Party of Two

No matter how hard she tried, Pinkie couldn’t shake the responses her friends had given her throughout the day - no, the entire week. For the entire week, Pinkie wanted nothing more than to spend time with her friends the best way she knew how: parties. But every single day yielded the exact same responses.

“No.”

“Nope.”

“Afraid not, sugarcube.”

“Sorry, darling.”

It was as if she had been living the same day over and over again, or her friends had become broken records. Pinkie’s previously worried expression changed into one of complete confusion, as she sat down on her haunches to consider her previous thought. What if my friends really were broken pony records? I mean... that must be the reason they never want to come to my parties and give the exact same responses everyday! Maybe I should have Vinyl Scratch come and fix them... or maybe what if their brains have anti-party monsters that make them repeat the same answer because they’re deathly afraid of parties because it’s their one true weakness?! That *must* be the reason! Shaking her head, the pony was brought back to reality. With the previous thought in mind, something welled up inside the pony like a balloon; the ever familiar feeling of hope had surged through her body, giving her new found determination. Sure, four of her friends had said no today, and the party would be rather lacking... but a party’s still a party with only two ponies.

In the near distance, Pinkie could see her destination loom over her. Whereas the barn had once been a welcoming sight for the mare was now something almost alien to her. The hope that had previously arisen valiantly clashed against the onslaught of intimidation the barn seemed to give her, making the apprehensive pony question her decisions.

She bounced nervously towards the door which almost seemed to beckon her like a moth to a flame; yet she felt that if she failed, the door would burn her. Now’s not the time to second guess yourself, Pinkie! This is your last chance to make a good party impression on Applejack... until tomorrow, at least!

“Alright! Inventory check!” she screamed, stopping dead in her tracks just a few body lengths away from the steps. “Performing perfect analysis of upgraded streamer explosion saddle... test one, begin!”  She tugged at a string that hung limp off of her side. The shrill whistle of a small explosion resonated around her, as the recoil made her strain her back to keep standing on all fours. Once she completely regained her composure, the sky in front of her was littered with multi-colored streamers that slowly drifted towards the ground. "Check... although this does have a bit more kick to it than I expected!" she exclaimed, joyously clapping her front hooves together.

“Alright, invitations!” She grasped the opening to her saddlebag with her mouth, and pulled it open. Inside the bag were five unopened invitations, a lollipop and specialty toothless-alligator food. Upon seeing the invitations, her previously hopeful demeanor popped, much akin to a balloon being introduced to a sharp tack, and was replaced by a saddened expression. The thoughts of her friends abandoning her like her previous birthday re-surfaced, fresh as the dew that hung to grass in the early morning. “Check...,” she pouted, closing the saddlebag. She knew this time that she wouldn’t let depression get the best of her, though. While last time she may have jumped over the banister at the top of the stairwell of depression, she had friends that would never abandon her without reason - and there was never a good enough reason to abandon a friend.

She turned her attention back towards the barn. Just a few more steps... she reminded herself, beginning a slow trot towards the stairs. She gently placed one of her hooves on top of the first step, but pulled back quickly as it let out a long groan from the slight pressure. Her nerves were frayed; every fiber of thought that flowed through her mind was a negative ‘what if’ scenario.

She inhaled deeply, puffing her chest out as far as she could, with the thought that making herself look big would calm her down. Now’s not the time to be second-guessing yourself Pinkie!  Wait, since I thought that twice, would that be quadruple-guessing yourself? Four-guessing yourself? Anyway, just walk up the stairs, knock on the door, and ask the question. It’s as easy as baking a cupcake, or cracking an egg!

She exhaled, and bounced onto the first step. The groan that the stairs emitted was torture to her attuned ears, making the pony cringe. Ignore it, ignore it, think of something else... like a puppy, or a chocolate cake... she closed her eyes, and bounced up the last few stairs, each one producing an ear-splitting noise that scared the pony into the darkest depths of her own mind.

Turning around, she looked at the staircase she had just braved. From her safe-haven on top of the deck, she knew that those accursed stairs wouldn’t be able to do anything. “Thought you could scare off ol’ Pinkie, didja, stairs?” she accused, giving the stairs her own evil eye while pointing at the top step. “Well it didn’t work! Pinkie’s too brave to be scared by you!”

With a dismissive flick of her tail, Pinkie turned back around and made her way over to the door. With a sigh, Pinkie put on her most serious expression, and knocked her head against the door three times. The waiting game was the wallflower to Pinkie’s party, something she naturally just didn’t enjoy. Seconds seemed like hours, as the clock inside her head ticked at a rate that rivaled frozen molasses. She started bouncing around impatiently, sweat trickling down her forehead, her mind full of uncertainties.

The door opened, revealing an orange earth pony with her ever familiar stetson hat. Her eyes looked over the bouncing mare standing in front of her, taking in every feature. She nodded, “why, hello there, Pinkie! What can ah do for ya?”

Pinkie took in a deep breath, and pulled the string that was on her side. As the explosions erupted from her saddle, she began to sing:

“This is your singing telegram, I hope it finds you well!

You're invited to a party cause we thi-”

“Ah’m afraid I’ll have to say no, Pinkie. As much as ah love yer parties, sugarcube, work here on th’ farm has been awfully busy lately. Maybe some other time?”

Pinkie hung her head dejectedly, as she kicked at the wooden floorboard underneath of her. Five out of five rejections. Every last one of her friends had said no again for the fifth day in a row.  This was something Ponyville’s premier party pony – who was always able to get ponies to come to her parties – was completely unused to, leaving her in a state of gloomy confusion. “Yeah... sure... some other time.”

“Look. Ah’m mighty sorry, sugarcube. But sometimes we all just need to work. We can’t all be as free as you are.”

“I guess I’ll see you later then, Applejack...,” Pinkie said as her face drooped; the meaning of her friend's words hitting her brain hard like bricks

“Ah hope to see you later, Pinkie. Keep safe!” Applejack said, closing the door.

Pinkie sat on her haunches in front of the door. Something was obviously wrong, none of her friends had rejected her party invites five days in a row before. There had to be a logical explanation for all of this!

They all gave the exact same reply for every single day... My friends wouldn’t do something so strange! Usually they’ll change up their answers, but the exact same each time? Even somepony as smart as Twilight would’ve given a better response then ‘I’m too busy’, which is a rather silly idea. I mean, nopony’s too busy for a Pinkie party! There’s only one answer for all of this... my friends have obviously been taken over by anti-party monsters! Their one weakness has to be partying, which is why they never want to go to my parties anymore... As the sudden realization hit her, Pinkie’s eyes dilated heavily as she jumped into the air and let out a loud gasp. Her friends were all taken over by monsters, one by the likes Equestria has never seen before! As her body slowly flitted towards the ground, her thoughts became more rampant as the seriousness of the situation filtered into her head.  This means all my friends are in trouble! I need to rescue them all from this horrible monster before all of Equestria is turned into an anti-party country! I mean, a country without partying? That’s like a cupcake without icing! That just won’t do!

With a bout of determination, Pinkie opened up her saddlebag and pulled out one of the invitations. Its bright pink envelope, laced with glitter and stickers, glimmered in the dim sunlight of the afternoon. The faint smell of candy wafted off of the invite into Pinkie’s nose, a joyous scent that the pink mare was enticed by. Not wanting to get too attached to the effort she put into each invitation, she ripped open the envelope and let the card slide out. Pulling out a pen with her mouth that had lain hidden behind the invitations, she opened the card and hastily scribbled out the invite. Alright... now I’ll need Applejack to drop by Sugarcube Corner... but how can I make this seem urgent enough? A quick thought crossed her mind, as her mouth pulled up into a sly grin. Perfect...

As quickly as her mouth could write, she wrote down a letter that not even Applejack could ignore. Looking over her message, she smiled and nodded, feeling that everything was ready.. Now I just have to wait... just hold on Applejack, I’ll save you from those monsters in your head, even if it’s the last thing I do!