to hold it still with the other.  Topsy stopped and looked at the pink pony with concern.

    “Are you feeling okay?”

    “Um, yeah I’m fine.”  She consciously put on a brave face as an ‘everything’s okay’ sign, and she went back to putting the scattered tools back in the box.

    It was close to midday and ponies were starting to gather at the stage in the town square, talking amongst themselves.  It was not long before a large crowd had assembled.

    Royal guards showed up and took their places.  Another few armored ponies at the side held up trumpets and started their fanfare.  The crowd fell silent and glanced over at the sound, and then looked around at the sky.  One called and pointed, and they all turned.

    Pulled by two royal escorts, Princess Celestia stood upon her chariot as it glided through the sky, and descended upon the small town.  The ponies in attendance became increasingly enthusiastic, and a few started to cheer and stomp their feet.  The chariot touched down a short distance away and slowly rolled to a stop near the side of the stage.  As the princess stepped off the chariot and made her way up, the audience became quiet again and bowed down.

    An elder turquoise mare greeted the princess.  “As mayor of Fillyshire, I would like to welcome you to our town, Princess Celestia.  I am humbled by your visit.”

    The princess gave her a respectful nod.  “You are welcome, Mayor Quinn.”  But then her bright demeanor dulled to a purely formal one.  “I assume you know the main reason I arranged this assembly?”

    The mayor scuffed one of her front hooves self-consciously.  “Yes, I am aware.”

    “I am disappointed that the situation has been allowed to escalate this far,” Celestia said.  “I had to get pegasus ponies from a nearby town to bring some much needed rain, otherwise your crops would have surely failed.”

    The mayor looked down, chastised.

    “Don’t worry,” the princess added with a softer tone, “I am not here to throw punishment around, or to guilt anypony.  But whatever is going on, it needs to be sorted out.”

    Quinn looked back up at the princess, nodding.  “Yes of course, Princess.”

    Later on, it was time for Pinkie to head home, but before that she went to the town square where the meeting had taken place.  Everything was set up but it was currently empty, and the only sound was from the nearby ponies going about their day in the market.

    While glancing around, she spotted a couple of pegasus ponies walking along one of the streets, heading towards the square.  One was a brown male pony, and the other one he was talking to…

    The sight had struck her with fear.  The rainbow mane was unmistakable, but it couldn’t be her.  It was not possible, not after what happened that day.  When the brown pegasus opened his wings and took off, the pony that looked like Rainbow Dash turned and noticed her.

    “Pinkie Pie?” she asked.  A smile came across her face and took a few steps forward.  “Wow, I never expected to see you here.”  Why does she sound happy to see me?

    Pinkie took a slow step backwards, and lifted her right foreleg in a nervous posture.  “This isn’t right, you can’t be here,” she said more to herself than anything.

    Clearly misunderstanding, Dash replied, “Yeah I know, I’m supposed to be responsible to Ponyville’s weather, but Celestia brought me here because somepony hasn’t been doing their job.”  She sighed; if there was one thing Dash hated, it was being given extra work.  Then the smile was back.

    The pink pony continued to look at her with trepidation.

    “Come on; don’t tell me you’re still upset with that incident several weeks ago, are you?”

    What, you mean the incident where we came to blows, Pinkie thought, and I heard your neck snap like a twig after I fell on you?  She started to slowly move backwards.  “No.  Leave me alone!” she yelled, with grief and fear thick in her voice, as she turned and ran.  Just like that day, her mind was in a blind panic as she ran towards home.

    A few minutes later, she entered the apartment and closed the door behind her.  She collapsed in a heap as soon as the door had clicked shut; her breathing erratic, and it felt like her heart was going to beat its way out of her chest.  As she started to settle down and the panic slowly left her, she found herself deeply troubled and confused by what she had seen.

    What happened out there?  If Dash at least acknowledged the fight they had, one could have argued that maybe she didn’t die from the fall.  But she was acting like it never even happened… like the way the ponies acted in that dream the night before.

    Later on, she returned to the basement to look at her painting.  “What are you hiding?” Pinkie thought aloud.  “Why is it so important that you be completed?”  While she gazed at it, maybe expecting it to somehow answer her, she noticed that the haziness had gotten slightly worse.  Perhaps the stress was just having a weird effect on her.

    With the nagging feeling continuing to assert itself, she gave an exasperated sigh and decided to head back up and lie down on the couch.  Just another session of drifting off and going into autopilot.  On reflection, she was unsettled by how complicit she had become to this.  Aside from the pictures, she really had no idea what she did during these blackouts… or more importantly, why she couldn’t remember.

    It was Saturday, and Pinkie awoke (in bed this time) to the sound of bustling ponies.  From the sound of it, today’s town meeting would be starting soon.  That’s nice, she thought as she lethargically rolled over and dozed off again.

    After a while, she was vaguely aware that she was dreaming.  It was the familiar sensation during a blackout, but then she realized that she was waking up.  There was something different… something wrong.

    Light and sound started to come to her, and like a hammer to her senses, she was standing and surrounded by loud noise.  She was in the middle of a busy street.

    “Hey, are you okay?” said a male pony to her side.

    She turned to look at him.  “Umm, I guess.”

    “Are you sure?  I saw you walking by, and you suddenly stopped.  For a moment, I thought you were going to faint.”

    “Yeah, I just got a little light-headed, that’s all,” she lied.

    As she walked on, it did beg the question, what was she doing out here?  But the thought was forced aside by a sound that made her heart skip a beat.  It was Princess Celestia’s chariot rolling down the street, and heading her way.  She could not run because she would be seen for sure; so the only option was to stick to the side and try not to let the princess see her.

    Pinkie slunk to the side of the street, and pretended to look at something while making a point of facing away from the incoming chariot.  She felt her heart pounding as it slowly got closer, and she could hear the princess talking to the pony bystanders.

    The seconds slowly ticked by and the tension was driving her crazy.  Unable to hold her position, she turned around to check.  She saw that the chariot was just passing by her.  Just then the princess turned, and for a moment she swore that their eyes met.

    Oh no, the princess spotted me, she thought despairingly.  It’s all over.

    But Celestia just continued on her way without a word, resuming her interaction with the townsfolk.  She dropped her head and breathed a trembling sigh.  Her legs felt so weak, she thought for a moment that she would collapse.  Not wanting to push fate, she headed off as quickly and discretely as possible the other way.

    Soon after, she made it back home without incident.  She returned to the basement to find that the painting was finally complete.  It depicted a stormy and menacing landscape, and a group of ponies stood together in the middle.  They were marked and scathed, and gazed outwards in fear and dread towards the hideous shadows that surrounded them.  Unfortunately, Pinkie’s limited art skill dampened the effect a little.

    Looking again, the ponies appeared to have their backs against a strange white brick wall.  She wasn’t sure why, but something about it filled her with unease.

    Her feelings turned to frustration.  “Okay it’s finished, now what?” she said aloud.  Her face grimaced with anger, and with her right foreleg she thumped a desk to the side of her.  She then swung her hoof across the surface, scattering the drawings that lay on top of it.

    Not wanting to look at the picture anymore, she threw a sheet over the top of it and left the basement.  All of a sudden, she was overcome with a dizzy spell, and she leaned against the couch for support.  “What… what’s happening to me?”  It came out as faint murmur as she slipped down to the floor, and the world faded away.

    Once again, she felt herself in this foggy undefined place.  The pink pony looked around, hoping to see or hear at least something.  After a little while, something started to emerge; something pink.  Her eyes went wide as she gazed upon an image of herself, only this one had puffy curly hair.

    “You,” Pinkie said.  “It was you, wasn’t it?”

    “Yes,” replied the other pony, “I’m afraid I don’t have much time.  You have to listen to me.”

    “Okay then, tell me why you left me hanging when Celestia was approaching.  Do you have any idea what the princess would have done if she had caught me?”

    “Yes I do… more so than you apparently.”  With a sigh, the other pony said, “Look, I am not some alternate personality.  I represent a side of you that you’ve been desperately trying to block out, along with your old life.  But it doesn’t make it go away.  Instead, it just caused a divide.  Sometimes that side asserts itself, but you have distanced yourself so much, you blind yourself to what’s going on.”

    “What are you talking about, I don’t choose to blind myself to anything,” straight-haired Pinkie responded.  “Besides, I saw that nasty painting you did.”

    Sadly shaking her head, the image said, “That sounds nothing like my picture.”

    “Hey, I know what I saw,” Pinkie protested.  “I got a pretty good look at it, with the storm clouds, the frightened ponies… and that creepy brick wall-”  The curly-haired double suddenly looked startled.

    “Oh no, it’s already started,” the image said, with panic in her voice.

    “What are you talking about?  What’s started?” Pinkie asked with an arched eyebrow, confused by the sharp emotional turn.  But just then, the other pony started to fade and become transparent.

    “You have to listen to me; you are running out of time.”  Her voice was slowly fading with each word.  “You need to stop running!  Embrace what’s real, it’s your only way out…”

    After the image of herself disappeared, Pinkie had blacked out for a while.  Eventually, she came to and noticed she was outside again.  This time it was the side of a road, but when she turned around the pink pony was taken aback to see that she was just outside Ponyville.  While she was unconscious, the other side of her must’ve brought her there, she reasoned.

    “Maybe that’s it,” she thought aloud.  “My conscience has been calling me back, to do the right thing and face up to what I did.”

    Pinkie was walking along the bottom of the ridge by the lake, and the spot where the incident happened was just up ahead.  Just before arriving, she tripped over something.

    “Oww, what gives?” she complained, getting back up.  Cutting across the path was a neatly dug trench.  Looking down, she could see some white bricks inside it.  It kind of looked like a foundation for something.  “But why would they build it across a path?” she thought aloud.

    Pinkie reached her destination, and was standing roughly where she had gotten up from the fall.  She was looking over to where Dash had lay motionless on the ground.  There was nothing here now, except a few patches of shrubs; one of which seemed a little misshapen.

    Just then, she heard a familiar pony’s voice.  She quickly turned to see Twilight and Applejack approaching.

    “Gee Twilight,” Applejack said, “look who decided to come back.”  The lack of enthusiasm in her voice made Pinkie’s heart sink.

    “Yes, I’ve come back,” Pinkie replied, lowering her head.  She walked with them back into Ponyville without another word.  What she did not see was, in the ditch not far back, new bricks were materializing.

    There was a knock on Pinkie’s front door.  After a long moment of silence, it was followed by another louder knock.

    “Pinkie, are you there?”  It was Topsy’s voice.  He tried the door and it opened, so he peered inside.  With no sign of movement, he went in.  “Pinkie Pie,” he said and glanced around, “I hope you don’t mind me coming over.  It’s just that I was starting to worry, and I thought I’d check to see if-” he suddenly spotted her behind the couch, “-oh no, Pinkie!”

    He quickly went over to her, and found she wasn’t moving.  In a panic, he searched for signs of life.  She was breathing, but only faintly, and she was completely unresponsive.  “Don’t worry, I’ll get help!” he said, slightly panic-stricken, as he turned and headed for the door.

    Topsy Turvy headed toward the medical centre, going as fast as he could without going into a full gallop.  He told the pony at reception, and they dispatched a couple of medical ponies to check on her and bring her in.  The medical assistants returned a little later, carrying her on a stretcher towards an unused room, accompanied by a pony doctor.

    When the doctor came back out, Topsy approached him.  “Do you know what’s wrong with her?” he asked, sounding anxious.

    “Well, all I can say for now is that she appears to be in a coma.”

    “She’s going to pull through, right?” he asked.

    “I wish I could tell you, but I really don’t know; not until we’ve done more tests,” the doctor told him regretfully.

    For a few minutes, Topsy stood there pondering what to do.  He was going to sit by her side, but then something even better crossed his mind.  He knew that she was from Ponyville, and there was surely someone there who cared about her.  Also, maybe having someone from her old life here might help her to pull through, he concluded.

    On that thought he headed home to get some money, and then took a carriage ride to Ponyville.

    Pinkie Pie was walking along with Twilight and Applejack, and she was becoming nauseas with anxiety, dreading what was going to happen next.

    “Hey Pinkie, would you mind waiting here?” Twilight asked.  “Applejack and I have a couple of things we need to do.”

    “Okay,” Pinkie replied pensively.  Something seemed off, and her unease was being accompanied by straight-up confusion.

    After they walked off in different directions, Pinkie stood there by herself.  Quickly feeling bored, she decided to take a wander.  It had been several weeks since she was last here, and would be nice to look around.

    Just after she started, she noticed something white a short distance away.  Trotting a little closer, she realized it was a wall made of the same bricks as the thing that cut across her path before.  This one was about her height.  What made it worse was that she recognized it.  It looked like the wall in her painting.

    It started to worry her, because this wall was completely out of place with everything else.  It was as if somepony arbitrarily picked a spot, and then started building.  Also, no one else seemed to pay it any attention.  As she looked at it, the feeling of unease was building up inside her, and a need to get away from it.  Anxiously, she continued down the street.

    “Hey there Pinkie Pie, haven’t seen you around in a while,” said a pony who’s name seemed to escape her.  “Is there something wrong?”

    “Umm, it’s nothing,” Pinky replied, not exactly honest.  Though she didn’t feel like trying to explain it, that some new wall was scaring her.  She threw another glance back, to check that it was out of sight.  There was no sign of it.

    Just as she turned to face forward again, she gave out a frightened yelp.  Out of nowhere, the brick wall was a few paces in front of her, and was now several times her height.  Now very much afraid, she started to back off slowly, not taking her eyes off it.  After a long moment of back stepping, her rear bumped into something solid.  Hesitantly, she turned and the wall was now behind her.  Taking frightened glances, terror started to take hold when she discovered that the wall had now completely surrounded her.  Overwhelmed with fear and helplessness, she let out a long anguished scream.

    It was now evening and Topsy Turvy arrived in Ponyville.  Getting off the taxi carriage, he looked around feeling a little envious, as the place seemed more lively and colorful.

    He proceeded to ask around, looking for anypony who knew Pinkie.  The typical response was that they knew her, but not very well.  It left him feeling confused as most of the ponies were describing her as cheerful and upbeat, almost to a fault.

    “Are we talking about the same Pinkie,” he thought aloud, “the Pinkie who keeps to herself most of the time?”

    He approached a purple unicorn and asked the usual question, but the reaction this time was very different.

    “Yes I know her.  What’s this about?” there was anxiety in her voice.

    “You see, I came here to try and find anypony who knew her, perhaps someone she was friends with.”

    “I’m her friend,” she responded, then paused.  “Well, I thought we were,” she added with her eyes downcast.

    “What do you mean?” Topsy asked.

    “I don’t know.  One day she started acting strange – like acting upset and offended, but I’m not even sure why – then suddenly she ran away, and I haven’t seen her since.”  She looked hurt and confused, and then looked back up at him.  “Do you know where she is?”

    “Well she has been living in Fillyshire for a number of weeks now.”

    The look on her face seemed to confirm that it was roughly the time she disappeared.  Before he could give the bad news, she said, “I better go tell the others!”  Just like that, she turned and bolted off.

    Hurrying to catch up with her, Topsy said, “I’m glad to have met one of her old friends.  I never got to learn much about her past.  What’s your name, by the way?”

    Slowing down a bit, she turned her head to face him.  “Oh, my name is Twilight Sparkle.”

    “Hold on, you mean *the* Twilight Sparkle?  The pony who was personally taught by Celestia herself?”

    Feeling a little modest, Twilight said, “Yeah, I guess you could say that.  So what’s your name, and how do you know Pinkie Pie?”

    “Well, my name is Topsy-” he was cut off when he tripped on an uneven patch on the ground.  “Topsy Turvy.”  The unicorn helped him up, and they both returned to a steady trot.  “Anyway, I’m just a co-worker.  She has been working at one of the stores in Fillyshire.”

    “I look forward to hearing what Pinkie has been up to all this time,” said Twilight.

    “And I would love to hear more about her, back before she left.  From the ponies I’ve talked to, she sounds like she was very different back then.”  Something dawned on him and he slowed down.

    “What is it?” Twilight asked, slowing to match his speed.

    “I’m afraid there’s something else… and it’s not good.”  Seeing those big worried eyes on the purple pony’s face, it was more difficult to say than he thought.  “I don’t know what happened, but she’s hurt.  She’s in Fillyshire’s medical centre… in a coma or something.”

    She gasped, and was clearly upset.  “Oh no, Pinkie Pie!”  She continued on her way to get the others, but this time with a sense of urgency, and Topsy struggling to keep up.

    Trapped inside the white brick prison, Pinkie clenched her eyes shut and told herself that it wasn’t real, but she opened her eyes and it was still there.  Looking up, the wall was now far too high and flat to even consider climbing.  While looking at the wall, she started to hear something.

    “Hello, is anypony out there?  I’m trapped, please help me!” she called out.  The sounds were not coming from outside, those sounds had ceased.  This was something else.  Whatever it was, it seemed to be coming from inside the wall itself.  Moving closer to listen, it was hard to make out as several voices were overlapping.  Continuing to listen, one of the echoes started to get louder and more distinct.  There was yelling, and she noticed it sounded like her.  Then she heard Rainbow Dash’s voice.

    Just then the wall dissolved and disappeared, and she found herself standing on top of a ridge, and she turned to see… herself.  The image of herself was looking up at an angle.  Following her gaze, she saw Dash flapping her wings and slowly gaining altitude.  With grief, she realized it was a repeat of the incident.  Dash swooped and tackled the other her and they were both grappling and rolling down the slope.

    Then suddenly a feeling of falling and bouncing off something.  When she got up, she was at the bottom of the slope.  Just like on that day, she slowly approached Dash who lay motionless on the ground.

    In a fit of anger, she looked toward the sky and yelled, “Why?  Why do you keep bringing me back here?!”  Her voice then faded to a hurt tone little louder than a whisper.  “I’ve been trying so hard to escape it, yet I’m forced to constantly relive it.  It’s not fair.”

    She gazed down at Dash with sorrow and resignation.  “I don’t know, but it’s like I always knew something like this would happen.  Whenever I thought about the happiness I felt, it’s like deep down there was a lingering doubt, wondering if I really deserved it.  It’s like a part of me expected it to be taken away, or to do something to lose it.”

    The last time she was here, she was in shock and what happened hadn’t really sunk in yet.  Since then, there was scarcely a day that went by without her thinking about it.  And now, she was looking down at her and it all looked just as real as the day it happened.

    She started to quiver all over as the painful emotions started to rush to the surface.  Her eyes welled up and she slowly leaned down to rest her head against the side of Dash’s neck.  Before her head even touched down, she was grimacing, her breathing had turned to sobs, and she wailed as all the grief and guilt and sorrow came flowing out of her.

    “I’m sorry,” she whimpered, “I’m so sorry Rainbow Dash.  I never meant for this to happen.”  She remained there leaning against her side, though she wasn’t sure how long, and she started to settle down.

    When she lifted her head, something caught her eye.  Just a couple of paces away, it was the same misshaped shrub she saw before.  But just then, there was a feeling like something was pulling her away… and once again, she was gazing at a plain white brick wall.  Only this time, the light was noticeably dimmer.

    It was now late into the evening, and the sun was close to setting.  Pinkie was in a hospital bed, lying on her side facing a window, with her eyes still partially open.  Despite being comatose there was something keeping her eyes fixed slightly open… as if gazing towards something.  The nurses decided just to leave it and periodically administer eye drops.

    There was a bustle of hushed voices outside, and several ponies came into the room.  The one in front was Twilight.

    “Hello,” the unicorn said to the nurse, “We came to visit and see how she was doing.”

    “May I ask who you are?” the nurse pony asked.  “I’m sorry but it’s just I don’t recognize any of you.”

    Rarity replied, “No, we are not from around here.  We are friends of hers from Ponyville, and it took almost two hours to get here in that cramped little—” she suddenly stopped when she saw Twilight giving her a look.

    “Okay then,” the nurse said.  “Well I’m done here, so I’ll leave you ponies to it.  Just be mindful of the authorized visiting hours.”

    They all gathered closer to the bed.

    “Oh Pinkie Pie,” Twilight said sorrowfully, “What was going on inside that head of yours?  Why did you leave like that?”  Despite knowing she probably couldn’t hear (and definitely couldn’t answer), she felt the need to voice the questions.

    Fluttershy added, “We’ve all been very worried about you.”

    Among the group, Rainbow Dash stepped forward with a pained expression.  “I always wondered if you left because of something I did.  I still remember the way you looked at me right before you stormed off.  And the way you reacted when I saw you yesterday; it really worried me.”  Then with an edge of pain and fear in her voice, she said, “Please pull through.”

Author's Notes:  One more chapter to go.  The last part will focus on Pinkie's inner struggle between reality and the delusions created by her fears.  Again, I hope you've enjoyed it so far, and let me know what you think. :)

The Truth

Tear Down The Wall

    Pinkie lay in the hospital bed, her condition worryingly unclear, while her five friends watched over her.  Spike, however, was absent as Twilight didn’t feel that she should worry him.  Besides, the purple pony didn’t want to disturb his nap.

    About an hour later, a nurse pony came in.  “Alright, visiting time is almost up.”  This was met by groans of annoyance and disappointment.

    Feeling like the spokespony for the group, Twilight took a step towards the nurse and said, “Please miss, let us stay here with her.  I promise we won’t get in the way, or disturb any of the other ponies.”

    The white medical pony glanced at all the pained expressions looking at her and sighed.  “Okay you can all stay, but only for tonight, and any kind of ruckus from you and I’m kicking you out, you hear?”  Sighs of relief were heard.  After she left, the five of them slowly turned towards the prone pink pony.  With heavy hearts they no doubt thought the same thing: would she ever wake up again?

…

    As Pinkie Pie stared at the brick wall, a new set of sounds started to come from it.  Again, the wall started to dissipate to reveal a different set of surroundings.  This time, she was standing on a path near Sweet Apple Acres.  She started to trot towards the town, and came across Applejack.

    “Hey, Applejack,” Pinkie said with a hesitant smile.

    “Oh it’s you,” the orange farm pony said with an irritable tone.  “What the hey do you want?”

    “Umm,” Pinkie fidgeted uncomfortably, “I only wanted to talk.”

    “Well why would I want to talk to some dumb pink pony?”

    “I, uhh…” She closed her eyes as she grimaced.  These words were starting to upset her.  “Why are you saying such…” opening her eyes again, Applejack was there… but she was several paces away and walking towards her.

    With a smile she said, “Oh hey there Pinkie Pie,” suddenly in a cheerful tone.

    Now the pink pony was feeling both hurt and confused.

    “Wow, it’s not like you to be at a loss for words,” Applejack jested.

    “Oh, um… I’m just a little distracted, that’s all.”

    “Well I’m awfully busy right now,” Applejack said as she started to move off.  Turning back to face Pinky, she added, “but maybe I’ll see you around later.”

    Pinkie continued her trot into town, but went cold when she noticed something.  The homes and buildings around her, they were all white… like they were made of those eerie white bricks.

    A background voice remarked, “Oh look, it’s Pinkie Pie.”

    “Why did she bother coming back?  This place was so much better off without her,” added another voice.  Pinkie flinched at the scathing remarks she was hearing.  Other voices were saying similarly hurtful comments, clearly intended for her to hear them.

    Desperate to get away from it, she broke into a gallop.  After a long moment of going as fast as she could, she tripped.  Regaining her balance, she looked backwards to see another ditch.  As she watched it, there was a gravelly rumble and a white wall rapidly grew out of the hole.  Continuing her run, she was desperate not to be trapped inside again.  Lines were forming and segments of the wall were springing up in her path, and she urgently swerved around them.  All the while she could still make out the hateful words.

    Suddenly a huge chunk of ground fell away right in front of her.  Her momentum was too great and she could not stop in time.  She stumbled at the edge and fell into the darkness of the gaping hole.

    Stunned and sore, she tried to catch her bearings but everything was dark.  How deep must that fall have been?  While trying to focus in the dark, a light suddenly turned on, and the sound of several ponies yelling, ‘surprise’.  Pinkie yelped in fright and practically jumped out of her coat.

    Looking around her, she appeared to be in Applejack’s barn.  More specifically, it looked like the time when they had given her a surprise party.  However, the ponies were one short.

    “Umm hey, where’s Rainbow Dash?” she asked them.

    Fluttershy regarded her with an uncharacteristically grim look.  “Oh, like you don’t know.”

    “But of course,” Rarity chimed in, “you’re the reason she’s not here, remember?”

    “Hey, how ‘bout we forget all that stuff and get this party started!” called out Applejack.  The other three ponies responded with a cheer.  Some music started, but there was something wrong with it.  It sounded slow and wavering, as if the batteries were running low, but the others did not seem to notice.

    Balloons were floating around, and they were happily bouncing them around.  When one came near Pinkie, she humored the activity by giving it a tap with her hoof, but it popped.  Behind the bang there was an eerie sound, like a faint sound of laughter.  A few more balloons popped, and each time that same menacing laugh hung in the air.

    “Girls, this is a bit strange for a birthday party, isn’t it?” Pinkie asked, in response to the discordant atmosphere.

    “What are you talking about?” responded Twilight.

    “Yeah,” added Applejack, “didn’t you read the banner?”

    The pink pony looked up at the long banner draped across one of the ceiling support beams.  It said, to her upsetting realization, ‘Pinkie Pie’s Farewell Party’.

    “No.”  She shook her head.  The other ponies were talking and giggling amongst themselves.  “No, this isn’t what happened!” she said with a raised voice, and she quickly trotted over to them.  But on her way, her hooves gave way beneath her.  Once again, she felt herself falling.

…

    With a sullen and exasperated moan, Pinkie found herself back at the bottom of that ridge.  When she stopped and properly looked, she saw that Dash was not there, but she felt certain that it was the same moment in time – the same all-too-familiar sunset lighting.

    But that patch of shrubs was still there.  Slowly, she paced over to it.  Pinkie lifted her front hooves and used them to spread the small branches, and looking inside she saw the reason for its odd shape.  Some of the branches were broken and splintered, as if…

    Without another thought, Pinkie raised her hooves up and stomped down on the shrub.  A loud snapping sound rang out, and her heart skipped a beat.  It was the same snapping sound she heard that day.  Was it a coincidence, or did it mean…

    She slowly stepped back, trying to wrap her head around the implications.  Just then, she heard Twilight’s voice.

    “What happened here?”  Pinkie turned to see her approaching with Fluttershy.

    The yellow pegasus looked downward, and said, “Oh my, Rainbow Dash!”

    “What do you mean, Rainbow isn’t…” Pinkie tried, but she looked down, and Dash was lying there just as she had before.   The pink pony frantically shook her head; the conflicting images were starting to get to her.

    With her eyes closed, she heard the accusing voices, and caught phrases like, “why did you do it?” and “what did she ever do to you?”

    “No… stop it,” she pleaded, but when she opened her eyes, she was met by the sight of her white brick prison.

    Rather fitting of her to think of it that way, because suddenly she heard a metal clunking sound behind her.  Turning, Pinkie saw that one side was replaced with a set of vertical metal bars, and a metal cell door.  A guard pony had opened the door and was gesturing for her to follow.

    “Come along Miss,” he said.  “Your trial is ready to begin.”

    “Wait, what trial?” Pinkie asked.  She was startled when two loud bangs from a hammer rang out behind her.  When she turned, she found herself looking up at a tall stand, with a grimfaced mare looking down at her.  A few quick glances showed that she was in a courtroom, and seated behind her were her friends, and a number of other familiar ponies.

    “What do you have to say in your defense, Miss. Pinkamina Dianne Pie?” the mare, apparently a judge, asked.

    The confused pink pony was stuck in silence for a moment.

    “You have been placed on trial for your past actions, now what do you have to say for yourself?” the judge pony said, more sternly this time.  She shook her head.  “How can you even defend yourself when you clearly don’t know what’s real?”

    A swirl of voices started; the voices of her friends.  “It was your fault!” said one.  “I’m glad you left,” said another.  “Why don’t you see that we’re better off without you?”

    At that moment, she became aware of something; something that sat in the back of her mind like a small itch which she couldn’t quite reach.  This was not real – that much was obvious – but there was something else.

    I’m dying, she thought to herself.  Amid the accusing voices, she could feel herself getting weaker… the sense that she was lying somewhere, while her friends watched her slowly slip away.

    While her friends watched her…

    She was taken aback by those words.  They couldn’t really be there, could they?  All she knew was that it conjured up strong feelings of the love and friendship she once had.  Following those emotions, she found herself looking at that curly-haired image of herself again, but this time she was painting.  Taking a couple of steps to look round her and see the painting, she put a hoof to her mouth and let out a sniffle.

    It was her canvas, but the picture was brightly colored, with all her friends together and smiling.  The other Pinkie then turned to her and said, “Do you like it?  It’s just a little reminder of the days that meant the world to me.”  That was what her alter ego had really painted, only she wasn’t really an alter ego, just a side of her that she had been running away from… but not anymore.

    With her attention back to the courtroom, she yelled out, “I object!”  The voices faded a little.  “Look, I know that I can be a bit random and annoying at times, but I am the element of laughter for a reason.  I make ponies smile, and I make ponies laugh.  I am there to cheer them up when they are feeling down.”

    As she spoke, her resolve continued to grow.  “Also, my time is not wasted.  Making cakes might not be the most important job in the world but I love doing it, and ponies love the treats I make for them!”  She also noticed that the accusing voices were continuing to fade.

   “And Rainbow Dash…” she stopped, struggling with the words she wanted to say.  “Rainbow Dash is…”  A sudden flash of a memory came to her, before she fell down the hill.  It was an image of her yelling at… nothing, then of her rolling on the ground, alone.  She then looked upwards while slowly back-stepping onto the beginning of the slope.  Suddenly, her foot had slipped on the muddy ground.  She rolled helplessly down the hill, bouncing off a patch of shrubs at the bottom.

    Returning to the court room, the words finally came.  With a quiver in her voice:  “Rainbow Dash is alive!”  Just then, her surroundings – the ponies, the stand, everything – started to fade and dissolve.  Eventually, she was left with nothing but the white bricks that lined the room.

    She charged toward the wall and threw herself against it.  She then turned her back to it and bucked her hind legs into it, and again.

    “Let me out!” she yelled.  “I refuse to be a prisoner anymore!”  With another thump, she heard a faint cracking sound.  It started to get louder, and it caused her to take a few steps away.  Large cracks ripped across the surface, growing bigger and interconnecting.  It was followed by a deafening crashing sound.  She closed her eyes and held her hooves over her ears.  The noise just kept going, but soon it started to dim, and eventually she was left in silence.

…

    Opening her eyes, Pinkie found nothing but a vague dull light.  All that desperation to get through the wall and there was nothing on the other side.  It was almost like that muffled feeling during a blackout, only this was different.  She seemed to be frozen still, as if she had become paralyzed.  She couldn’t even move her eyes or blink.  Everything was just… still.

    Is this it, she thought.  After all that, I find out that it was for nothing?

    Looking into the glow ahead of her, it felt like those near-death experiences that some ponies had mentioned in the past.  The reality of it struck her.

    This is really it, isn’t it?  I’m slipping away, which means I’m never going to see my friends again.  Her emotions continued to well up inside.  I’m never going to have fun with them, never going to hear them laugh, never going to be there for them when they need cheering up.  It’s not fair, her inner voice cried out.

    She felt the sting of tears in her eyes.  With a struggle, she forced herself to blink… but something changed.  Her view was different somehow, and she could’ve sworn there was a muddled sound.  Blinking again, the image ahead of her was resolving into something.  And the sound, it was a voice.

    “Did you see that?” the voice said.  “Everypony, come quick!”  There was an excited urgency to the voice… Twilight’s voice.  The sight in front of her started to look square-shaped.  Continuing to focus, it finally became clear enough to make out.  It was a window, only in its side.  The sun was shining in, and there was a small vase with some colorful flowers in it.

    There was a weird sensation in her body, like her limbs suddenly weighed a tone.  With some effort she lifted and craned her head towards the voices, and saw a sight that brought the emotions rushing back again.  Looking down at her were her friends, with smiles and giggles that sounded close to sobs.

    “Where… where am I?” Pinkie asked, but it barely came out as a hoarse whisper.

    “You’re in the medical centre,” replied Twilight.  “You have been in here since yesterday.”

    “Yeah,” Applejack said, “but we didn’t know where you were, not until somepony showed up claiming to know you.  He told us what happened, and we came straight here.”

    “We all stayed here overnight.”  That voice.  Pinkie swiveled a little more, and saw that it came from Rainbow Dash.  “I was afraid we were going to lose you.”

    Pinkie’s voice hitched, “Rainbow, is… is that really you?”

    The pegasus walked up beside her.  “Yeah, of course it is.  Who else would I be?”  Before she could say anything else the pink pony threw her forelegs around her tightly and nuzzled against her.

    “I was afraid I’d never see you again, and that it was all my fault.”

    Dash gave a nervous laugh, but was clearly emotional.  “Funny, I was going to say the same thing.”  Pinkie let go and looked at her eyes.

    “It… it’s a long story,” Pinkie said as she lay her head back onto the pillow.  She was surprised at the sheer lack of energy she had.

    The other ponies took their turns in expressing the happiness and relief that she was still with them, and saying how much they missed her.  When they were finished, the nurse told them that she needed to rest and ushered them out.

    When the room had emptied, Princess Celestia entered and stood at the end of the bed.  “Good morning,” she said with a smile.  “When I heard about what happened, I decided to drop by before the town meeting.”

    “Princess?  You saw me in the market place, didn’t you?” Pinkie asked; her voice still weak.

    “Yes I did,” Celestia replied.  There was a sigh, and then she continued, “After what Twilight told me, and what I sensed from you in the street, I was afraid to say anything as I didn’t know what effect it would have.”

    “Yeah, my mind was going to some really strange places.  I believed I had done something terrible, and I was afraid that if you spotted me, that something bad would happen.”

    Celestia lowered her head and looked a little saddened.  “When Twilight first wrote to me about what happened on the day you ran away, I actually told them to wait.  You see, I have seen similar things like this before, but I assumed it would get better on its own, and that you would return home.  I didn’t realize it was this serious.”  At that the princess perked up a little.  “But it pleases me to see that you pulled through.”

    “Actually, Princess,” Pinkie added.  “In my dream – or whatever it was – I swore I felt the presence of my friends.”

    To this, the princess smiled.  “Of course, the bond with your friends is strong, and they were watching over you all night.  One of the nurses told me that they read you stories, talked about things that happened while you were away.  And sometimes they just talked about fond memories, and how much they missed you.  It warmed my heart to see just how much they cared.”  As she headed for the door, she said, “I have to go now, I need to get ready for the town meeting.  I hope you feel better soon.”

    “Thanks, Princess,” Pinkie responded a little unenthusiastically.  It was sincere, she just didn’t have the energy to convey it.  With the sound of the door closing, she closed her eyes and tried to rest.  There were still some lingering troubled thoughts, but now they were slowly fading and she knew not to listen to them.  She smiled, relishing the knowledge that things were slowly returning to normal.

…

    The following day, Pinkie Pie had regained some of her energy, and was up and about.  The nurses wanted her to stay for another day for observation, but she was free to wander around the small medical centre.

    In the early afternoon, Topsy came by to see her.  He would have been there with the others, but he decided against it, as he didn’t want to impose.

    “So, umm, how are you feeling?” he asked.

    “Still a little hazy, but it’s not too bad,” she replied.

    “I um… I just wanted to say I’m glad you’re getting better.”  He shuffled his front hooves awkwardly.  Just then, he looked at her with surprise.  “Your mane, it’s completely different.”

    Pinkie waved a hoof through her mane, which had become full and curly again.  It was like this when she woke up after her nap, but then another thought came to her.

    “Oh that’s right,” Pinkie started, “they told me you went all the way out to Ponyville to find my friends and bring them back here.”

    “Well yeah… it was the least I could do,” he replied, blushing a little.

    Just then, Rainbow Dash appeared hovering behind them.  “Ooh, looks like someone has an admirer,” she said with a singing tone, and Topsy’s face went a little redder.

    After a moment he realized something, and his expression saddened.  “I guess this means you’ll be going back to Ponyville now.”

    “Wait, you almost make it sound like a bad thing,” the pink pony replied.  “I was snappy, and I was often short with you.”

    “Yeah, maybe you told me off, but a lot of the time you also dropped what you did just to help me.  And despite all your troubles, you were still nicer to me than a lot of other ponies I’ve met.”

    “Oh, you definitely have an admirer!” Dash chimed in again, teasingly.  This was met by a stern gaze from the pink pony, which clearly said, ‘do you mind, I’m trying to have a serious conversation here’.  “Alright,” the blue pegasus said, and left them to it.

    “I’m sorry about that,” Pinkie told Topsy.  “To tell you the truth, it might not have looked like it, but I kinda liked having you around.”  This made the white pony smile.

    They both continued to talk for a little while.  When Topsy headed off, Dash came back and landed beside Pinkie.  “Hmm, I’m starting to wonder if maybe there’s more than one admirer here.”

    Pinkie suddenly looked self conscious.  “Don’t be silly.  I… it’s just we worked together for a while, and he was…”  Under Dash’s gaze, she felt her face getting a little warmer.  “And isn’t there something else you could be doing right now?”

    “Fine, I’ll go see what the other ponies are up to.”  She flapped her wings and lifted off from the floor.  Just before leaving, she made kissy noises, and then narrowly dodged a small crutch which Pinkie had picked up and thrown at her.

    After Dash left, Pinkie was left to her own thoughts.  “Silly Rainbow suggesting that I like that clumsy pony.  That’s just silly,” she thought aloud, with a giggle.  Then why did she suddenly feel bad about leaving?  Her smile faded, and she let out a sigh.

…

    Later on, Mrs. Plough dropped by.  It appeared that Topsy visited her at her home and told her about what happened.  It seemed she already guessed that Pinkie would be leaving.

    “Don’t you worry about it, and go on back home with your friends.  I’ll sort out everything on this end.  Though I have to say, I will miss having you around, and you were always a good worker.”  The mare took a closer look at Pinkie.  “You know, I think this is the first time I’ve really seen you look happy.  And that hair style seems more like you,” she commented, gesturing towards the curls.

    At that, the store owner excused herself, but before leaving she quickly reminded Pinkie to drop by the store in the morning, so she could pick up the last of her pay.

…

    The day after, the nurses told Pinkie that she was free to leave.  Her friends accompanied her back to the apartment to help get everything packed.

    Pinkie went down to the basement and looked around.  Her attention went to the covered painting on the stand.  The pink pony moved over to it and hesitated for a moment before pinching the sheet with her teeth, and pulled it off.  What she saw was the same painting as before, with the dark eerie theme, only it was blurry and heavily distorted.  She closed her eyes tight and rubbed her hoof against her face.  When she looked back at the picture, it almost appeared to be dissolving, and bright colors started to show through.

    Her eyes widened as the new image emerged.  It was actually the same picture she saw while she was unconscious.  Her friends were standing and sitting, and were all happy.  They were also in the library, with treats on a table nearby.  Then it dawned on her.  When she dreamed of being back with her friends a few days before, it was exactly what she saw right before she woke up.

    Twilight made her way down the steps.  “Hey Pinkie Pie, I thought maybe you’d like some help down here.”  Just then, her jaw dropped a little as she gazed at the painting, with the whole group together.  Seeing the happiness expressed in the picture, she started to get a little misty-eyed.  “I, I don’t know what to say.”

    The pink pony felt modest.  “It’s alright I guess, but my painting still isn’t all that great.”

    “No, it’s really good,” Twilight responded enthusiastically.  “The others really have to see this!”  When she ran up and brought the others down, they each had a similar reaction, and each had their turn expressing how touched or impressed they were.

…

    The following morning the last of the packing was done, and Pinkie Pie returned from the Tool Shed.  Topsy came along as he wanted to see her off.

    As Pinkie’s belongings were being loaded into a waiting carriage, Topsy fidgeted nervously.  “So this is goodbye then.  You’re heading back home now.”

    “Well, it’s not like we’ll never see each other again,” the pink pony replied, “and Ponyville isn’t that far away.”

    “Wait, are you saying you still want to see me?” he asked.

    “Sure,” Pinkie responded with a smile.  Her expression then became serious.  “You know, one of the things that allowed me to pull through was when I became aware of my friends.  But they wouldn’t have been there if it wasn’t for you.”  As she spoke there was in increasing shyness in her mannerisms.  “In a manner of speaking, you… kinda saved me.  That is something I’ll never forget.”

    “Hey Pinkie Pie, are you coming,” called out Dash, as everything was set and the other ponies were waiting in the carriage.

    “Just a second!” Pinkie yelled back irritably, and turned back to the white pony.  “Well, it looks like it’s time to go now.”  After a long moment of hesitation, she leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek, and then headed for the waiting carriage.

    As soon as she got in, the other ponies looked at her with girly curiosity.  Rainbow Dash teased and said, “Hah, I knew it.  So when are you seeing your coltfriend again?”

    “Hey, it’s not like that,” the pink pony protested.  “I was just being nice.  It was… purely platonic.”  Though at that moment, she was kind of glad to be pink, because maybe the others wouldn’t notice that she was blushing.

    And so Pinkie Pie embarked on the carriage ride back to Ponyville, where her life would return to the way it was.  Well not quite.  She had a new friend, not to mention her newfound interest in painting.  Maybe she would continue to pursue it.  Pinkie the artist, she thought to herself, it has a nice ring to it.

THE END

Author's Notes:  There we have it, I hope you enjoyed my story, and let me know what you think.  But really, if you've read this far, I want to thank you for taking the time to read my story.

I also want to show my heartfelt thanks to GabuEx (known for his work on My Little Investigations) for prereading my story.  I started off with a short (3500 word) story which was basically an alternate ending to the "Ask Pinkamina Diane Pie" Tumblr.  He said it was good, but lacking as it was mostly a resolution.  This convinced me to flesh it out into a proper story.  The first two chapters went well, but the ending had much to be desired.  Getting his feedback prompted me to go back to the drawing board, and write a new ending... and then I made other significant changes in the process.  In short, he gave me the nudge I needed, and it made the story far better than it would've been otherwise.

Then there's the nice individual who drew the story image for me - she goes by Qiae on Deviant Art, and Wendy on Equestria Forums.  I am thankful for her taking the time to draw this for me.  BTW, you can find more of her drawings in this thread.