Mrs. Cake paused in her batter mixing, lifting her head and smiling at the familiar sound of four hooves bouncing down the stairs.
Pinkie Pie hummed a few bars of a lively tune, then broke into song as she neared the kitchen. "Watch as I work my gypsy magic, eye of a newt and cinnamon," she warbled, then stopped short as she saw Mrs. Cake and her permanent grin widened.
"Hi, Mrs. Cake! What's bakin'?" she asked brightly.
"A cake for a Miss Lyra Heartstrings," Mrs. Cake replied. "Good morning, Pinkie!"
Pinkie started to reply, then paused. "Lyra Heartstrings? That's right, it's her birthday tomorrow! Oh my gosh, I almost forgot to make her a birthday card! I'll do that right now," she declared, turning.
"Wait, Pinkie, wouldn't you rather have...breakfast first?" Mrs. Cake asked to the empty room. She smiled and went back to mixing the batter.
***
Pinkie Pie brushed the last of the excess glitter off the card and held it up to the light, examining it carefully to make sure it was perfect. The reflection of the light off the silvery fractals nearly blinded her.
"OOOOH!! Sparkleriffic!" Pinkie exclaimed, rubbing her eyes nonchantly. "But maaaybe a little less glitter!"
A few minutes later, Mrs. Cake (who had just taken the fully-baked cake out of the oven) heard again the sound of hooves on the staircase. Within moments, Pinkie Pie popped her head into the kitchen. "Hey Mrs. Cake! I'm gonna go for a hop around Ponyvile now, see what my friends are up to! See ya later! La la la la la..." and so she exited Sugarcube Corner.
"Bye Pinkie Pie! Stay safe!" Mrs. Cake called after her.
"I WILL!!" came the shout from the other side of the door.
***
As Pinkie Pie bounced through the streets of Ponyville, she sang the draft of a song she was preparing for Lyra's birthday.
"Lyra plays the lyre, but she always tells the truth.......Lyra plays the lyre, but she always tells the truth," she repeated, trying to find the right rhyme for truth. "Huh. That's funny - I always find rhymes for obscure words!"
She had no time to marvel on this fact, however, for at that moment an ominous tic began in her left front hoof. Suddenly her entire body began to shake.
"Who-o-o-o-a!" Pinkie cried out as the shudder subsided, leaving her off-balance. She flailed her hooves for a moment, then toppled over, landing in a heap. "Oof!"
Pinkie stayed there for a few moments, processing the deep meaning of that violent Pinkie Sense manifestation. Then she arose with wide eyes and slack jaw. She stared into space, seeing for a moment a completely different world. "Tragedy...human world...must...help...him!" she almost whimpered before all at once snapping back to Equestria.
"Oh no! That's horrible!" she gasped, earning a few glances from some of the ponies around her. To them, she paid no mind, for her extraordinary brain was focused on one thing and one thing only.
"I've got to get there!" she declared. "Today, no human boy will be left un-comforted!! No fellow Pinkie Pie fan will miss a fun visit from his very favorite pony! WOOHOO!"
Across the street, inside a house, soft snores abruptly stopped. A pair of turquoise ears lifted up from the table. Golden eyes opened, and a pink tongue licked the drool off aqua lips.
Lyra Heartstrings slowly raised her head, her pupils dilated, her mouth slightly open. She had been sound asleep when Pinkie's statement had floated through the open window, but one word had filtered through into her mind...one word that now was her sole focus.
"Humans," she breathed, a broad grin gradually spreading over her face. Then she got to her hooves, a glint of determination in her eyes.
She trotted to the door and swung it open. There, almost right in front of the door, stood Pinkie Pie, an equal amount of steely nerve in her face.
"PINKIE PIE!!"
Pinkie glanced up sharply at the shout, startled at its suddenness. Her face drained of color. Oh nooo, she sighed in her head, resigning herself to not giving that poor boy the singularly-Pie visit she had wanted to bestow.
The cry rang out, reverberating off the other buildings and echoing in Pinkie's ears...a cry that signaled one mare's absolute decision.
"I'M HEEERE!!" Lyra Heartstrings bellowed, her eyes sparkling with unbridled glee at finally being able to reach the world of her dreams.
Pinkie Pie mentally facepalmed, putting on a broad smile to hide her (rare) disappointment. This trip was not going to be very fun.
