Imagine
When Twilight Sparkle was sent to Ponyville she couldn’t have imagined how much her life was about to change. It wasn’t all that long ago really, but so much had happened; Nightmare Moon, Winter Wrap Up, the Running of the Leaves festival, the Gala, Discord, the Hearth’s Warming Eve’s pageant, even a royal wedding!
Most importantly though, she had made friends - Rarity, AJ, Dash, Fluttershy and Pinkie had come into her life and hung on for all they were worth, through everything that had been thrown at them. Of course, each one was her PFF, but she had a soft spot for Pinkie Pie. Bouncy, affectionate, considerate and always ready to party at the slightest excuse, she was the antithesis of Twilight’s reserved, serious and disciplined nature, but, as Twilight considered shortly after the Pinkie Sense incident, opposites attract. Though not in THAT way; people were oh so quick to jump on the slightest hint of body language or unconsidered word and jump to conclusions when there was nothing at all in it.
Twilight lay, forelegs crossed in front of her, perusing the latest issue of Equestria Geographic. Sunlight filtered through a window, high in the library, catching the dust motes as they spiralled down overhead through the warm shards that spilled through. A bang shook Twilight from her intellectual reverie and with a start she looked up to see Pinkie bouncing through the door.
“Hiya Twilight!” the Earth pony grinned brightly, filling the space with the aura of excitement and energy that burst from her with every bounce.
“Hi Pinkie. How’s it going?”
“Super dooper awesome thanks Twilight! I just came by to tell you I’m having…”
“A party?” Twilight interjected, amused. A day seldom went by without a Pinkie party. If not a party, then a shindig, jamboree or hootenanny; if it involved balloons, food and staying up late then it didn’t matter to Pinkie what you called it.
Pinkie’s jaw dropped. “Oooh, how did you guess?” before Twilight could open her mouth, Pinkie ploughed on. “The thing is that it’s the anniversary of the day we became connected. That wooooooooooosh of a sonic rainboom happened on this day, all those years ago!”
She stopped bouncing, and her smile lost a little shine. “We’ve never celebrated it before of course, and we’ve missed a lot of parties…” Pinkie’s grin burst forth again, and her bouncing resumed, “…so we’ve got A LOT of catching up to do”
Twilight trotted down the high street of Ponyville, marvelling at the beautiful glow the moon gave off. Luna had outdone herself tonight, almost as if she knew how special it was. Then again, considering that Princess Celestia was aware of the circumstances of her and her friends’ first, albeit not physical, encounter, she probably did. Spike was already tucked up at home – Pinkie’s orders. It was to be just the 6 of them, despite Spike’s protestations that maybe Rarity would want a little company if things got too rowdy. In theory it was a noble plan, were it not for the fact that Spike merely lived under the illusion that Rarity was always prim and proper. Twilight chuckled, but with a hint of sadness. She knew what it was like to hold a perfect image of someone in your head and not be able to accept anything to the contrary. Knowing him, she thought with fondness, he’ll wait up for me. “Well, he’ll be up a long time in that case, knowing Pinkie”. Twilight had arrived at Sugarcube Corner, and she lifted a hoof to the door, which swung open before she could even knock.
“Twilight, you sluggy slowcoach, you’re the last one here! But now you are and it’s time to get this party started.” Who needed to knock when the resident of the house was armed with a Pinkie Sense? Twilight stepped inside and immediately froze, her jaw dropping, astonishment written over her features as she took in the transformed room. A table, heaving under the weight of treats, stood along one wall. That was expected; it was a Pinkie party after all. What wasn’t expected was the mirror that had replaced the opposite wall, nor the huge disco ball dangling from the ceiling, nor the coloured lights dotted around, nor the fact that the floor seemed to now bounce slightly underfoot, nor the record player in the corner, with huge speakers that towered over the room like behemoths. Even the ceiling seemed a few feet higher than usual, giving the room a more airy and open feel. The kind of setup the room had would have taken weeks to put together and install, at great expense. In short, it was incredible. Incredible and impossible.
“But…” Twilight seemed to have recovered the power of speech, “I was in here earlier this afternoon. How did you do this so quickly? The floor and the mirror and the ceiling… and that,” she pointed at the record player “that’s a Buck and Olufsen! How in Equestria did you afford it?”
“Oh Twilight!” Pinkie snorted a laugh, “It’s the anniversary of the most important day of our lives. I was always planning on pushing the stops out for this one, silly”
“But…”
“Now Twi,” Applejack walked over, a bemused look on her face, “I was just as stunned as you are, but there’s that expression – never look a gift pony in the mouth, ok hun?”
“Besides, this is totally awesome!” Rainbow Dash had joined the conversation, which continued over Twilight’s head.
Just Pinkie being Pinkie. Twilight had learned to not question Pinkie Pie too much. It hurt her brain to consider how many laws of physics she broke on an almost daily basis. Heck, Twilight was sure that if you told Pinkie a square had four sides, she could probably show you the fifth one. This, however, wasn’t just an unexplainable tail twitch, or confetti bursting out of an orifice, this was something that cost both time and money, neither of which were readily available to a young Earth pony who worked a nine to five shift in a small town bakers. It would have taken magic at least, or something, but even then…
“Pinkie…”
“Later Twilight, ok?” The smile and the bounce were still in place, but there was the smallest hint of a strain behind the eyes, a sense of imploration. “Besides, partying takes more than just a room; it takes ponies!”
With that the conversation was closed. For now anyway, Twilight decided, putting it to the back of her mind. She’d make sure to chase this up later. Something – she didn’t know what – wasn’t quite right.
The next few hours passed in a blur of music, dancing, food and drink. Slowly, almost unnoticeably, but with Pinkie’s impeccable timing, the pace became less full on, and more relaxed, until the six ponies were standing and talking, rather than dancing and shouting. Judging the moment was right, Pinkie suddenly leaped away from the group and onto the food table, which was clear enough for her not to step in a jelly or pastry – some achievement, Twilight noted, with the tired smile of one contentedly bloated by too many sweets. Clearing her throat, Pinkie grinned her widest grin and began.
“I hope you all had fun tonight guys! I know I had a super-awesome time.”
A murmur of agreement from the assembled ponies, their sleepy yet party-elated faces turned towards the makeshift stage.
“I thought you might be wondering why I put that mirror on the wall.”
“I thought it was so Rarity could look at how elegant she was when she was dancing?” Rainbow Dash snorted.
“How dare you.” Rarity sniffed. “Just because I lack a little coordination after a drop or two…”
Fluttershy giggled and suddenly everypony was falling about themselves laughing. When they had all recovered their composure, Pinkie began again.
“I want you to look at it. Look at the amazing ponies you are now and think about who you were when you saw that sonic rainboom. Now imagine who you could be in the future. That’s what this party was about; a celebration of past, present and future. And wasn’t it swell! Plus,” Pinkie giggled, “I figured that if we had a mirror and didn’t break it, that’d bring seven years good luck!”
Nobody corrected her logic. Pinkie climbed off the table, and as if by some spell triggered by her action, her friends yawned deeply and curled up together onto the floor. With a smile, Pinkie joined them.
Twilight was woken by a pink hoof on her shoulder, gently shaking her into consciousness. “Mmm…Celesti- huh, what? Pinkie?” she said, her voiced blurred by sleep.
“You deserve to know the truth, Twilight. You’ve been wondering for so long.”
“The… truth?”
“About all this. About everything.”
Pulling herself stiffly to her feet Twilight walked over to the door, and Pinkie walked with her, for once no bounce in her step. Opening it, they stepped outside into the cool night air. Luna’s moon was covered with cloud now and the stillness hung heavy in the air. On the front step of Sugarcube Corner they sat, in silence.
“I’m not normal, Twilight.”
Twilight tried to piece things together as she looked over to the sad face of one of her closest friends, and remained silent. She knew she didn’t just mean quirky, she meant… different, something more tangible.
“Ever since I was little, I could do things. Things nopony should be able to do. You know the kind of stuff I mean. But there’s more than just that. I can do…”
There was a pause. Twilight gazed intently at Pinkie, trying to fathom the turmoil that was going on under the pink hair, but slowly realising the truth that had been under her nose the whole time.
“You can do?”
“Anything!” Pinkie burst out; but there was no excitement in her voice, only a strange longing and bitterness. “I can make anything appear, just by imagining it, I can wish things into existence, I can be anywhere, I can do…Anything!”
Pinkie’s breath was coming in sharp pants now, as she told what she had never told before.
“I could make myself the richest pony in Equestria, I could make myself queen, I could have the stallion of my dreams, I could destroy death, I could have my parents back again!” Tears were falling onto the dirt between her feet. Twilight knew she wasn’t joking. For once there was no question, no doubt in her mind, no thirst for data, for evidence, for verification or vindication of what she was hearing.
“Then why don’t you?”
There was a long pause, punctuated by the sigh of wind that twisted down the street.
“Because… I wouldn’t be Pinkie if I did. All I want to do is to make ponies happy. Not myself. And if I tried too hard, if I used my… magic I guess it is, my wishing, my imagining too much much, then how would I ever be able to stop myself going too far? Would I even care anymore?”
Her face turned towards Twilight’s, a fierce conviction in her eyes.
“I’m Pinkie Pie. Not anyone else. Remember what I said earlier, about the ponies we were, who we are now, and who we could be? Well, I could be anyone, it’s true, but so could all of us. You need to make the right choices and take the right turnings.”
A smile played over her lips; a true Pinkie smile.
“I guess I gave the game away by trying too hard tonight, huh? I should have realised you’d wonder how even I’d managed something so extravagant on such short notice. But you’re my friends, and I want to make you happy more than anyone. So I guess it’s right that if you had to find out, it’s because I tried too hard to make my friends happy. Because that’s me isn’t it? Pinkie Pie.”
“Forever.” Twilight lifted a hoof, and slipped it around her friend’s shoulders. As the clouds cleared from the face of the moon, the two ponies gazed up at the milky white surface.
“Forever”, Pinkie whispered.