Pink

Chapters

The Stages
Support
The News
Goodbyes
A Midnight Talk
Manehattan
On the Road Again
Waking Up Before The Party
Hustle your Bustles

The Stages

In loving memory of Kevin Gray.

Pinkie Pie had not been feeling well lately, in fact it had been a doozy of a past month. The Cakes noticed how Pinkie had become more and more ill; her head getting hotter by the day, her apparent headaches getting painful, and rashes had begun to hit her hard. She waited patiently in the doctor's room, her eyes fixated on the window as she watched the trees bloom. She figured it was some sort of allergy and would soon be on her way, and she was thinking all about playing with her friends. Silent mutter came from outside the door, talk between the Cakes and the doctor seemed rather fast between sentences. Yet the pauses that happened began to lengthen ever more as they went on. She could barely hear Mr. Cake on the other side mutter, "How are we going to break this to the babies, they love her dearly. She's almost a big sister to them."

"I'm afraid they will have to be told about this when they're older," said the doctor ever so silently, "they wouldn't understand at this age."

Silent whimpering and shaking breaths could be heard for a few minutes before the doctor said silently, "When did you notice these symptoms?"

"About a month ago," said Mr. Cake in a whisper, "we thought it was spring allergies taking place."

The voices quickly died off, and they were too silent for Pinkie's ears to pick up. She was also too busy scratching at the rash that had broken out on her tummy, the small bumps feeling slightly funny to her. The pink pony began to think over what she had heard, and she had the strongest feeling that she was just too sick to be around the babies for a while. She returned to thinking of playing with her friends and baking when the door slowly opened up.

Slowly entering the room was a doctor with his face hung low, followed by teary-eyed Mr. and Mrs. Cake. She tilted her head and wondered why they had become so worked up over some allergies. A smile spread onto her face as she bleated cheerfully, "Why the long faces? Get it? ‘Cause we're ponies?"

Silence filled the room, and despite her clever joke none of the others smiled at all. The unicorn doctor calmly cleared his throat before saying while avoiding eye contact, "Ms. Pie, we went over your charts, and we have some bad news."

Pinkie continued to smile, as she looked towards the Cake's to see that their faces weren't displaying fake tears nor tears of joy. Pinkie's smile slowly faded, but her hopes remained as she asked curiously, "What's wrong? Are my allergies that bad?"

Mr. Cake approached the pink bundle of joy, he slowly raised his hoof to rest on her shoulder as he said with a shaking voice, "Pinkie Pie... you don't have allergies."

Before Mr. Cake could continue, Pinkie brightened back up as she giggled, "Well that's a good thing! I thought it was something that would last all spring."

The cakes looked at each other, Mrs. Cake's eyes watered up as she nodded her head. She looked towards Pinkie as she whispered, "This isn't a cold, either..."

Pinkie's smile faded, her heart began to constrict out of fear as she nervously quivered, "What's going on?"

Mr. Cake did his best to keep eye contact, he stared into her worrying eyes as he said, "Pinkie Pie, dear, you have something we have never seen before. I'm afraid..." The couple trembled at the limbs with anguish, their eyes produced tears of sadness like never before as Mr. Cake continued, "Pinkie Pie... you're terminally ill."

There was a long pause in the room, the Cakes had begun to weep and moan as Pinkie looked towards the doctor as she said, "What does that mean?" she thought it over, terminally ill sounded like some sort of weird flying sickness to her.

The doctor kept his voice low as he said solemnly, "It means that you are going to die."

"Well of course, silly!" Pinkie laughed, "everypony eventually has to die, it's the circle of"

Before she could finish, Mrs. Cake said loudly in her crying voice, "No Pinkie, you have one month left to live before you die!"

Pinkie's heart nearly sank beneath her stomach before feeling like it had been crushed in her chest. Her mind suddenly began to race over the future, millions of thoughts at a time about her friends, family, and her life. Pinkie Pie turned to the doctor as she shakingly said, "But... you have a cure... right?"

The doctor shook his head, "I'm sorry, Ms. Pie, but terminally ill means that there is no known cure."

Pinkie's hooves began shaking violently; she couldn't believe what was happening. She reminded herself of how well she had been eating recently, all the fruits and exercise she did throughout the day made it obvious she was living a healthy lifestyle with the occasional party snacks. Pinkie turned to the doctor, "This is all a joke right? I can't be sick, I've been eating and living like a healthy pony."

"It doesn't work that way this time," the doctor began, "this one goes straight for the cure. It appears to be attacking the very white cells that defend you."

"So that just means I will get sick more often! I won't die!" Pinkie began to get angry, none of the information heading her way was making sense. It all sounded like a jumbled mess while the two Cake's cried and mourned in the background.

The doctor held up Pinkie's hoof as he said, "It means that with no elements of harmony inside you, the Discord cells can be as bad as they want. It means that you are going to experience the common cold like never before."

Pinkie jerked her hoof from the doctor, she was infuriated with the information that was being told. Pinkie looked outside as she said with tears of anger falling onto her cheek, "What about my friends? How come they don't get it, huh? Is it because I'm the special one?! The one that not even PRINCESS CELESTIA CARES ABOUT?"

Mrs. Cake gently approached Pinkie as she said calmly, "Please don't think like that, sweetie."

"I CAN SEE IT NOW!" the raging Pinkie began, "NONE OF MY FRIENDS REALLY CARED FOR ME! I WAS JUST A LAUGH MAKER THAT THEY USED LIKE A TOY! THEY WON'T EVEN GIVE A FLYING FEATHER ABOUT ME WHEN I'M GONE!"

As Pinkie slammed herself against the table, crying her soul out, Mrs. Cake approached her and kissed her cheek. He could feel the warmth of the fever already. Mr. Cake calmly brought Pinkie in as he said in a quivering voice, "Your friends would never do this to you. They love you more than anything and they will never forget you."

"Never forgetting me is just what I'm worried about," Pinkie said through her tears of pain, "if they really are friends, they are going to be sad forever and I can't do anything about it."

The doctor slowly moved a piece of paper towards Pinkie as he mentioned, "Actually, there is something you can do." Pinkie read over the paper that read:

Bucket List: An expression used for a list somepony makes consisting of things to do before they die. The word derives from the expression, "kicking the bucket"

Pinkie sniffed before looking back up at the doctor as he continued, "It may not let you stay longer, but it will make sure you and your friends will still feel the love after you move on."

Pinkie looked out the window, there were only a few thoughts remaining in her head. She looked of the paper and thought hard about what she understood, she had only a month and she needed to make sure that they love her forever. She finally accepted that this had become a reality, that she was going to have to die. She sniffed as she said in a calmed voice, "I'm sorry everypony for the performance, this is just so much for me to take in."

"I think you should fill that bucket list of yours Pinkie," said Mrs. Cake, "and one of them being telling your friends before its too late."

Support

Twilight looked over her freshly stocked bookshelf, feeling rather pleased with her organization yet again. When the slow knocking came from outside, Twilight expected to see your average library visitor. As the door opened, though, what she found was a contradiction in many ways. Standing before her was Pinkie, but not in her usual mood, her hair had begun to straighten out and her colors began darkening. An ugly rash had begun making its way up her neck, her brow sweating

"Well good morning, Pinkie," Twilight looked over her distraught pink friend, "wow you don't look so good."

It was a surprise for Twilight, for Pinkie made no joke about her friend's obvious statement. She simply looked up with red eyes stained of tears as she said, "It's much worse than you think. Can I come in?"

Twilight looked over her shoulder, she knew she was prepared to catch this sickness but wasn't as sure for Spike. She turned back to Pinkie as she said with a reassuring look, "Of course, Pinkie, come on in."

As Pinkie slowly dragged herself through the room, she mumbled to her friend, "Twilight... I have some very bad news."

Twilight tilted her head, it wasn't very normal for Pinkie to be so realistic with her jokes, to make jokes about being sick was rather odd for her.

As Twilight examined her, Pinkie looked up with teary eyes and said, "Twilight... I need your help with something."

"What is it Pinkie? Do you need help finding a cure for whatever this is?"

"There's no point."

Twilight was beginning to worry, she had noticed the color of Pinkie's mane had begun to die off ever more as well as her fur turning a darker pink. Twilight moved a hoof onto Pinkie's shoulder as she said with a worrying look, "What do you mean?"

Pinkie calmly wrapped one of her own hooves around Twilight's and calmly moved away as she said, "My time has come, Twilight, for me to move on."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm going to die." Pinkie's eyes slammed shut as tears crept down her cheeks, she couldn't bare looking Twilight in the eyes at the shock that swept over her best friend. She couldn't tell what was worse, the excruciating pain in her headache or seeing Twilight tremble and quake in shock and anguish.

Twilight shook her head as she cried, "Don't say that Pinkie! This is just a joke right?"

Pinkie shook her head, "I wish it was," she began, "but I got a nasty bug that nopony else has ever had before. I wish I wasn't the lucky pants this time." Pinkie turned around and wept to herself, she listened to Twilight sniff and sob in anguish of the news.

Twilight quickly responded, "How much longer do you have?"

"About a month or two," said Pinkie, "the doc said that this might just feel like I closed my eyes and will never open them again. He said that this body bug won't hurt me, but won't give me much time either."

Twilight sniffed, she hugged her best friend not caring about touching the rash that has spread onto her. Twilight looked over Pinkie as she said, "I can see why you wanted to see me. You want my help breaking this to everypony else."

"That... and help with making my bucket list."

"Your what?"

It's a list of all the things I want to do before I buck the bucket. I like to call it the, 'Buck-it list' get it?"

Twilight smiled a bit, she looked up at Pinkie to see her smiling towards her with an empty piece of paper. Twilight then realized what had just happened, even in death Pinkie was willing to make a joke about herself. Twilight hugged her tightly once more as she said, "Pinkie. I'd love to help you, just name anything in Equestria and beyond and I will make sure that we get those things done.

**15 minutes later**

"Pinkie..." Twilight began, looking down at this list of tasks, "these are quite the odd things you want."

"Like what?" Pinkie's mane had begun to curl up once more, it had been fifteen minutes of laughter between the two about some of the ridiculous things Pinkie wanted. Yet all this laughter was half the reason why Pinkie was happy once more, she looked down at her list of things to get done and it was nearly covered in pen scribblings.

Twilight giggled as she looked over the list, "Stand up comedy? Marriage? You want to experience getting married?"

Pinkie snorted with laughter as she said, "Well maybe I'll find somepony that I'll like, I want to make sure that I live my life. OOH OOH add go to space!"

Twilight burst into laughter, "I know where you'll be wanting to go."

The two joined together in a loud howl, "ON THE MOOOON!"

The two fell to their sides bursting with laughter, their lungs and bellies hurting from having such a good time. Pinkie had to calm herself down before adding to the joke, "Dont forget my... banana bag!" the two continued to laugh at the top of their lungs, it felt like forever since they had lauded this hard. Pinkie wiped a tear of joy from under her eye as she said in a breathy voice, "Seriously though, I want to be one of the first mares in space exploration. Yes, Luna went to space a few years ago or so, but that was against her will."

Twilight added it to the list, the feather quill scribbling words onto the paper as she said, "Space... exploration. Is there anything else? Buck Aldrin?"

Pinkie smiled as she examined her complete list, it was filled with adventure packed tasks. She looked back up at Twilight with eyes filled with joy as she said, "Just let me add one more thing." Pinkie grabbed the quill in her mouth and scribbled something onto the paper, she then folded it up and put it into her saddlebag as she said, "That last one is for later and just in case none of the other ones get done. Come on," Pinkie said while motioning her head for the door, "I think we're ready to tell the others about me."

Twilight trotted along with Pinkie, she was in full admiration of Pinkie's strength to walk and talk as though nothing was wrong with her in the first place. Her colors had sprung back to life and were as vibrant and curly as ever. Her trot was her usual skipping and her smile was as warm and as sincere as possible. Twilight trotted up next to Pinkie as she said, "Do you think the others will be able to handle this news?"

Pinkie shrugged as she said, "To be honest, I completely forgot I was sick. I decided that since you are a smarty pants that you would know to back me up if anything happens." Pinkie turned around and lovingly nudged her head under Twilight as she said, "Thanks! You're the bestest friend everest!"

The News

Every pony gathered around, their looks displayed worry and unease. Pinkie and Twilight stood in front of them, looking over them with solemn looks as they prepared the bad news. Pinkie looked behind at Twilight to see her give a reassuring look back, nodding her head and pushing a tear back. Pinkie turned to the other four as she said, "Girls, I have some... really suckish news."

Dash scanned Pinkie twice over, "Is it the rash, Pinkie?" the rainbow pegasus asked her friend. "Cause if it is, we get it. We're not supposed to lick it."

Pinkie shook her head, she then reconsidered what Dash had asked and nodded her head with the shrug of her shoulders. Pinkie looked over the group as she said, "I want you all to take a moment to let this news sink in, it will be really hard for you girls to take this."

Applejack took her hat off and scratched at the back of her head while she muttered, "Uh Pinkie, yer startin' to scare us."

Pinkie lowered her head and took in a deep breath, thoughts of just giving up and keeping it a big secret to the girls was the primary thought in her. She quickly pushed it to the back of her mind as she said with her hair covering her eyes, "I'm really sick. The doctor says I have two months to live, tops."

A loud gasp filled the room, Dash shook her head as she said in disbelief, "Come on, sport, you're joshing us... right?"

Twilight held up a piece of paper with a scribbled signature at the bottom, "I'm afraid she's not. She's got what doctors are staring to call 'Discord disease' where it makes her immune system weak enough to let even the common cold hurt her."

Dash shook her head violently as she shouted in anger, "You're lying Pinkie! Don't play games with me! I can't lose my best friend ever!"

Pinkie slowly trotted up to the now crying ponies, bringing them all into a hug as she said calmly, "Let's not think about that."

Rarity cried out in sorrow as she grabbed the pink pony tightly and whimpered, "I don't care how dirty or slimy my mane gets if it means you could stay. Maybe we could think of a solution, a cure!"

"It's too late," said Pinkie, "the doctors said that if I had come in a month earlier then there would have been a chance."

For the next minute, the girls cried and wept for the soon to be passed Pinkie. Their tears staining their fur as they pushed tear after tear down their cheeks, knowing that in two months they would loose one of Ponyville's greatest citizens and their greatest friend ever.

Pinkie wept the tears from each of their faces, being extra cautious with Fluttershy's, she wiped the tears from her own cheeks as she said, "I wanted to show you girls something, its called a Bucket List. Its of all the things I want to do before I pass away."

Applejack looked over it, her eyes bobbing from left to right before returning and repeating the pattern all the way down the sheet. After a few minutes, she took off her hat as she said with an unsure look on her face, "Ah don't know. Ah'm gonna be honest with ya, this here list is filled with mighty difficult tasks."

Rarity took a shaky breath, she wiped more tears from her eyes before saying, "Can you read them to us, dear?"

Pinkie grabbed the sheet from Applejack's mouth as she said, "Of course."

My Bucket List, by Pinkie Pie:

() Visit Manehattan

() Go see a stand up comedian

() Go to a Micolt Jackson Concert

() Skydive

() Zipline

() Get Married

() Be a robot

() Go to space

() Meet somepony special

() Watch the sun rise

() Have a private audience with the princesses

() Spend quality time with Rainbow Dash

() Spend quality time with Fluttershy

() Spend quality time with Applejack

() Spend quality time with Rarity

() Spend quality time with Twilight Sparkle

() Visit my real family

Pinkie lowered the paper from her face, she looked at the mixed expressions on all the ponies but Twilight. They were deciding whether to smile at her humor or cry at the fact they were performing Pinkie's dying wishes. Dash shut her eyes tightly to squeeze out the tears before saying in a stern voice, "No matter how difficult those are, I swear I will get those done."

Rarity nodded her head in agreement, "Very rarely do I agree with such bold statements, but this involves the life of a friend I cherish so I will do whatever it takes to make you happy."

Applejack replaced her hat on her head as she said with her chest stuck out, "Ah'm not the one to lie, so believe me when I say y'all can count on me."

Fluttershy nodded her head, "There's nothing too scary when it comes to being a good friend till the end." Fluttershy had the strongest look in her eyes, she was showing what appeared to be true dedication.

All heads turned to Twilight, she had her head slightly low before mumbling, "When I came to Ponyville, I had no idea how to be friends. But thanks to Pinkie, I learnt how to be the best friend possible and I am going to make sure that each item is complete on that list. I want to prove to you, Pinkie, that we are friends till the end!"

Pinkie smiled brightly as she said, "Well girls, lets get them done." She brought her hoof into the center, she was trying her best to take their minds off of her impending doom by raising her very own team spirit. The rest of the girls placed their hooves in the center before shooting them into the air, cheering with hope that each item will be done.

Goodbyes

Pinkie slowly packed her belongings into her saddlebag, she could hear the silent crying coming from downstairs. It was the crying of the Cake's, their whimpering and shaky breaths echoed up the stairs and into her room as she loaded the last things into her bag. When Pinkie had finished, she buckled her saddlebag up, threw it over her flank, and trotted down stairs to say goodbye.

As she trotted down the stairs, the first two ponies she saw were Mr. And Mrs. Cake crying with tissues around their hooves. Pinkie slowly approached them, her heart sank at the thought of never seeing them again and it made her think of saying the best goodbye possible. Not even Pinkie's rash or headaches were distracting her as she said silently, "Mr. and Mrs. Cake, thanks for everything you did for me."

The tearing ponies hugged Pinkie tightly as Mr. Cake said through shaking breaths, "No... Thank you, Pinkie. You helped us through so many things in our relationship and even saved us from divorce. You were one of the greatest things to happen to us, we are going to miss you dearly."

Pinkie gently rubbed her snout through his mane, the smell of carrots filled her nostrils and took her mind off of the bigger issue. She slowly pulled back and wiped the tears from her eyes, "Are you kidding? I had no where else to go before I moved here. You gave a home, a job, and a family for me. You gave me everything I ever wanted and I can't thank you more for it."

As Pinkie broke the hug, Mrs. Cake quickly drew a shaky breath, "Oh one more thing, Pinkie," Mrs. Cake said through her tears, "have fun. Make sure it's the best month of your life."

Pinkie nodded her head, "One more thing, check under my bed. There's something for the twins." with that, Pinkie opened the door to Sugarcube Corner and trotted out. Pinkie made sure to take in every detail about the store, the candy coated walls, the chocolate frosted roof with a cherry on top, and the constant smell of something delicious. She slowly made her way into the center of Ponyville, looking at all the stores, houses, and buildings that stood in the small village. As she made her way to town square, she could make out the small dots of colors. As she approached, she made out that Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Twilight Sparkle were all waiting for her next to a flying chariot.

As Pinkie walked up next to it, Twilight nudged Spike towards Pinkie. Spike's eyes were red from tears, his nose was pink from running (why do children's noses always get so snotty) as he gripped Pinkie's leg tightly and he cried aloud, "Please don't go!" Spike's voice trailed off into a sort of squeak before whimpering and carrying on, "This isn't fair for this to happen to you. I'll do what I need to make you better. I'll give you my own heart, I'll give up my own life for you!"

Pinkie gently brought her hoof to Sike's chin and raised is gaze to meet hers as she said, "Sikey Wikey, you're always giving, and giving, and giving. You give because you don't want to lose something." Pinkie scooped up Spike from under and lifted him to her face for a kiss on the cheek as she said, "For this one time, not only take something from me, but never give it back. I want you to go home remembering all the times we shared together, never ever forget them. When you take this and never give it back, you'll lose all physical being of me but gain something greater."

Spike took a few minutes to answer, he'd had never heard Pinkie speak like this before. Spike slowly raised his eyes from her pink mane as he said, "What's that?"

Pinkie tightly hugged and kissed Spike's cheek as she mumbled, "My memories... our memories."

Spike shook his head, he quickly wiped the tears from is face as he exclaimed, "What do you mean?"

Pinkie smiled, "Holding onto the loss of someone you care about distracts you from all the things that were fun. If you focus your mind and memories on the fun we had, well they will last forever and leave you a happy baby dragon." with that, Pinkie kissed Spke's forehead once more before letting him down gently, leaving Spike to return to Twilight.

Twilight hugged Spike as she said with a hopeful smile, "We'll bring back photos for you, and something for you to member her by." Twilight then borded the golden chariot, she motioned at the others to board as well.

As they all climbed on, Twilight turned to Pinkie as she said, "That was incredibly philosophical of you, Pinkie. Where did that come from?"

Pinkie shrugged, "I guess in times like these, where things look to be the worst, the best of you shines the brightest."

Twilight looked down at the shrinking Spike, the chariot had already taken off into the air. Twilight turned towards the others as she said, "First thing on the list..." Twilight took a shaking and uneasy breath, she was actually reading Pinkie's dying wishes, the very final requests before she's gone forever. Twilight pushed back the tears as she looke towards the distance, "Manehattan."

******

The chariot eventually landed at the Manehattan Areial center, ponies bustled to and fro about their daily commutes. Pinkie took a step off of the chariot as she wondered, "What hotel are we going to stay at?"

Rarity pointed towards one of the taller buildings, "How about the Shining Star, I hear that they offer the highest quality care."

Twilight calmly pulled a piece of paper from her saddlebag as she said informatively, "We're going to leave this up to Pinkie, after all she is... you know what. It doesn't really matter what you pick, we have a signed document by the sisters to grant us free anything. So it's all on the house, Pinkie."

Pinkie turned around and winked, "I think you mean it's on the castle, Twilight." Pinkie joyfully giggled before looking around in awe, "Holy moly, I can't believe I'm in Manehattan!"

Dash slowly trotted by Applejack as she muttered, "There's something else that I cannot believe."

Applejack whispered back in a harsh tone, "Hush up, Dash, we don't need to remind her of anything."

Dash looked back down towards her hooves, her head hung in shame at saying something as aweful as she did.

Pinkie thought over it quickly before exclaiming in joy, "How about the Hilltop Tippy Topper! I hear they are the best there is."

Rarity cooed as she brushed her mane, "You mean the most sophisticated hotel in all of the Manehattan area? I couldn't really argue about that, dear."

"Alrighty then," Pinkie motioned for the girls to follow her, "lets get ourselves a place to crash."

A Midnight Talk

Twilight jerked upright, she had a look of shock in her eyes as she gasped for air. She had just awoken from a dream, the last thing she remembered was tripping or falling over something. She looked around the room, her eyeballs scanning for a clock. The darkness blinded her from what she looked for, her eyelids felt like they were made of lead and barely opened. A gentle green light brightened up and caught Twilight's attention, she rolled onto her side to find a glow in the dark clock pointing at 4:23 am. Twilight groaned in annoyance, she rolled onto her other side, making sure she wasn't able to see the time as she covered her faces with one of her extra 36 pillows.

After what felt like an eternity, Twilight came to the sudden realization that she wasn't going to be asleep for a while. Twilight groggily lifted herself up, turned her clock face down and dragged herself out of her room.

As Twilight entered the main room, candles slowly lit to life and add an extra bit of light for Twilight to see around. She made her way to the fridge, her mouth stained with that taste you get after sleeping. She looked away as she opened the fridge, the light nearly blinding her. After a couple of seconds, Twilight backed from the fridge with a bottle of apple juice.

Twilight began to head back to her room as she cracked the seal open with a satisfying click, yet on her way something chilled her body. Twilight paused for an instant to ponder the origin of the cold gusts, her frizzy bed hair gently bobbing in the wind. She slowly made her way to the balcony door, she could see the bobbing of a pink curly tail just off to the side. As Twilight exited towards the balcony, she saw Pinkie simply leaning on the rails as she stared into the distance. The lavender unicorn had trouble speaking as she noticed the rash had made its way higher up her neck.

"Hey..." Twilight managed to peep, "why are you out here in the cold?"

Pinkie quickly broke her gaze, as her eyes locked onto Twilight and she began to smile innocently. "Hey Twi," the party pony began, "my owie wowie headache was keeping me awake. I guess the chilly air makes it go away along with the super itchy rash."

Twilight moved closer to her friend, she overlooked the dark red rash that was spreading across her and instead focused on her sky blue eyes. They were full of joy as they reflected Twilight's midnight violet eyes. Twilight leaned against the rail with Pinkie as she said with a smile, "Yeah I couldn't get to sleep cause of one of those dreams."

Pinkie turned her head towards Twilight, she looked as though she knew exactly what she was talking about as she replied, "Was it one of those where you tripped over something and it threw you out of bed?"

Twilight nodded her head as she exclaimed, "Yeah! I hate those so much."

There was a bit of a pause, Twilight took a sip from her drink as Pinkie began, "You know, I was getting kind of lonely out here."

Twilight held back for a minute, she thought of heading back inside yet began thinking of how Pinkie would feel. She immediately thought of spending the rest of the night out here once she noticed the hammock, she began to trot over to it as she said, "Well I'd hate to see you all lonely so I'll spend the night right here for you." Twilight pushed her hooves into the hammock, she spread the sides apart to open the knitted cocoon and began climbing in. She floated one of the pillows from off to the side into the hammock before yawning, "Well, good night Pinkie."

"Wait, Twilight?"

"Yeah Pinkie?" Twilight poked her head from the hammock, she was beginning to have a hard time staying awake in such a comfy bed.

Pinkie's face began to go a deep red, not from a rash but from a blush. Her eyes averted her gaze and locked onto the ground as she said sheepishly, "I was wondering if I could... if I could um..."

Twilight stared for a bit, she had already caught on to what Pinkie was getting at but she wanted to hear her ask it. When she saw Pinkie shake her head with a fake smile and turn around, Twilight opened the hammock as she said with a warm smile, "You want to hop in? It's gonna get cold for me."

Pinkie slowly turned her body around, a smile had overtaken her face, her eyes filled with innocent joy as she bounced over and hopped into the hammock next to Twilight. As she wiggled her way up to Twilight, she whispered, "Before you go to sleep, can I tell you something?"

"Sure Pinkie, what is it?" Twilight let her hoof rest under Pinkie's neck, she wasn't afraid of getting the rash on her or getting sick and focused on the moment at hand.

Pinkie closed her eyes tightly, she wallowed her courage and blurted, "I have a crush on somepony."

Twilight's ear twitched, she was caught slightly off guard by that as she said calmly, "Well that's cute, who is he?"

Pinkie looked away from Twilight, in her heart she knew that Twilight would find the next secret absurd as she peeped, "It's a she, Twilight, I like mares."

Twilight gasped, she was blown away by the incredibly deep and personal thing Pinkie had simply let out. After looking towards her friend, seeing her closing her eyes as a tear streamed out, Twilight wrapped her hooves around Pinkie as she said calmly, "Pinkie, something like that must have taken a lot of courage. I know that it must mean a lot to you to be telling me this, so I promise not to tell a soul."

Pinkie rolled over, their snouts barely touched and their eyes locked on each others. Pinkie began to smile with hope, she reminded herself that Twilight truly was a great friend as she said, "Pinkie Pie promise?"

"Cross my heart... hope to fly... stick a cupcake in my eye." Twilight giggled. The lavender unicorn then hugged Pinkie as tight as she could, she never felt more special or loved by any friend then by Pinkie. Pinkie rolled onto her side once more, her back facing Twilight as she backed in till the bodies were pressed against each other. Pinkie felt the warmth of Twilight's body, the slow beating of her heart and the light breathing against her neck.

Twilight could feel Pinkie's body shivering in the cold, the tight rippling going from head to toe before stopping once the bodies were pressed against each other. Twilight could smell Pinkie's shampoo in her hair, the smell of bubblegum and ice cream was heavy and intoxicating to her. The feel of Pinkie's short fur around her legs and stomach brushed against her body as the two held each other close.

Pinkie began pushing her head under Twilight's chin like a cat would, her nostrils expelling heat under Twilight's neck that caused her to shudder. Pinkie grabbed one of Twilight's hooves and wrapped it around her body, knowing Twilight didn't give a flying feather of the scabby rash. Pinkie smiled as she stared up at Twilight and whispered, "Good night."

It took a few seconds, but Twilight didn't answer, she had already fallen asleep. Pinkie felt sad and ignored only for a split second until she felt Twilight's hooves wrap around her even tighter as she nearly purred, her eyes darting in every direction under her eyelids signaling that she was already dreaming.

Pinkie immediately felt incredible, she could see the color of her tail almost flicker with light from joy. She rested her head against Twilight as she whispered ever so quietly, "I love you." She didn't care if she heard or not, she didn't care if it was day or not, she did t care if it was cold or not. She didn't even care if she was dying or not. The time was perfect, the place was perfect, the air was perfect, everything was perfect. Perfect. Perfect... perfect.

Manehattan

The last thing Pinkie remembered before drifting off to sleep was the warm sensation of Twilight’s breath against her cheeks, as well as the gentle rocking of the hammock they rested in. Throughout the night, Pinkie would often wake up from nightmares only to sigh with relief for Twilight was still beneath her (she really liked Twilight as a purple pillow). While it may have been the rocking of the hammock and Twilight’s breathing that put Pinkie to sleep, it was the soft fur of a friend that kept Pinkie sleeping. When dawn arrived, the warmth of summer’s day slowly began to bathe the entire city of Manehattan in warmth. The common city sounds began to make themselves heard as time moved on, the city night lights turning off to make way for day’s activities.

Pinkie slowly awoke from her sleep, her brow was damp with sweat despite being slightly chilled throughout the night. Quickly dismissing it, Pinkie gently pressed the side of her face into Twilight’s abdomen. The soft and short fur brushed against her face, reminding her of how generous Twilight was to offer her to join. She slowly made her way up to Twilight’s snout, her eyes still droopy with sleep. As she stared at the still sleeping face of Twilight, thoughts of all kinds ran through her head, thoughts that she immediately regretted.

Pinkie continued to stare down at her lavender friend, her face still at peace in the world of dreams. Pinkie began to think of how wonderful it would be to gently wake her friend, to see her rub her eyes before smiling innocently like a foal on the morning of his or her birthday. Pinkie brought her nose closer to Twilight’s, nearly pressing it against hers as she whispered, “Good morning sleepy head.”

What came out of Twilight was a yawn, innocent and adorable at first, but then the smell hit Pinkie. Pinkie’s nostrils began to burn with the smell of morning breath, her eyes nearly watering as she jerked her head back with a giggle.

Twilight began to blink, her left eye blinking slightly after her right as she groggily mumbled, “Morning Pinkie,” Twilight began, “ready to go play tourist in Manehattan?”

Pinkie hopped out of bed, she noticed that her rash wasn’t as bad as usual and her headache wasn’t pounding like a guido’s fist. She smiled with glee, “Woah, woah, woah, Twilight, we need to get some breakfast first.”

Twilight began to climb out of the hammock, she rubbed her nose with her hooves as she grumbled, “I’m sure the restaurant downstairs is serving breakfast.”

Once Twilight had managed to get onto her hooves, the two ponies opened the sliding balcony door to the kitchen. The two jumped in shock as the other four chanted with glee, “Good morning!” Pinkie was already on the floor, clutching her heart as she breathlessly laughed and smiled with surprized joy.

Applejack pulled her chef’s hat from her head, “Rarity, Fluttershy, and I decided that we’d make some breakfast fer y’all. Ah made some good Coltamalan coffee as well as some blueberry pancakes.” Applejack quickly noticed how everypony in the room was looking at her with eyes of confusion, their minds all questioning whether they heard right. Applejack sighed, “Just cause I’m part of the Apple family does not mean Ah hate every other fruit out there. In fact, despite being an Apple lover, Ah also support Blackberry production.”

Rainbow Dash trotted up next to Applejack as she interjected, “But aren’t Apples and Blackberries completely different product chains?”

The orange farmer rolled her eyes as she replied, “Yes… in the big cities they are top competitors for similar audiences, but since Blackberries have begun to drop in sales ever since their CEO backed out Ah’ve decided to help to my best to keep their sales going.”

Twilight quickly raised her hoof to quiet the two ponies, “Well thank you Applejack for the delicious looking breakfast.”

*****

Once breakfast had been eaten, Rarity had already prettied herself up for their outing of the day as she announced, “Alright everypony, let’s not dilly dally today. We want to get the most out of this day as possible.”

Dash shrugged, “Alright, well thanks for the grub AJ.” The cyan pegasus then proceeded to quickly wipe her mouth and leave the table, it seemed as though something was off about the way she said it. Pinkie noticed how Rainbow wasn’t looking in her direction often as though she wasn’t there, yet the idea of such a thing didn’t deserve a second thought so Pinkie immediately dismissed it.

Pinkie looked over to Twilight and the rest as she said with a smile, “Hold on, I need to clean up a bit. I may be a party pony, but even I need some class.” She said as she pointed towards her messy bed-mane. Twilight and Shy both figured they might as well clean up before the outing, despite knowing how much Rarity hated waiting.

*****

A few hours had passed, those few hours being very well spent. Pinkie managed to see an actual Broadway musical; she even got to see the large statue that represented liberty in Equestria. To Pinkie, it wasn’t an option to not pose in a photo with
the mare of liberty. After a while they began to get hungry, noon had recently passed and the sun was high in the sky. Pinkie began to lead the group around the busier parts of the city, looking for any form of restaurant to feed them.

After what felt like an eternity, Pinkie managed to find an authentic Manehattan restaurant. As she stared at the building, she squeaked with glee, “Girls, we have to eat at this restaurant!”

Rarity gave off a look of disgust as she scoffed, “But why would you ever want to eat at this… thing?”

Pinkie grinned from ear to ear, her eyes as wide as saucers as she stated, “Because it’s a generic Manehattan restaurant, in Manehattan! It’s not like the other ones in Ponyville where they pretend to be grouchy, the ponies here really are sweaty and greasy and they really do hat it when you cant decide!”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes as she sighed, “Fine… lets go and get something.” With that, Dash along with the rest of the group trotted through the ringing doors as the smell of deep fryers blasted out in a cloud of heat. The restaurant had red faux-leather seats and black and white tiles on the floor, the jukebox still kicking rock and roll from thirty years ago. The tables were well rounded and were surrounded by bench like seats on one end and stools on the other end of the table, boxes of tissues in metal containers rested on the tables along with paper menus. The inside smelled of smoke that was unfamiliar to Pinkie, it wasn’t the kind of smoke one smelled when food was burning and it kind of choked you unless you had an open window next to you.

Pinkie sat down at the largest bench along with the rest of her friends, she spun her head around in amazement at all the beautiful pictures of classic chariots with inappropriate statements about mares. As she watched her friends join her, she eagerly picked up a menu into her hooves as she squeaked, “This is soo much fun!”

Fluttershy seemed rather frightened by her new surroundings, yet she managed a smile onto her face as she whispered,
“Whatever makes you happy, Pinkie.”

Applejack looked outside the window next to their seat as she said with her face pressed against the glass, “Ah can’t understand why you’d want to come to a place like this, Pinkie.”

The sudden clearing of a mare’s throat caught their attention, they all turned to see a young mare still in her adolescence say in an exasperated tone, “Welcome to Filthy Mc. Nasty, my name is Flare and I’ll be serving you tonight. Now are you going to order or what?”

Pinkie turned to her friends as she pointed at the mare and whispered from behind her menu, “See girls? She’s actually annoyed by us.” Pinkie then raised her head from the menu and said with a grin, “I’ll have the sloppy veggie burger with a milkshake.”

Twilight looked at her menu before reading aloud, “I’ll have the… legit salad?”

Rarity nodded her head towards Twilight, “I’ll have what she’s having.”

Applejack gave a quick glance over the pretty pictures, she didn’t bother to read the names and instead turned the menu to face the mare as she said, “I’ll have whatever that is.”

The dull grey unicorn’s horn lit up, a pen floated upwards and scribbled onto her note as she mumbled to herself, “One… spaghetti.”

Fluttershy hid behind her menu, she barely peeked her eyes over the paper as she squeaked, “I’ll just have a salad, please?”

Rainbow Dash looked down at the menu, her eyes fixated on one specific image. Dash looked at the rest of the group with a look of triumph as she said, “I… am going to have an order of hay fries in a… super-duper-rally-ooper-ultra-mega-uber large format?”

Flare looked at the pegasus with a fake look of impression before writing it down and saying in a bland and annoyed voice, “Thank you for coming to Filthy Mc. Nasty’s, your orders will be here whenever.” With that, the unhappy unicorn trotted off to post the order in front of the chef.

The group sat there, looks of confusion on their faces. All of them seemed confused except for Pinkie, Twilight forced a smile onto her face as she broke the silence, “Well… that was…”

Dash sat there, her hooves crossed as she said with a look of disappointment, “Dumb?”

Pinkie nearly jumped onto the table when she heard Dash say that, all the reasons why she chose this rushed to her brain as she exclaimed, “Uh, no! That was awesome! I’ve always wanted to be scolded at by someone who was self centered and considered their life to be the worst!”

Dash looked towards Pinkie, “I thought you wanted everypony to be your friend, why are you so okay with her being like that towards you?”

Pinkie winked at her rainbow friend, “Just watch,” she said with a smile in the corner of her mouth. As the waitress came back, food floating close behind her, Pinkie looked up at her as she said with a very calm tone, “so… Flare right?”

Flare simply stared at Pinkie, her jaw slacking every time her mouth opened as she chewed her gum, “Yeah.”

“I couldn’t help but notice that the corners of your eyes are rather reddish pink and your wrist is showing a ring of pale fur from being covered by a bracelet. What happened to him?”

Flare simply stared at Pinkie, she was absolutely dumbfounded by this level of intelligence in what appeared to be a less than average pony. Her olive green eyes began to fill with tears as she said with a strong look, “Nothing happened, lady.”

Pinkie gave a warm smile as she continued to work her magic, “I know the difference between ‘nothing’ and ‘nothing’. He left you didn’t he?”

Flare’s eyes widened with surprize even more than before, she began to clutch the wrist that once held the bracelet as she said, “It was supposed to be our anniversary tomorrow. Turns out I wasn’t the right type of mare for him.”

Pinkie began to scooch over, she made room for Flare to sit down next to her as she said, “You know what? I don’t think that he deserved you.”

“Beg pardon?” said the teary eyed unicorn.

“So Mr. Dumpy grumpy broke up with you because he has no taste, from the look of your cutie mark I’d say you have a talent in dance.” Pinkie made a quick glance at the tap dancing cutie mark on her flank; she knew that this mare had talent.

“Yeah, but where in the wide world of Equestria am I going to find a job out of dance? Where am I going to find anything in life out of dancing in this day of age?”

Pinkie motioned her head towards the outside sidewalk as she said, “A cutie mark doesn’t mean what your job is; it means what you’re good at. It’s what makes you special. You can keep working this job here, but after hours you should be out on the streets dancing your heart out. As for the job in dancing, you must be loco in the coco not to think of Broadway as your future.”

Flare rolled her eyes in the adolescent manner as she said with a sigh, “But I don’t do that specific kind of dance. My dance is more... rave.”

Pinkie raised an eyebrow, she became interested as she said curiously, “Well… what kind of dance would that be?”

Flare smirked, “You really wanna see?”

*****

Flare managed to talk her boss into letting her off work early, he wasn’t too happy about it of course. As soon as they exited the street, Flare looked around at the towering buildings as she said, “Alright so lets look for the nearest rave and”

Pinkie quickly interjected, “Oh no, no, no, you’re gonna do it right here!”

Flare’s eyes widened with surprize as she said whilst looking at her surrounding area, “I can’t dance here!” Flare suddenly began to buckle at the knees, she began to feel extremely nervous about dancing in front of everypony.

Pinkie nodded her head with a look of dedication as she said, “Yeah, don’t worry about a radio, I already have one.” Pinkie then pulled from a trashcan a large silver box with two slots one being half the length of the other one, Pinkie looked at her group as she said, “I have radios stashed around the country, in case of a musical emergency.” Pinkie dropped it onto the ground, causing a loud thud as she said, “What’ll it be, CD or vinyl?”

Flare’s horn sprung to life, she pulled from her saddlebag a small CD case that read “Hardstyle/Jumpstyle.”

Flare looked at it as she whispered to herself, “Please don’t let me down.” With that done, Flare pulled the disc from its case and inserted it into Pinkie’s machine. A heavy beat began to play, it was rhythmic and heavy with bass that almost destroyed the speakers. The music was very similar to DJ P0N-3’s music, yet this style seemed rather repetitive and was better suited for rave’s that didn’t require singing.

Flare skipped through her songs until reaching one particular song. As soon as the beat started, Flare was already on her hind hooves and was shuffling as best as she could. Pinkie watched in awe as she exclaimed, “Wow so this is the kind of dance kids are into these days?”

Flare turned around as she stopped shuffling, “Yeah not many ponies on this side of the country know about it, it’s mostly an eastern thing.” With that, Flare resumed her shuffling. As she slid from side to side, her face appearing to be in a trance, passers-by began to watch as she appeared to simply glide across the hard pavement in nothing but her shoes. As the beat quickly finished, Flare crouched down and twisted her forelegs around before spinning 900 degrees and simply trotting off.

As she trotted off, a colt emerged from the crowd as he announced, “Hardstyle eh? I thought I was the only one!”

Flare turned around, her face struck with bewilderment and her mouth cracked a smile, “Let’s see what you’ve got.”

The dark brown colt stood on his hind legs, his unicorn magic sprung to life and transformed his color pattern into a rave suited style. His brown coat quickly turned jet black, neon greens, yellows, and whites surrounded his forelegs as well as his hind legs. The colt quickly burst into the very same kind of dance, he jumped into the air as he spun three times around before landing perfectly and appearing to run in place. The crowd watched in awe as the colt glided even more smoothly across the pavement, never breaking his eye contact with the now blushing Flare. Once the beat took a break once more, the colt trotted off to meet her as he said, “By the way, the name’s Silver Step, what’s yours?”

Flare tried to look away, she couldn’t help but smile as she said shyly, “My name’s Flare. Do you wanna…” Flare paused for a couple of seconds; she began to shy away until something appeared to click inside her head. She slowly turned around to face her fears and said bravely, “You wanna do a duet?”

Step looked towards the empty dance space; the beat was beginning once more at the heaviest part. Step quickly made his way to the center along with Flare where they simply stood together. The beat quickly resumed and they jumped together, it was almost as though the two were reading each other’s minds as they shuffled in perfect synchronization.

Pinkie watched in joy as the new couple danced together in harmony, they spun around each other until the very end of the song where they joined together in a hug. The crowd appeared to have enjoyed the free performance before slowly resuming their original businesses and trotting along, leaving Flare and Silver Step to look at each other with smiles across their faces.

Pinkie leaned over towards Dash as she whispered, “See? Your old auntie Pinkie has everything planned out.” Pinkie looked over her shoulder to see Dash, her mouth agape with awe. Pinkie giggled as she looked at the new couple, “Now that wasn't so bad, was it?”

Flare giggled with joy, she quickly looked towards the pink pony and said with a look of gratitude, “Thanks, if it weren’t for you, I wouldn't have been able to have the best day of my life.”

Pinkie winked, “All in a day’s work,” she began, “now don’t you two have a talent show to get on or something?”

*****

Nightfall had come once more, the girls had returned to their villa with shopping bags filled with goodies. Twilight didn’t seem to have bought anything other than books and supplies for her library while Dash had bought more Wonderbolts posters. Applejack had bought herself a new pair of boots and a book on recipes while Rarity had her truckload bags of slippers and shoes of all kinds. Fluttershy had with her some pet toys for when she returned while Pinkie decided to buy herself some party hats to stack on her head.

As they all made their way into the room, Twilight looked over to Pinkie as she said with a look of wonder in her eyes, “That was something, Pinkie,” the lavender unicorn began, “Not only did you give her a career, a day of happiness, but you also gave her what appeared to be a crush.”

Pinkie rolled her eyes and shrugged, “Like I said, all in a day’s work.”

Rarity began to yawn, she looked over to the clock before saying in a surprized tone, “Goodness look at the time, we better be heading off to bed.”

Dash stretched out her limbs before saying to the group, “Good night girls, see you in the morning.” With that, she dragged herself to her room and shut the door behind her.

Applejack approached Pinkie and hugged her, Applejack made sure to remember every last hug given and received as she said, “Good night, Pinkie, tomorrow morning will be just as fun.”

Pinkie winked, “You bet!”

Rarity cooed from her room, “Goodnight everypony.”

Fluttershy quickly responded through a yawn, “Goodnight, sweet dreams.”

Only Twilight and Pinkie remained, the two remained silent for a bit. Neither talked for they had nothing to talk about, they simply stared at the walls for a few awkward minutes. Twilight looked over to Pinkie and gave her a hug, she noticed how Pinkie’s forehead felt rather warmer than usual and her rash had slightly reseeded. Twilight brushed her nose through Pinkie’s pink mane as she mumbled, “Goodnight, Pinkie. Sweet dreams.” With that, Twilight trotted off, she looked towards the party pony as she closed her doors, a smile from ear to ear until the door was shut.

Pinkie simply sat in the room, alone. She couldn’t get the image of Flare and her potential boyfriend out of her head. She couldn't forget the way they looked at each other when they realized that they clicked, and the more she thought about it only made her wish she would fall in love sooner. Pinkie sighed as she quietly whispered to herself, “Goodnight girls, especially Twilight.” With that, Pinkie looked around the room one last time. It was rather depressing knowing that this was the last night she might have in Manehattan, but nowhere near as depressing as the fact that her days were growing shorter and she needed everypony to know sooner or later about who she truly was.

Pinkie looked out the window only to see her reflection, her pink mane beginning to darken and straighten out as she continued to think of depressing thoughts. After what felt like an eternity, Pinkie pushed a tear out of her eye as she began to cry silently. As she inhaled and exhaled, she began to cough. Being the polite pony she needed to be, she covered her mouth with her hoof. Something about this cough was odd though, when she moved her hoof away she noticed blood on her hoof. Pinkie quickly washed it off and mumbled to herself, “You have two months, then it’s all over.”

On the Road Again

As Pinkie laughed amongst her friends while riding in the now more luxurious flying chariot, packed with a top to cover from the rain and seats that turned into beds with lighting and reading materials, Twilight watched as Rainbow Dash distanced herself more and more from Pinkie. Twilight was noticing how Dash seemed to be ignoring what Pinkie was saying and was taking more interest in what the others were talking about. Twilight quickly shook the thoughts from her head before approaching the sick pink pony while saying, “Well,, Pinkie, it looks like we are going to need some shuteye if we want to make it through this long and boring flight”

Pinkie nodded her head with a smile, “You’re right, Twilight, these converts are full of ecstatic and crazy fan ponies of the Prince of Prance and Pop. We need to be full energy from soda and Red Colts!”

Twilight smiled, she was enjoying Pinkie’s unending energy as she calmly instructed, “Well then, it’s off to bed for us all. It would be a shame if we managed to sleep through an entire concert because we didn’t go to sleep tonight.”

Rainbow Dash forcefully reclined her chair as she grunted in annoyance, “We get it, Twi, go to bed.”

Everypony fell silent, the awkwardness of the situation got the best of them and left them wondering what happened. The lavender unicorn felt a little hurt on the inside for some reason, it all reminded her of Rainbow when Discord got the best of her. Twilight held back her slight angry comeback and instead falsely smiled as she instructed yet again, “Like Rainbow Dash said, we should go to bed.” With that, Twilight left for her seat near the opposite end of the aircraft.

Pinkie got onto her hooves and trotted towards her bedroom, one that was separate from the rest, as she sleepily whispered, “Goodnight, girls.” With that, Pinkie closed her door behind her and hopped into her bed.

*****

Turbulence never worked well in Twilight’s books, and it was turbulence that woke her from her sleep. The shaking of the plane annoyed her into being wide awake, she grunted and tried not to think of it yet it managed to get the best of her. Twilight sighed and climbed out of her bed, her neck somewhat aching from the position she slept in, “Ugh, I gotta quit placing my hooves under my neck,” she breathed to herself silently. Yet as she trotted down the hall towards the bathroom at the back, a strange noise was heard from Pinkie’s room. Twilight stopped in her tracks as her ears flicked at the noise, she was doing her best to figure out what it was for what felt like an eternity. After what was actually a couple of minutes, Twilight realized it was weeping and sobbing that was heard from Pinkie’s private room. The unicorn extended her hoof towards the curtains, yet she withheld her desires to come to her friend’s aid for some reason. After waiting for a few minutes and turning back, a quiet voice was made from her room.

“Twilight?” Pinkie asked in an unsure whisper, “Is that you?” Pinkie continued to sniff and shift in her bed as she silently called out for Twilight.

Twilight turned around as she said, “Yeah, it’s me, Pinkie. Can I come in to see what’s wrong?”

“Sure,” Pinkie began, “but I’m naked.”

Twilight rolled her eyes as she sighed, “Pinkie, we’re always naked.”

“Oh, well in that case come on in.” Pinkie sniffled a bit before drawing the curtains to her room. Her eyes had large red rings around them to show that she had been crying for a while, her hair was in a mess and her forehead was hot and sweaty. Her rash on her stomach had been bleeding a little bit from the scratching and the itching Pinkie had done to it.

Twilight looked over the mess Pinkie had become as she gasped, “Oh my goodness,” she whispered, “what’s wrong?”

Pinkie wiped her nose with a napkin, she hated to talk about her friends like this behind their backs. Pinkie tilted her head towards Dash as she whispered back, “It’s RD, she’s been acting horrible to everyone lately.”

Twilight hugged Pinkie, her stomach was being poked by Pinkie’s scabs yet it didn’t bother Twilight in the slightest. Twilight continued to hug Pinkie as she motioned towards the bed, “I think you need some company.”

Pinkie nodded her head, “Yeah, thanks Twilight. You’re the best.” Pinkie climbed into her bed big enough for two, her hooves getting tangled in the sheets and her pillows falling off the sides of the bed.

Twilight smiled gently as her horn sprung to life, she looked towards the messy sheets and pillows as she floated them into the air and straightened them out. She made sure the sheets were smoothened out and were flipped onto the cold side for the two of them as well as they were tucked in snug.

Pinkie smiled like a foal while this happened, if there was one thing she loved as much as partying; it would definitely be the feeling of getting tucked in at night. Pinkie wiggled and purred like a cat until she made herself cozy enough in what felt like a new bed, her entire body was splayed out in relaxation as her eyes went from showing distress to showing tiredness and happiness put together. Pinkie yawned as she motioned her head towards the bed, “Wanna join? You did a fantastic job tucking me in.”

Twilight giggled, “Don’t mind if I do, I think I’m a little jealous you get such a comfy looking bed.” The lavender mare hopped into the bed and carefully got in as to not ruin Pinkie’s sheets. Eventually Twilight was snuggled up against the pink pony as she whispered, “Alright, now do you mind talking about how you feel about Rainbow”

Before Twilight could finish, Pinkie placed her hoof over Twilight’s mouth and shook her head, “Can we not? It’ll ruin this awesome moment you made for me.” With that, Pinkie wiggled her way closer to Twilight, wrapping the purple hooved around her neck and stomach.

Twilight giggled, “Alright, but we need to talk about it later.” With that, Twilight realized she was getting tired; her eyes began to struggle to keep open as she yawned uncontrollably. Twilight pulled Pinkie in tighter as she mumbled, “Good night.”

Pinkie’s head immediately stopped throbbing, or at least she didn’t pay attention to it anymore, her rash felt like it had disappeared and her breathing quickly leveled out. She felt like the luckiest pony in the world to be with Twilight for another night. Pinkie slowly rolled around to face the now sleeping Twilight; the unicorn’s eyes were darting in every direction from under her eyelids to show that she was dreaming. Pinkie thought about her next move for a couple of seconds, she then gave up debating with herself and did what she thought would make her happy. Pinkie rapidly shut her eyes and perked out her lips and planted a childish kiss on Twilight’s as she said, “Goodnight, Twilight. I love you.” Pinkie then wrapped her hooves around Twilight and began to fall asleep, she felt as though she could sleep like this for the rest of her life. She had also completely forgotten that there was a pony out there that was ignoring her like an immature filly. To Pinkie, everything was as good as it would ever get and that she could not ask for anything more.

Waking Up Before The Party

Pinkie slept peacefully in her bed, her forehead was damp with sweat and her rash was sticking to the fabric like Velcro. Her eyes eventually cracked open, all she saw next to her was an empty space where Twilight once slept. She slowly rubbed her hooves against her eyes and pulled herself out of bed, looking around the room for the lavender geek. Pinkie’s mind immediately began to ponder the reasons of Twilight’s absence from the scene; perhaps it was to make breakfast or perhaps to use the fillies room. Despite these plausible reasons, Pinkie’s mind could not let go of the negative and less pleasant reasons Twilight would have abandoned her. The mare began to think of horrible thoughts such as Twilight not wanting to be around Pinkie or maybe she realized what Pinkie really felt for her. The last thought gave the pink pony a crushing sensation around her chest, the feeling that she was busted and that her friends would know of her orientation. As she nervously climbed out of bed, her hooves squished against something soft, fuzzy, and warm. Pinkie immediately looked down to find a unicorn half asleep on the floor, her sleepy eyes looking back up at Pinkie’s as she grumbled, “Get off, Pinkie.”

Pinkie quickly bounced back onto the bed, a loud sigh of relief rushed out of her lungs before she apologized, “Sorry, Twilight, didn’t see you there.”

Twilight pulled herself to her hooves, she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes as she replied, “It’s okay, Pinkie,” Twilight began, “I must have fallen off the bed during the night.”

Pinkie decided to help her friend find the reason as to why she fell off the bed, “Maybe it was some super-duper turbulence, or maybe it was a nightmare!” Pinkie darted from one corner of the room to the next as she listed reason after reason, her mind tried its best to help her friend yet Twilight just covered her friend’s mouth and shook her head with a smile.

“It’s alright,” she began, “whatever it was; it threw me onto the floor.” Twilight made her way to the mirror and began to fix her hair, she splashed water onto her face to further wake her up before she turned to her friend and said, “Well, let’s go wake the others up. We don’t want to miss the huge concert.”

Pinkie was already a few steps ahead of her friend, “I completely forgot!” said the party pony, “I’ll go wake the others!” Pinkie rushed out into the main area where the others slept, what surprized Twilight was how calmly Pinkie would wake them and how her tone was very soothing compared to her usual energetic screaming.

Eventually Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy were woken from their sleeps. They all yawned in synchronization as they looked around the room, everypony began to notice something wasn’t right about the whole scene. It felt like something was missing from the whole scene, as though it were more or less quieter than usual. Twilight looked towards Rainbow’s seat only to find hers empty, the blanket and pillow still remained in a tattered mess yet the rainbow pony was nowhere to be seen.

The group began to panic, they searched frantically around the room for their missing friend, calling out her name despite the size of the one room and how there was barely anything to hide behind. As they all searched, Applejack along with Twilight both looked at each other as to say they knew what was going on. The two knew Dash didn’t simply disappear into thin air, she just left them for some reason.

Applejack nodded towards Twilight and the others before turning to Pinkie as she began, “Pinkie, the girls and I think that RD might have left us.”

Pinkie’s eyes opened wide, her ears dropped in depression as her colors faded, “But… Rainbow Dash would never leave us,” she began as she moved to tears, “Rainbow Dash is the element of loyalty, why would she hate us so?”

Rarity approached the crying pony and rested a hoof on her shoulder, “Pinkie Pie, darling, Rainbow Dash might just be going through a hard time. Dash would never hate” Before Rarity could finish, a tapping came from outside the room. Pinkie looked behind her towards a window to see the Rainbow pegasus flying next to the giant air cruiser, she immediately began to veer off and over the plane.

Twilight grunted in frustration, “That girl and I are going to have a serious talk if she doesn’t change her act soon.” It was confirmed to Twilight that the rainbow pony was up to something and it had something to do with her change in character. Twilight picked Pinkie up and wiped the tears from her eyes as she said softly, “Let’s get seated, I’m sure we’re getting close and we’ll be landing soon.”

Pinkie nodded, she returned to her chair and buckled up before rolling to her side and looking out towards the window. Twilight turned to the others and motioned her head towards their seats before returning to hers.

******

(Coming VERY SOON: Micolt Jackson’s Nightmare, parody of Thriller.)

Hustle your Bustles

Pinkie jolted upright in her bed, her brow damp with sweat. Her panting was heavy and her heartbeat was fast, she had just gone through another nightmare. Pinkie took a deep breath; she gently wiped the sweat from her pink forehead as she sighed. All she could remember from the dream was the sight of herself in a coffin, most definitely a vision. Pinkie looked around the brightly lit room, the clock read 8am. Pinkie took another sigh of relief before swinging her hooves out of bed and onto the chilled tiled floor, she looked down to see the rash had come back and was seriously irritating her.

Pinkie slowly made her way out the door; she could smell delicious food being cooked right out her door. As Pinkie swung the door open, she immediately collided with a lavender unicorn. Twilight tumbled over top of Pinkie yet managed to keep the tray floating and balanced perfectly; she then had to focus on getting off of Pinkie.

As Pinkie looked up to her friend, in a large glowing smile she squeaked, “Morning Twilight!”

Twilight gently blushed as she responded, “Good morning Pinkie, we made you breakfast.”

Pinkie continued to stare into her best friend’s eyes. She would simply lay there for the rest of the day if it meant she could be with Twilight, yet she had a list that needed filling. Pinkie shook her head a bit, “Oh, thanks again girls,” she called out over Twilight’s shoulder and into the kitchen. Pinkie returned to looking at Twilight as she continued, “so do you mind if I eat in my room?”

Twilight smiled brightly as she said, “Oh well don’t worry we already had our breakfasts.” Twilight quickly backed off of her friend, she didn’t want to keep her pink pal from her delicious pancakes any longer. As soon as Twilight lifted herself from Pinkie, she noticed how Pinkie would continue to stare into Twilight’s eyes and not on the food.

Pinkie began rubbing her hoof on the back of her head as she said with rosy cheeks, “Would you like to join me?”

Twilight was a little surprised by this, yet was somehow expecting her to ask that. Twilight simply smiled as she replied in her kind voice, “I’d love to.”

*****

A good fifteen minutes had gone by, Pinkie and Twilight simply sat on the bed as the pink partyholic nomed on her breakfast. As Pinkie gobbled her breakfast, Twilight spoke calmly, “So,” she began while she thought of a topic, “what’s next on your list?”

Pinkie wiped the syrup from her mouth, leaving a long smear of sticky syrup across her face, she hopped down from the bed and pulled out the list from her drawer and began to read aloud, “See a Micolt Jackson concert…” Pinkie looked up from her sheet of paper as she continued in a slightly disappointed look, “His next concert is on the other side of Equestria.”

Twilight simply winked, “That’s nothing to worry about, Pinkie,” said Twilight Sparkle, “with this certificate to free stuff, we can go wherever we want and buy whatever we want. Do you know when his next concert is?”

Pinkie opened up her saddlebag; she pulled out her old celebrity magazine with Fluttershy on the cover. She quickly flipped through the pages as her eyes rolled from left to right and back, quickly flipping pages until she landed on the concert schedule. Pinkie planted her hoof in victory upon the page, causing it to wrinkle slightly as she announced proudly, “The next concert is tomorrow night at Trottingham Palace, apparently it’s to welcome Shining Armor and Cadence on their honeymoon.”

Twilight quickly gathered all the cutlery and dishes from Pinkie’s bed, using her magic to swiftly lift them into the air as she insisted, “Well then we better hurry,” began Twilight, “the ride there will take half a day or so, plus all the stops along the way will put us closer to arriving at night.”

Twilight quickly trotted out of the room, Pinkie bouncing behind her as she squeaked with excitement causing her headache to slightly hurt, “This is going to be so much fun! I can’t wait to see Micolt for real!”

Twilight entered the kitchen, a look of determination as she announced, “Alright girls, we’ve tackled a few things on Pinkie’s list so far, but two checkmarks isn’t enough to make it a complete list. We are heading to Trottingham Palace!”

Applejack’s eyes widened with fear as she uttered nervously, “Trottingham? You mean one of the most froo-frooy places on the planet?”

Rarity’s eyes widened with surprize as she stuttered, “Trottingham? You mean one of the most sophisticated places on the planet?”

As the two finished their obvious questions, the two joined in union, “What’re we going there for?”

Twilight pulled from Pinkie’s mouth the copy of the concert dates as she answered, “The Micolt Jackson Concert.”

The room filled with silence, nopony said anything about how excited they were. Not even Rainbow Dash, she simply kept her head on the windowsill as she glared out the window towards the busy streets below. Pinkie Pie approached Dash, “Micolt Jackson, Dash,” Pinkie began, “shouldn’t you be excited for that?”

Dash shook her head as she continued staring out the window, “I don’t have to jump for joy at everything I like,” she said without so much as even looking towards her friends, “can we just go already so we don’t miss anything?”

Pinkie backed away slightly, she had a sense of confusion envelop her as questions filled her mind, yet all she said was, “Alright, let’s go girls!”

*****

Once the packing had finished, Pinkie along with Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rarity made their ways towards the elevators. Twilight looked their way from the hotel room as she called out, “We’ll just be a few seconds, meet us down there.” The girls simply nodded and closed the elevator doors behind them before making their way to the ground floor. Once Twilight had reassured herself that nopony else was there but Rainbow Dash and her, she turned around and asked the cyan pegasus in a stern voice, “Alright, Dash, what’s going on?”

Dash turned towards Twilight with a look as though she had no idea what was going on, “What are you talking about?”

“You know darn well what I’m talking about,” said the well-educated unicorn, “your attitude towards Pinkie and the rest of the group lately. Have you no knowledge on what you might be doing to Pinkie emotionally?”

Dash simply cocked her head back in an exasperated manner as she sighed, “Look, Twilight, nothing is going on. I’m just having a bad week, that’s all. Now let’s get out of here.” Dash then grabbed her bags in her mouth to throw over her flank and began to flutter out of the room, leaving a confused Twilight alone.

Twilight looked towards the hallway as she spoke to herself, “She says it’s nothing,” she then turned to the mirror to see herself as she continued, “but what if she’s hiding something bigger than I can imagine?”