Just Smile

by writer-pony2

Rating: everyone
Tags: Pinkie Pie, Slice of Life, Romance, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Cheese Sandwich
Length: 2254

At Rainbow's birthiversary, Pinkie Pie asks Cheese Sandwich a question that leads to him opening up to her a bit about his past. Hints of CheesePie.

Takes place near the end of 'Pinkie Pride.' At the party, Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich find time to joke around, talk, and learn about each other. And soon, a question comes up that's been on Pinkie's mind, leading to an interesting, little backstory. Hints of CheesePie.
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This story is, sort of, just a small expansion of the scene where Cheese tells Pinkie about how he became a party pony.

Published 2015-05-18 06:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2015-05-18 06:00:01 UTC

Story Time

Music, balloons, cake, a fruit punch lake.

All of the elements needed to make a party epic were present, and everypony seemed to be having a good time. Especially, a certain Rainbow-maned pony who was currently dancing and would later deem this event as 'The best Birthiversary ever.'

Amongst all of the partying ponies, there were two ponies who were, surprisingly, not dancing or moving about, energetically. What was even more surprising was the fact that these two were considered by everypony to be the most energetic party ponies around, and they were, in fact, responsible for planning such a fun, lively event. Everypony had expected the two to party the hardest out of everyone at the event. Instead, the two were uncharacteristically calm and only sitting in one spot instead of moving about after they'd finished performing the 'Make a Wish' song.

Feeling a bit tired from all of the party-planning and shenanigans of a fierce goof-off taking place earlier, Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich had both decided to rest for a bit to regain energy. And since they were beginning to get along better, they decided to use their resting time to talk and get to know each other. Pinkie was currently in the middle of telling Cheese a deep, dark tale of pain, mystery, and intrigue.

"…And then I said 'Oatmeal? Are you crazy?!' "

"That is crazy!" Cheese chuckled "I would've gone with cheddar, personally."

"I would've picked cupcakes." Pinkie chirped

"Oooh, good choice!" The two then burst out giggling, so wrap up in their stories that they failed to notice whenever a few ponies nearby would glance at them in confusion, wondering what in the world the two strange ponies were talking about.

Cheese Sandwich's giggling suddenly came to a halt, as his neck began to move in a wiggling motion that travelled down his back and throughout his body before stopping just as quickly as it began. Pinkie halted her giggling too, as she looked over to her newest friend in curiosity.

"Whoa! Was that your Cheesy sense?" Pinkie exclaimed in wonder.

"Yep." Cheese answered as he pulled on his charcoal-colored hat out of nowhere, his tone growing serious as he went back into his 'mysterious cowboy-err-cowpony persona.' "I sense that there's another party coming up. This time, Fillydelphia. Looks like I'll have to go soon…" Cheese finished with a bit of sadness in his voice.

"Oh…" Pinkie muttered in an equally sad tone. "What a shame. We were just starting to become friends…" she thought "Will I ever see you again?" Cheese smiled softly.

"I'm sure you will. If I don't get a Cheesy sense telling me about another party here in Ponyville, I could still try to visit sometime." He reassured, causing Pinkie to smile. "I'm gonna go make sure Rainbow Dash is having fun, then I'll be off."

"Okay. In that case, see ya' later alligator!" Pinkie said cheerfully, while grabbing gummy out of nowhere.

"Don't go missin', rubber chicken!" Cheese smiled as he held up Boneless.

"Good one!" Pinkie giggled

"Thanks! I made that one up." Cheese giggled

After a few moments, the two silenced their giggling, and they began to bid each other a farewell, again. Cheese began to walk away, but before he could get very far, his pink counterpart suddenly remembered something that had been plaguing her mind earlier.

"Oh, wait!" Pinkie called out, causing the fellow party-pony to stop in his tracks and turn to her, inquisitively. "There's still one thing I don't understand. How did you know about my 'Smile' song?" Cheese grinned

"Actually, my little pony, there's an interesting, little story behind that." He trotted back towards Pinkie and sat next to her before beginning his tale. "It all started when I was but a foal in Ponyville, attending a party for the very first time. But not just any party, a party thrown by you." At the word 'you,' Cheese lightly poked Pinkie on the nose with his hoof, causing Pinkie to giggle.

Amidst many partying ponies, a young foal with a brown, curly mane could be seen playing with a rubber chicken near the food table.

"I'm gonna call you 'Boneless!' " the young foal said with glee.

"I'd made my very first friend." explained the older version of the foal.

The foal looked around and noticed many of the fillies and foals attending the party were playing together. He was the exception. The foal looked apprehensive for a moment, debating in his mind whether or not to join the other young ponies in their merriment. He stood up for a moment, as he considered the idea. After a few moments of debating the idea in his mind, he sat back down in the same spot with a frown of defeat. His shyness had gotten the better of him.

"Oh well. At least I still have you, Boneless." he said with a sad smile as he continued to play with his new rubber chicken friend.

"But deep down, I knew that it wasn't enough. I wanted to make more friends. Friends that could really speak to me, but I was too shy to speak to anypony else. I was always so worried about being rejected or teased by others."

"Awww…" Pinkie said in a sad tone, feeling sorry for the fellow party pony.

"But then, something beautiful happened!" Cheese said with smile.

Pinkie brightened at this. "Oooh, what?!" she asked in curiosity.

Cheese gently placed a hoof on her a cheek and smiled at her, fondly. "You began to sing."

The young foal stopped playing with his new companion and looked up in confusion, as he suddenly heard music seemingly coming from nowhere.

"My name is Pinkie Pie (Hello!)
and I am here to say (How ya doin'?)
I'm gonna make you smile,
and I will brighten up your day!"

As the young, pink filly began to bounce around while singing, Cheese watched her in awe. He'd never heard such a beautiful singing voice before in his young life.

"It doesn't matter now (What's up?)
if you are sad or blue (Howdy!)
'cause cheering up my friends is just
what Pinkie's here to do!"

As Pinkie greeted other fillies and foals around her while singing, Cheese smiled at her friendly demeanor. His fears concerning speaking with other ponies his age were beginning to slowly diminish, as he considered that maybe other ponies were friendlier than he'd originally thought they might be.

" 'Cause I love to make you smile, smile, smile (Yes I do!)
It fills my heart with sunshine all the while (Yes it does)
'cause all I really need's a smile, smile, smile
from these happy friends of mine!

I like to see you grin (Awesome!)
I love to see you beam (Rock on!)
The corners of your mouth turned up
is always Pinkie's dream (Hoof-Bump!)"

Cheese rocked his head side to side to the beat of the music, and his smile began to widen more and more as the song continued.

"But if you're kind of worried,
and your face has made a frown,
I'll work real hard and do my best
to turn that sad frown upside down."

As Pinkie continued to sing, she noticed a sad little filly frowning down at a popped balloon. As Pinkie finished the verse, she pulled a balloon from her cutie mark before blowing it up and tying it with a string. The once-sad, young filly smiled brightly as Pinkie gave her the balloon.

"'Cause I love to make you grin, grin, grin (Yes I do)!
Busted out from ear to ear, let it begin!
Just give me a joyful grin, grin, grin,
and you fill me with good cheer."

Pinkie suddenly began to hop away; many of the other ponies attending the party began to hop after her, merrily. Caught off guard, but wanting to hear more of the song, Cheese quickly scrambled up and ran after the others. He also made sure to grab his rubber chicken friend. As he followed the sound of the music, he soon caught up with Pinkie and the others.

"It's true, some days are dark and lonely…"

When hearing that line, Cheese frowned as he began to remember how sad and lonely he'd felt before entering the party.

"-and maybe you feel sad,
but Pinkie will be there to show you that it isn't that bad."

At hearing this, Cheese smiled, hopefully.

"There's one thing that makes me happy
and makes my whole life worthwhile,
and that's when I talk to my friends and get them to smile."

Cheese smiled at Pinkie in admiration, noticing the determination in her voice as she sung those lines. He felt that a pony wanting nothing more than to bring happiness to others was a beautiful aspiration to have. Although, they hadn't been formally introduced, this Pinkie Pie was seriously beginning to earn his respect.

"I really am so happy!
Your smile fills me with glee.
I give a smile, I get a smile,
and that's so special to me!

'Cause I love to see you beam, beam, beam (Yes I do)!
Tell me, what more can I say to make you see that I do?
It makes me happy when you beam, beam, beam.
Yes, it always makes my day!"

As Cheese watched her sing, he noticed that she had a beautiful, infectious smile.

"Come on everypony smile, smile, smile!
Fill my heart up with sunshine, sunshine!
All I really need's a smile, smile, smile
from these happy friends of mine!"

Pinkie's song was very effective;Cheese looked around and noticed that everypony had a smile upon their faces. Not only that, but he noticed that he was smiling too, wider than he'd ever smiled before. As everypony rocked side to side in unison to the beat of the song, Cheese felt a warm, welcoming feeling radiating off of everyone around.

"Come on everypony smile, smile, smile!
Fill my heart up with sunshine, sunshine!
All I really need's a smile, smile, smile
from these happy friends of mine!"

As everypony began to sing along with Pinkie, Cheese surprised himself by singing along with them. In that moment, his prior feelings of loneliness and despair evaporated completely.

"Yes a perfect gift for me
is a smile as wide as a mile
to make me happy as can be!"

Ponies began to lift one another to form a pyramid of ponies with Pinkie atop it. Cheese almost yelped in surprise as he was suddenly lifted to be one of the two ponies right under Pinkie.

"Smile, smile, smile, smile, smile!"

Cheese felt his joy grow larger and larger as the emotion put into the singing began to swell.

"Come on and smile!
Come on and smile!"

The song had ended. After being helped down by a few other ponies, Cheese began to clap his hooves together, ecstatically.

"Pinkie Pie! That was amaz-!" but as he looked around, he noticed that the pink, party pony was no longer in sight. Cheese gasped in surprise as he suddenly realized something. For the first time in his life, he actually felt willing and confident enough to talk to another pony.

He smiled in determination and grabbed Boneless as he decided that he was ready to go home.

As the male party pony finished his tale, he smiled at his pink companion who stared at him in awe.

"Woooow!...And you remembered the lyrics after all these years?!"

"Of course! That song changed my life!" Cheese said as he smiled, fondly. "Not to mention, I still like to sing it whenever I'm feeling sad or alone…Pretty silly, huh?" Cheese looked to the ground shyly, smiling sheepishly.

"Oh, I know silly, and trust me, that's not silly." Pinkie said matter-of-factly before softening her voice. "Actually, I think it's really sweet." she said as she used a hoof to lift Cheese's gaze back up so that he could see her smile of appreciation. Cheese blushed and returned the smile.

"Your song taught me that sometimes if you're in a dark situation that you think is impossible to get out of, the solution to the problem may be closer than you think. All I really needed to do was smile. Just smile, and my life improved a lot after that."

"Staying positive in difficult situations can be really helpful." Pinkie added

"I know, thanks to you." Cheese smiled, fondly, at the pink pony. "Thank you so much Pinkie. I really owe a lot of great things in my life to you. And, I'm really sorry about earlier." Cheese finished with a frown of regret.

"Don't be. I shouldn't have let my pride get the better of me."

"It's okay. Things are great now since we're friends!"

"Yeah! Hey, wanna go swim in the fruit punch lake?"

"You bet!"

Later, as Cheese walked away from Ponyville, he thought about the story he had told Pinkie Pie earlier. He smiled as he thought about how simple the solution to all of his problems turned out to be. "All I needed to do was smile. Just smile."

Author's Note

I'd imagine that an alternate answer to Pinkie's question would involve some forth-wall breaking, as Cheese explains that he's seen every episode of the show and memorized the songs. :derpytongue2:
This was my first My Little Pony fanfic, so I hope I did alright. I also hope that this story brings a smile to your face! :pinkiesmile: :twilightsmile: