Pinkie Has Coping Issues

Twilight was looking out the open window for the second hour that day:  Watching the sky as another Pegasus was clearing the sky.  ‘Where is she?  I miss seeing her rainbow trail.’  Looking at the ground as she contemplated where she could be; Dash wasn’t in Cloudsdale or Canterlot and no one knew where else she’d go or why she’d leave.  Seeing the town life hustling in the distance she decided to go and see how Fluttershy was.

Flying from her castle was of little effort and while she glided through the air she recalled flying with Dash and having a race the previous month.  Dash had won by a landslide and gloated incessantly, but it was so much fun they had rescheduled a rematch for last week.  When Dash didn’t arrive everyone’s worry had begun to grow.

‘Maybe Fluttershy has heard something, I’d better look for her quickly, but I can’t seem too eager, I don’t want her to worry any more than she already does,’ Twilight thought as she flew over the outskirts of Ponyville, where Fluttershy lived and cared for her tiny woodland friends.

Landing softly several feet ahead of Fluttershy Twilight spoke cheerfully, “Fluttershy, how are you today?”

“Oh, I’m good, Twilight.  It’s so nice to see you,” Meekly replied the yellow Pegasus. “Have you had one of Pinkies cupcakes today?  They are extra sweet and she said any donations will go into a throwing Dash a welcome back party.”

“No,” Twilight said awkwardly, trying to change the subject, “have you seen Applejack lately, she’s been working so hard I haven’t seen her for a couple days,” she chuckled, “Remember when I first came to Ponyville and Applejack tried to harvest the entire apple acres herself?”

“Yes, I do.”  Fluttershy stated quietly looking at the ground.  “Dash was a great help picking the apples on top of the trees.”

Looking nervously away from her friend Twilight rubbed her arm and couldn’t find anything to say.  After a moment Fluttershy looked up and showed very concerned eyes, “I hope Dash’s ok.  I don’t know what I’d do if she was hurt and we couldn’t help her.”  Fluttershy reached out and a small bird landed on her out stretched arm, smiling briefly.

“Oh, she’s okay Fluttershy, you have to have faith that she’ll come back soon and with every hair and feather intact,” Twilight stated comfortingly, placing a hoof on Fluttershys shoulder.

All Fluttershy could do was weep quietly for a moment while looking at the ground, then she turned and walked back to her cottage, softly closing the door, “I’ll talk to you later Twilight, I need to check on Angel, she’s not well today.”

‘Wow, this is really affecting her,’ thought Twilight, as she lifted off and headed into town.  Landing near Rarity’s shop, she saw the white mare sitting outside under a sun umbrella, her leg in a cast and her spirits low.  Her mane was not kept up except for a butterfly pin holding a small strip of hair out of her eyes.  Her shop was closed.  Twilight decided to let her be, since Fluttershy had reacted so typically she didn’t really want to deal with rarity’s arrogance, even as a best friend; she’d check on her in a couple hours.

“HI TWILIGHT!  Wanna cupcake?”  Shouted Pinkie grinning wide holding a platter of rainbow frosted cupcakes in Twilights face, mere centimeters from her purple snout.

“Uh, I guess so Pinkie.  Hey, have you heard anything about Dash?”  Asked Twilight as she tried to peer around the desserts to see the grinning pony.

Looking into the sky and touching her chin thoughtfully, “NOPERS SCOPERS!  If you have any money to donate I’ll put it into a welcome back party fund for Rainbow Dash,” chirped Pinkie.

Taking a cupcake and tasting the frosting Twilight was overtaken by the sweet and full flavor; eating it in one bite, “Oh my gosh Pinkie, this is one of your best cupcakes ever!  You have to make these for Dashes welcome back party!”

“Ohhhh, I don’t know if they’ll be exactly the same, I don’t think the ingredients will last that long.” “What do you mean, don’t all ingredients last the same time?”

“Oh, usually yeah, they do.  But these have a secret ingredient in them that I got specially for Dash, and it’s reeeealy hard to get, I’ll tell you what it is,” Pinkie leaned in close to Twilights ear and whispered, “It’s a secret,” she said with a serious face.  Then Pinkie hopped onto her haunches and began balancing a cupcake on her nose, “I also have Apple ones in the making too, Twilight, you’ll love them, they’ll be ready tonight and I’ll bring you one tomorrow, free of charge.”

Thinking of what Pinkie meant Twilight knew that it could mean anything and getting a straight answer would be almost impossible so she smiled warmly, “Thanks, pinkie, here are a couple bits for the party.”  Taking the bits and dropping them into a small bag and beaming with energy Pinkie hopped around for a moment in joy and bounded away.

“Where does she get all that energy?”  Twilight said aloud, turning and walking away.  ‘Maybe from all that sugar, she does live in a bakery after all.  I don’t really know what to do, I guess I’ll just visit around town.’  Turning back to Rarity she locked eyes with the white mare, who was scowling.  Groaning internally Twilight smiled awkwardly and began to trot over to the injured mare.

“Hi, Rarity, you’re looking well.  I was just on my way to see you.”  Twilight stated.

Still glaring at her purple friend Rarity retorted, “I saw that, as you were buying cupcakes from that addlepated twit.  Did you enjoy her bribe?”  Snorting as she said the word ‘bribe.’ Looking at Rarity, Twilight narrowed her eyes.

“I know what happened, Rarity, I was there.  The surprise malfunctioned and exploded hurting you and all of us.  It’s not wrong to accept a gift from a friend and Pinkie is still our friend, she’s just, not our friend for right now.

I’m not taking sides, but Pinkie was really hurt too.  You didn’t...”

Interrupting with a shout that alerted nearby listeners, “SHE was ‘really hurt,’ SHE was?  She bounced away like nothing happened and brought me a balloon while I was lying, bleeding on the floor of my shop, smiling like a twit that doesn’t know anything,” Rarity stated in her arrogant voice.

Replying quickly Twilight argued back, “I know!  You’re hurt most of us physically, but emotionally we were all hurt.  We all took your side the minute you were insulted and stop being friends with Pinkie until she calms down.”

“That doesn’t concern me…” Rarity tried to interrupt.

Cutting Rarity off Twilight retorted, “Dash ran off and Applejack won’t leave the farm!  You’re sitting in self-pity; refusing to do anything.   Everyone is hurting, Rarity, it’s not only about you.”  Turning around as she finished her sentence she began stomping away not waiting for a response.

Rarity didn’t know what to say as she rarely saw Twilight get upset, much less walk away mid argument.  With a sigh Rarity watched her friend turn the corner and returned her gaze to the ground, watching the grass wave in the breeze, finally beginning to contemplate the feelings of the others.

‘Maybe, just maybe, I am taking this too seriously.  I am alive, and Pinkie did try to make amends which I ignored.  Everyone has been punishing Pinkie and I guess I’m to blame.  I guess I should,’ she sighed as she completed her thoughts, ‘go and accept her apology and we can all go back to being friends and put all this nastiness behind us, once and for all.’

Rising from her chair she began to hobble to Sugarcube Corner to wait for pinkie and eat some humble pie, ‘I wish I had a friend to help me get around this blasted town,’ Rarity  thought with a scowl.

After turning a corner Twilight slouched her shoulders and lowered her head; she didn’t like being assertive to her friends, and her friends were in short supply right now.  What would she do next?