Nostalgia washed over Pinkie Pie as she entered her old home. The gray drapes lining the closed windows, the decrepit wood flooring, the black and white family photos hanging on the walls; all of it came sweeping back to her. She breathed in some of the dust which caked the floor. It would always get like this, Pinkie recalled, after just a day without cleaning. Applejack nearly coughed up a lung, but held tight behind her friend. She dropped her suitcase near Pinkie's at the left corner beside the entrance.

"Let me show you around," Pinkie said, then proceeded through a rectangular hallway into the living room. The light filtering through the gray curtains cast the whole room in a drab, yet comforting monotone. Pinkie threw her arms up in a celebratory pose as Applejack entered.

"Welcome to the living room!" she announced. "We never got to spend much time in here, but when we did, ah! It was fun!"

Pinkie flung herself onto the quartz sofa, landing in a manner that would likely have broken any normal pony's spine. Applejack walked over and sat down next to her. It was as comfortable as a sofa made of minerals could be; which is to say, not at all.

"Maud and I used to sit here and watch the puppet shows mom would put on." Pinkie giggled at the plain wall in front of them. "The shows were always just about mineral composition or Equestrian history. How Celestia and Luna defeated Discord, Celestia banning Luna to the moon, stuff like that. But she would always do the funniest voices!"

Pinkie giggled again. Then, raising her hooves, moved them about as if they were attached to the strings of invisible puppets.

"Playtime is over for you, Discord!" she said, replicating her mother's high pitch Celestia.

"Oh, I doubt that," retorted a gravelly Discord. "What are those?"

"The Elements, of Harmony," answered a surprisingly low pitch Luna. Pinkie burst out laughing.

"Oh," Pinkie breathed, catching her breath. "That Luna was always the best!"

After her laughter faded, Pinkie put down her imaginary players and trotted to the stairway.

"C'mon!" shouted Pinkie, already a quarter of the way up. "I gotta show you my room!"

Applejack stood up from the couch and made her way over to the stairs, her eyes managing to see well despite the fading light. As she ascended the steps, her thoughts returned to the book. They had plenty of time to look for it, and Pinkie was beyond ecstatic about showing her around, but a small pool of anxiety built in her regardless. Upon reaching the top, Applejack found Pinkie at the end of a long hallway, resting her hoof on the handle of a door coated in decaying pink paint.

"Ready to see my old room?" questioned Pinkie. Applejack nodded with a smile, and Pinkie turned the knob.

The room proved as dull and sterile as the rest of the house, save for the light pink paint on the walls and ceiling. The majority of it remained the same tepid color. Her bed, her closet, her nightstand and the curtains covering the window; all gray. A wide smile overcame Pinkie's face.

"It's just as I left it!" she squealed. She hopped onto her bed and began bouncing up and down. Despite its age, the bed somehow did not collapse, probably owing to its sturdy material (granite). Applejack eyed the place, a bit confused by the simplicity of design and color.

"Its great, Pinkie Pie," commented Applejack, still inspecting the room for some trace of Pinkie's kookiness. "Its very, what's a fancy word for it... elegant! Elegant, in its, ya know... simpleness."

Now standing next to the curtained window, Applejack began to wonder how Pinkie ever tolerated living here. Nothing, save for a light bit of pink paintwork, reflected on Pinkie at all. Pinkie laughed as she dismounted the bed.

"Simple?" she questioned, trotting over to Applejack. "There's plenty of crazy complexity in this room! You just have to know where to look for it!"

Applejack raised an eyebrow.

"Like where?"

"Like that wall over there!" Pinkie pointed her hoof to the wall at the opposite end of the room. Applejack centered her gaze, examining it scrupulously for any missed details.

"Are you looking?" questioned Pinkie, her hooves now gripping the drapes.

"Ah'm lookin', but I don't see a--"

Pinkie pulled the drapes apart and starlight beamed in through the window. The small cracks in the glass refracted the light into a series of rainbow streaks which engulfed the room. Applejack's jaw hung wide as the colors danced along the plain, pink walls like performers on a stage. Pinkie reached under Applejack's chin and pulled her jaw up.

"I accidentally cracked it when I was playing catch with my first rock, Sir Rockington." Pinkie fixated her gaze on the small, pebble sized hole at the bottom right of the window. "He was supposed to land in Maud's hooves, but the rebellious little rascal went through the window instead! But, on the plus side, we ended up having the most intense game of 'Camouflage' ever!"

Applejack laughed. She didn't really understand why, but for just a second she felt as though she could relate to Pinkie and her story, however odd it was. Pinkie formed a large smile on her face, then unlatched and opened the window.

"We found him hiding behind a boulder where that pile of weeds is now," she said, pointing to an incredibly specific spot of ground. "That little rock could get into so much trouble. Last time I saw him, he had gotten himself caught up in a sandstorm heading west. I tried to go after him, but mom and dad wouldn't let me. They held me down inside my room, telling me he needed to move on. That he wanted to leave. And that someday, I'd see him again, as a new, twinkling rock in the sky."

Pinkie turned her head from the ground and positioned it upwards to face the stars. She squinted tightly.

"OH! There he is!" Pinkie shouted, flailing an extended arm. "That's him! That's him for sure! Or maybe... That's him! Or that one! No, no, too bulbous. Maybe that one?"

Applejack smiled at her friend. Maybe, she remarked internally, there are still a few things she can't relate to just yet.

A sudden, tremendous rumbling overcame the house, shaking the girls inside. Pinkie nearly fell out the window, just barely being saved by Applejack. She'd managed to grab Pinkie's hind legs, leaving her hanging halfway out. From that dangling position, Pinkie could view the source of the rumbling, now speeding down the cliff-side directly toward them! As Applejack clutched her legs, trying to stay balanced herself, Pinkie let out a harrowing scream.

"ROCKALANCHE!"

Author's Note

R.I.P. - Sir Rockington