A Knock at the Door

Chapters

A Knock at the Door
The Road to Ponyville
Blueberry Pie

A Knock at the Door

As she stared out of the window at the rain falling upon her beloved Ponyville, Pinkie Pie sat in her bedroom atop Sugarcube Corner and thought.

It was often the rain that brought out the harsh emotions in her, so she would often beg Rainbow Dash to postpone the rain for as long as she could, though her pleading meant little when she couldn't explain to Dash why she seemed so afraid of the rain. She knew that Rainbow Dash would listen, that Dash would understand, but Pinkie simply couldn't bring herself to talk with anypony about what had happened, and was forced to cope with the inevitable arrival of the rain. Of those few ponies who witnessed the event countless moons ago, they had never told another pony as far as Pinkie was aware.

In truthfulness, though Pinkie may have had a small hidden fear of storms, she feared the memories even more, especially the pony she was reminded of. It wasn't that Pinkie didn't like thinking about Blueberry, it just hurt too much to think of her sister.

The one her family had thrown away.

The one she hadn't met until after she had gotten her Cutie Mark.

The one that had helped shape Pinkie Pie into the mare she was.

The one she would never get a chance to thank for everything she had done.

~~~~~~

Pinkamena Diane Pie woke up to the sounds of music outside, along with her father shouting at "them dirty parasprites!". She could feel the pounding of a drum shaking the house, and she rolled over in her bed, only to find herself face-to-face with her older sister Maud, who was standing at the side of her bed.

"You're up late," Maud informed her in her usual monotone voice. Pinkamena wondered why Maud hadn't woken her up earlier; the two of them shared a bedroom. Pinkamena's other sisters, Marble and Limestone, also shared a bedroom, as did their parents.

"That's not my fault," Pinkamena defended herself as she threw her blanket off herself and sat up, "I was up late last night. Mom tried everything to get my mane to go back to normal, but nothing worked."

"I can tell," Maud replied, glancing up at Pinkamena's puffy mane. It hadn't been straight since the rainbow a few days ago. Pinkamena had tried to tell her family about the amazing rainbow, but nopony believed her. They were, at the most, slightly amused with her story while her mother was frustrated and demanded to know what Pinkamena had put in her hair to get it so stubbornly poofy, "Anyway, can you go outside? We're trying to get rid of some parasprites and Dad wants me playing the tuba."

"What's wrong with that?"

"I hate the tuba."

"Oh... alright, I guess I can cover for you," Pinkamena offered her sister a sheepish grin as she hopped out of bed. Pinkamena turned her head to observe her flank, sighing in relief after checking that her Cutie Mark was still there. Three balloons, two blue and one yellow, rested on her flank. Pinkamena had checked every morning since the rainbow, just to reassure herself that all of it hadn't been a frighteningly-realistic dream.

The party that Pinkamena had thrown for her family had been a huge success, somehow setting a cheerier mood around the Rock Farm. During the party, to Pinkamena's surprise, her father Igneous Rock had actually told a joke! For all Pinkamena knew, she had just helped create an unprecedented moment in Pie Family History. Sure, the joke wasn't that funny, but she and her sisters had cracked up laughing at the sheer absurdity of her normally-stony faced father telling a joke. Pinkamena's mother Cloudy Quartz hadn't laughed, but nopony had noticed.

But the party eventually ended as all parties do, something that Pinkamena was disappointed to learn. Marble, Limestone, and Maud had all told Pinkamena that they were anticipating her next party, but it seemed that the euphoric effects of the fun had worn off on her father, who had gone back to his serious demeanor the day after the party. If anything, he was even more serious.

As Pinkamena trotted down the hallway, closely followed by Maud, she wondered if there was a reason to her father's seriousness that she wasn't aware of. After all, her mother seemed a lot more distant lately, and she couldn't help thinking that her parents were hiding something.

But what? Pinkamena asked herself as she and Maud trotted out the backdoor of the house to find the rest of her family trying to play music to drive the parasprites away. Igneous wiped his forehead with a hoof and dropped the drum he had been carrying as he moved over to Pinkamena and Maud. Behind him, Cloudy was holding a pair of maracas, Marble held an accordian, and Limestone was trying to play a harmonica (which Pinkamena noticed she was holding upside-down).

"I'm here to play the tuba," Pinkamena said, trotting past her father to a lone, dull-golden tuba sitting in the dirt.

"But Maud was going to play that-" Igneous started to say.

"Oh, I'm fine with Pinkamena playing the tuba instead," Maud smiled as her younger sister pulled the instrument out of the dust and began playing, spraying dirt out of the bell as the tuba wailed.

"In that case, you can play the trombone," Igneous decided, handing Maud a trombone. She took it like it was a hissing rattlesnake and scowled; clearly, the trombone was no better, "Okay! Everypony at once! 1, 2..."

To Pinkamena's surprise, Maud was really good at playing the trombone, though she knew Maud would never agree.

~~~~~~

Pinkamena was the last of her family to finish playing the instruments outside. The parasprites had left quite some time ago, but Pinkamena got bored with the tuba and moved on to the trombone, which Maud was quick to give her. Limestone had finally realized that the harmonica was upside-down, but she was unsatisfied with the results even after fixing her mistake, and handed the instrument to Pinkamena when she had finished with the trombone before going back inside with Marble, who left her accordian behind with their parents' instruments.

Pinkamena quietly entered the house, closing the door behind her almost silently. Maud was still outside, playing with her pet rock Boulder (who was the cutest rock Pinkamena had ever seen), and her other sisters were probably upstairs playing a game, but her parents were in the kitchen. Pinkamena was in the living room, so her parents didn't know she was there, but she could hear every word they were saying.

And what they were talking about surprised her.

"...do you explain these letters?!" Cloudy growled, and Pinkamena heard the sound of paper, "She knows where we live! She found you! What are you going to do if she really does show up?!"

"I don't think she'll really come here," Igneous replied, and Pinkamena could hear his chair creak. He was leaning back.

"How could she not show up?" Cloudy argued, "You're her father, for Celestia's sake! What are you going to do?! How are you going to tell Pinkamena?! You haven't even considered that, have you?!"

Pinkamena felt a pinch of guilt for eavesdropping on her parents, but her curiosity got the better of her. At the sound of her own name, her ears perked up and she held her breath for complete silence. She heard her father sigh.

"Pinkamena doesn't have to know," Igneous said uncertainly, "I... I can just go to Ponyville myself. We'll keep Pinkamena on the farm-"

"Oh, great solution," Cloudy interrupted sarcastically, "Just keep our daughter on the farm for the rest of her life. Has it occurred to you that not all of our foals are going to want to carry on with this stupid farm?!"

"I just... I don't want to lose another daughter," Igneous spoke softly, "I know what you probably think of me, not tellin' you about Blueberry, but Pinkamena is ours. You're the only mother she's ever known... and we can't lose her just because a mistake from my past had consequences."

Cloudy was silent for a few moments, and then the door behind Pinkamena opened and closed as Maud came inside.

"Boulder's hungry," Maud dully informed Pinkamena as she trotted past her into the house. Pinkamena followed Maud into the kitchen and then went upstairs, trying to ignore how her parents were determinedly not looking at her. They thought she had come inside with Maud and had no idea what she had overheard, and Pinkamena tried to act as innocent as she could.

"Hey Pinkamena," Marble called to her as she passed her bedroom door, "Want to play Tic-Tac-Toe?"

"We've finally worked out a way to beat you," Limestone said smugly.

"O-okay..." Pinkamena agreed to play, absently trotting into their room and sitting down on the floor in front of a piece of parchment with a Tic-Tac-Toe board scrawled on it. She was still rattled from listening to her parents.

"Your turn," Marble passed a quill to Pinkamena after marking an "X" in the top left. Pinkamena drew an "O" in the middle, and passed the quill back.

Pinkamena wondered who "She" was. Igneous had said her name was Blueberry, but Pinkamena couldn't remember ever meeting anypony named-

"Pinkamena! It's your turn!" Marble's voice cut through her thoughts as she irritably shook the quill at her. Pinkamena blinked, and then took the quill and made an "O" in the bottom left before passing the quill back.

She thought about her mother, and how she had seemed so bitter about Blueberry coming to the farm. The Rock Farm never got a lot of visitors, and Pinkamena wondered what could be so bad about her coming.

"Right there," Limestone advised Marble, pointing to an empty spot on the top right, which Marble quickly marked.

As Pinkamena took the quill and made her mark, her father's words kept repeating in her head. What were her parents hiding from her? Pinkamena's lip quivered as Marble made her mark and passed the quill back to Pinkamena, who made an "O" without thinking about it. Would she have to leave the farm? Her parents? Her sisters? Her home?

"Darn it!" Marble exclaimed as she dropped the quill, startling Pinkamena out of her thoughts.

"Our technique... failed?!" Limestone groaned.

"You win again, Pinkamena," Marble pouted, "How do you do it?"

~~~~~~

Celestia's sun was already high in the sky by the time Pinkamena awoke the next day. She blinked a few times, but her eyes kept flittering closed, and she felt like sleeping for another five minutes... or days.

Pinkamena rolled over and saw that Maud's bed on the other side of the room was empty. It was so typical of that filly to leave without waking her up, but Pinkamena didn't mind. She knew that Maud preferred to be on her own most of the time for some reason, but she still had a soft spot in her heart for her youngest sister. Meanwhile, Marble and Limestone were nearly inseparable, but they always made room for Pinkamena in their games.

Pinkamena opened her mouth and let out a yawn as she sleepily rolled out of bed, falling to the floor in disorientation. Lying on her stomach on the floor, she groaned, wishing she felt more awake, and then she slowly climbed to her hooves and staggered out of the bedroom toward the bathroom where she immediately threw cold water in her face, waking herself up.

Now (almost) fully awake, Pinkamena gazed at her reflection in the mirror. Her mane was still poofy, but today she realized that she was actually growing fond of her new manestyle. It was exciting, it was different... not to mention, her straight mane had always gotten in her face and obscured her vision.

Satisfied, she trotted out of the bathroom and bounced down the stairs where the rest of her family was already sitting around the kitchen table.

"Morning, everypony!" Pinkamena jubilantly greeted. She was met with a stiff "Good morning, Pinkamena," from her mother, a tired groan of acknowledgement from her father, and a "Mornin' Pinkamena," from Marble. Maud glanced over, uninterested, but didn't say anything. Pinkamena began trotting over to the table to sit between Maud and Limestone, and then there suddenly came a knock at the door. Her mother gasped and her father jumped like he had just received an electric shock, his sleepy eyes shooting open.

"I'll get it," Pinkamena, who was closest to the living room where the front door was, automatically announced as she started moving toward the door.

"Pinkamena, no!" Cloudy screamed as Pinkamena's hoof twisted the doorknob, "Don't open that door!"

Too late. She swung the door open.

"Hi!" Pinkamena smiled, and then she stopped.

Outside stood a filly who was slightly taller than she was, but the filly looked exactly like her. The only difference was that while Pinkamena's coat was a beautiful shade of pink, the filly's coat was a sleek shade of blue. Even their manes, as poofy as the clouds above, looked the same. The filly wore a white saddlebag, indicting that she had just made a lengthy trip. Pinkamena was frozen, her blue eyes staring into the filly's green ones. The filly's face broken into a wide smile while Pinkamena could only stare in total surprise.

"Hi!" the filly greeted, her voice even sounding similar to Pinkamena's (though it was a little more nasal), "Are you my sister? Is the Pegasus here too?"

"S-Sister?" Pinkamena stammered, "What Pegasus...?"

Behind her, Pinkamena was dimly aware of her parents hurrying into the room.

"You said she wouldn't come," Cloudy said tonelessly.

"Pinkamena..." Igneous was speechless.

"W-who is she?" Pinkamena asked fearfully, though she already had an idea of who the blue filly was.

"You said..." Cloudy trailed off.

"Pinkamena, this is Blueberry Swirl... your..." Igneous swallowed, "She's your sister."

There was the clatter of a spoon against a plate, and then Maud rushed into the room, quickly assessing the situation, but her eyes showed no sign of surprise. Following their eldest sister's example, Marble and Limestone hurried into the living room next.

"There's two of her!" the two cried in unison, "There's two Pinkamenas!"

Cloudy let out a howl of anguish before trotting out of the room, leaving Pinkamena and Blueberry staring at each other in shock while their father grimly watched the two meet for the first time. Maud, Marble, and Limestone kept their distance. The mood in the Pie house had quickly gone from typical sleepiness to a still, eerie one.

"Come inside, Blueberry," Igneous broke the heavy silence with a grave voice, "It's time to explain."

~~~~~~

The family gathered in the living room. Pinkamena sat next to Blueberry on the floor in front of her father, who looked down on them from where he sat in a wooden chair. Blueberry's saddlebag sat on the floor next to the front door, leaning against the wall. Maud, Marble, and Limestone sat behind them. Cloudy, who had returned to the room with tears in her eyes and was now standing by Igneous, had tried to get them to go upstairs, but they had refused.

"Pinkamena," Igneous began, "Your mother and I have been wondering how to tell you this for a long time now..."

"Tell me... what?" Pinkamena's lip quivered. She could already sense that whatever it was, it wasn't pleasant.

"Blueberry really is your sister," Igneous sighed, "A long time ago, when Maud was about two years old and Marble and Limestone were nearly one year old, I took a business trip to Canterlot..."

As her father spoke, Pinkamena could picture the mountainside residence of the Equestrian Princesses in her mind.

"It was dark; the stormclouds overhead blocked the sun and dumped an ocean's worth of rain on me..." Igneous continued.

The heavy rain splashed down upon Canterlot, threatening to drown the shining city beneath a tidal wave of rainwater. Igneous Rock trotted through the streets, his hooves landing in a puddle of water every time they touched the ground. Ponies in expensive-looking suits ran around in a frenzy, all of them determined to get out of the rain before their fancy clothes were soaked. It was as though the ocean itself was rising, trying to take Canterlot to the depths of the sea.

"I was trying to get to my hotel," Igneous continued, "But it was on the other side of the city. The rain was blinding, and then some rich pony bumped me as he ran by, knocking me off-balance. I slipped, and fell to the ground. I remember there was a chill in the air, as though it were raining ice water..."

His wife quietly wept beside him, and as all five fillies stared at their father and listened in astonished silence, Pinkamena's heart gradually sank lower and lower.

"...and that's when she appeared."

Somepony else ran by, this time a mare. She splashed him as she ran by, but didn't seem to notice. An umbrella was attached to a saddle on her back, but the umbrella had been blown inside-out by the screaming winds. Igneous bitterly climbed to his hooves, now drenched because that rich pony had knocked him down. He could faintly hear somepony yelling, and he turned toward the sound to see a pink Pegasus with a yellow mane standing in the doorway to her house, frantically waving her hoof at him and gesturing for him to come inside. Without thinking about it, Igneous galloped toward the house and hurried inside. The Pegasus closed the door behind him, and he sighed in relief. He could feel the comforting radiance of a hearth's fire, and this same glowing flame cast an orange light through the room, giving it a certain homely warmth.

"We started talkin'," Igneous lowered his head, "I told her I'd be in Canterlot for the rest of the week before I had to go back to Ponyville. She said that she was moving to Cloudsdale the week after that, so she'd be leaving Canterlot soon as well. She asked if I'd come around and see her sometime during the week, and I said I would. I went over to her place every night for the rest of the week. I never thought about my wife, or my fillies... I just..."

This was it. The final night he was in Canterlot. He would be leaving for Ponyville on the train early the next morning. Igneous knew it would be a bit difficult to say farewell to the nice Pegasus, but it was time to return to the farm.

He knocked on her door as usual, and she was quick to open it and usher him inside out of the frigid night air. To his surprise, two large bottles filled with a cherry-red liquid sat on the table in front of the fire. He turned to her, and she seemed afraid of how he would react until he smiled. After all, they were friends, right? What was wrong with a little fun, a little celebration, before they had to say goodbye?

She poured the liquid into two fancy glass goblets. Igneous took one, she took the other, and then they clicked their glasses together and drank.

"...I made a mistake that night," Igneous admitted, staring at the floor. Cloudy wiped her eyes, and glanced at her husband as though torn between hitting him and running to her room, "I left the next morning, but... we... well, you know what happened. Almost an entire year passed, and I had almost forgotten all about that trip to Canterlot. I never told Cloudy what happened because... because I was too ashamed. As far as I was concerned, everything that had happened was in the past, until one day..."

He was working the fields, rotating the rocks from the East field to the North field. Stopping for a brief moment to wipe a bit of sweat off his brow as he panted in the devastingly humid summer sun, he glanced over at the house. Cloudy Quartz sat on the porch, watching Maud, Marble, and Limestone giggle as they played in the dirt. She smiled at him when she noticed him looking over, and Igneous raised his hoof up in a wave. He was about to turn back to his labor when the sound of Pegasus wings beating grabbed his attention. Confused, he looked toward the sky and his eyes widened when he saw a pink mare swooping down from the sky, gently cradling a large basket in her hooves. He recognized her just before she lightly landed on the ground. She didn't meet his eyes; she only held the basket out to him. He slowly trotted away from the rocks toward her, and he peered inside the basket. Inside, asleep curled up beneath a small purple blanket, were two newborn fillies.

"It was the first time I'd ever seen you two," his voice cracked as he finally looked up at Pinkamena and Blueberry, both of whom were staring at him with the same disbelieving intensity.

He went numb, and his mouth opened and closed uselessly as he gazed at the two fillies. He was aware of Cloudy hurrying over to them, and the Pegasus finally spoke.

"They're yours."

Cloudy screamed as she finally realized what was going on, an earshattering shriek that pierced the quiet atmosphere that had previously covered the farm. Not understanding why their mother was screaming, Maud, Marble, and Limestone glanced over curiously with frightened expressions. The Pegasus lowered her head, and gently sat the basket on the ground before beginning to flap her wings.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly as she took off into the sky, disappearing from his life forever. Igneous was left staring down at the two fillies, a pink one and a blue one, who were lying in the basket. Cloudy's scream had woken them, and they looked around with wide, curious eyes. The pink one coughed, but the sound hardly registered in Igneous's mind. He had no idea what he was going to do.

"...we couldn't raise all five of you," Igneous sighed, "It was hard enough explaining to Cloudy what had happened in Canterlot, let alone persuading her to keep both of you."

"But you kept her," Blueberry spoke up for the first time since Igneous had ushered her into the house. Her voice quivered as she pointed a shaky hoof at Pinkamena, "I had to go to an adoption center in Ponyville, but... but not her. She got to stay with two parents who loved her... w-why?"

"We had planned on putting you both up for adoption, of course," Igneous replied, now looking at the floor again to avoid looking at his fillies, "We contacted the adoption center, brought you two to Ponyville, but... there was a... a problem with Pinkamena."

"What problem?" Pinkamena whispered.

"She was sick," Igneous continued, "Very sick. They took you in, Blueberry, but they told us that they couldn't take Pinkamena in her condition. They told us that she was going to die. Cloudy always had a soft spot in her heart for injured animals, so a sick filly? She spent the next month fussing over Pinkamena, doing everything she could trying to nurse her back to health. The ponies at the adoption center told us that recovery was impossible, I thought for sure that Pinkamena was going to die, until one night..."

Igneous sat on the edge of his bed, staring at the wall. The weak cries of an ill filly echoed through the house, and he miserably forced himself to listen as his daughter died. He briefly wondered what would happen to Blueberry at the adoption center, and hoped she'd find a loving family. Neither of those fillies deserved to suffer for his mistake in Canterlot. He leaned forward and put his face in his hooves.

The door creaked as it opened behind him. He quickly turned around to see Cloudy standing in the doorway, holding a fussing Pinkamena in her hooves. Igneous leapt off the bed and hurried over to the doorway when he caught sight of the wide grin on her face. Pinkamena stopped squirming, and her cries stopped as she opened her eyes and stared up at her parents in awe.

"...and in that moment, I knew that Pinkamena was going to live," Igneous finished, "By that point, I couldn't get Cloudy to even let go of Pinkamena, let alone to bring her back to the adoption center, so..."

"So you decided to keep her, and to just... abandon me in an adoption center my whole life?" Blueberry's voice cracked, and Pinkamena looked over to see the amazed joy that Blueberry had felt when she had met her long-lost family was now being replaced with a lonely hurt.

"No, no, Blueberry, please..." Igneous reached out to hug his daughter, "It's just-"

"Really? Because that's what it sounds like to me," Blueberry said accusingly as she moved back, out of her father's reach.

"It wasn't like that-" Igneous pleaded.

"No, it was exactly like that!" Blueberry shouted, making Marble, Limestone, and Pinkamena flinch. Tears were starting to stream down Blueberry's face as she stood before her father, and Pinkamena felt her heart tear itself into two as she looked at her poor, lost sister, "You just kept the one you loved and dumped the other one in an adoption center! Good riddance!"

"Blueberry, please-"

"Do you have any idea what it was like there?!" Blueberry was now overwhelmed with emotion, and she barely managed to speak past her own sobs as she began to cry, "Living in a foster home with about 10 other foals and going to school in Ponyville without anypony caring? Without anypony to talk to? Nobody to hold me and say that they loved me? Sitting there, month after month and year after year, watching every other foal get adopted into a family that would love them and knowing that you'd never be one of them?!"

Pinkamena wasn't sure what to do; she wanted to wrap a comforting hoof around Blueberry, but she also wanted to back away. There were a few tense moments, everypony sitting in an uncomfortable silence that was broken only by Blueberry's quiet sobs and heavy breaths, until finally she took one final deep breath and spoke again, this time keeping her voice even.

"I found out that I had a father near Ponyville," Blueberry's voice cracked a little on "Ponyville", but she gulped and then continued, "I wrote you a letter immediately. I wasn't even sure if you would get it. I decided that I had to meet you to at least find out why you left me there, but the adoption center wouldn't allow it. They said writing a letter or two was good enough. I couldn't take it anymore, so I snuck out one night and came here by myself..."

Blueberry stared into her father's eyes, and Igneous stared back desperately. Blueberry seemed to be searching for something, and then she sighed and looked away, clearly not finding it. She hesitated, and then turned and started trotting toward the front door.

"T-this was a mistake, I-I... I'm leaving now..."

Blueberry opened the door and gently closed it behind her. Pinkamena knew she would have felt better if Blueberry had just slammed it shut. Blueberry had even left her saddlebag next to the door in her haste to leave. An air of discomfort filled the room as everypony tried not to look at Pinkamena, and then Cloudy spoke up.

"Alright. C'mon everypony," she said firmly, "Marble, Limestone, Maud... Pinkamena. Get upstairs, we have to talk to you."

Cloudy ushered Maud and Marble, the two fillies closest to her, off the floor and in the direction of the stairs as Igneous stared at the floor, a single tear sliding down the side of his face. Cloudy snapped at Limestone to hurry up, and then she turned toward Pinkamena.

"Pinkamena Diane Pie! You too..."

Cloudy turned around in time to catch a quick glimpse of pink hurrying outside before the front door closed behind her. Cloudy was suddenly struck with the temptation to chase after her, but she took a deep breath and continued getting the other three fillies upstairs. She had to force herself not to cry as she thought back to that sick filly that she had taken care of, and realized that she could have lost Pinkamena back then.

It felt like she was losing her now.

~~~~~~

"B-Blueberry...?"

Pinkamena slowly, cautiously, stepped closer to her sister, unsure if this was the right choice. Blueberry sat in the dirt in front of the house with her back to Pinkamena, but Pinkamena could still see her crying. When Pinkamena called out to her, Blueberry straightened up a little, wiped her eyes with her hoof, and then turned around.

The two fillies could only stare at each other for what felt like forever. Pinkamena Diane Pie and Blueberry Swirl. It was as though they were looking into a mirror, a mirror that changed their colors because, color differences aside, they did look almost exactly alike. Blueberry trotted a little closer to Pinkamena so the two were standing face-to-face.

"So..." Blueberry said stiffly, wiping her eye with her hoof again, "You're my sister?"

"Um... yeah?" Pinkamena answered. Blueberry surveyed her for a second with suspicious eyes, making Pinkamena feel like she was about to be slapped, and then Blueberry broke out in a wide smile.

"Sis!" she squealed, pulling Pinkamena into a tight hug, "Oh, I'm so excited! I have a sister now, and you look almost just like me! Only... you're pink and I'm blue. Hmm... well, pink is nice too, I guess, but I can't believe I have a sister! What's your name?"

"Pinkamena," Pinkamena said, smiling at Blueberry's excitedness and rapid talking.

"Pinkamena?" Blueberry repeated, curiously tilting her head to the side.

"Pinkamena Diane Pie."

"That's weird, what kind of a name is that?" Blueberry thought for a moment, "It's kinda fancy, I guess, but... hmm... Pinkamena... Pink-a-me-na... ooh! I've got it! Does anypony call you 'Pinkie'?"

" 'Pinkie'?" Pinkamena repeated uncertainly, "Well... I have a Nana Pinkie, but... Pinkie Diane Pie?"

Blueberry shook her head, "No, no, try it without the 'Diane'."

"Pinkie Pie," Pinkamena considered it, "Hey, that sounds cute! Pinkie Pie!"

"It has a sweet ring to it," Blueberry said as Pinkamena repeated her new nickname a few more times.

"Pinkie Pie! Pinkie Pie! Pinkie Pie!" Pinkie giggled, hugging her new sister, "Pinkie Pie and Blueberry Swirl! I love it!"

"So do I," Blueberry quietly replied as she hugged Pinkie back.

~~~~~~

"So what's it like living at the adoption center?" Pinkie asked Blueberry. The two fillies were lying in the dirt together, underneath a shady tree at the end of the rock fields.

"Well... it's nice enough, I guess," Blueberry began, "The ponies running it are very nice, but can be strict sometimes, and there are about 10 other foals at a time. It's hard to keep track sometimes because there's always somepony being adopted and somepony arriving, but it's usually about 10 others. It's always kind of gloomy in the adoption center, so I get involved in school activities."

"School activities? Like what?"

"Uh..." Blueberry thought for a moment, lazily stretching and taking in a deep breath, "Oh! There was this big play last week. I helped organize it and everything, helped edit the script, worked with the filly who was making the costumes... and I actually got a role in the play on top of all that. I played a cake."

"A cake? Sounds fun!" Pinkie giggled, "I like cake... you really did all that?"

"Well, you know..." Blueberry blushed, feeling a little embarrassed, "I just wanted everypony to have fun."

"I know that feeling," Pinkie sympathized.

"Isn't it a great feeling?" Blueberry sat up and looked around the farm, "But you don't really get a chance to do that around here, do you?"

"I, um... I can make my family smile," Pinkie quietly responded, sitting up, "There's just not very much to do around here."

"Do you have any friends around here?"

"Well... not really," Pinkie admitted, "I used to pretend the rocks were my friends, and I'd talk to them and pretend they answered, but that got old. And boring."

"Huh... What's it like living here?" Blueberry inquired, lying back down and folding her hooves behind her head.

"It's pretty quiet around here, mostly," Pinkie said, "There's... uh, plenty of rocks."

"I can see that," Blueberry noted, "But what do you do for fun?"

"Uh... well, Maud invented this new game a while ago where somepony throws a rock over the house and somepony on the other side of the house tries to catch it, but then Marble got hit in the head and got knocked out for the rest of the day, and Mom said we can't play it anymore."

"That's a weird game," Blueberry chuckled.

"You're a weird filly," Pinkie teased, "Why, what do you do in Ponyville?"

"Well, uh..." Blueberry thought about it, "When I'm not helping out with anything for school, I like to go to this one place: Sugarcube Corner."

"What's that?"

"It's this bakery-type place," Blueberry said, "These two ponies just opened it after they got married, and they're really nice. They let me help make cakes and cookies and stuff, and sometimes they even let me help them throw a party for somepony there!"

"Do you get to throw parties often?" Pinkie asked, staring at her sister in wonder.

"Not as often as I'd like to," Blueberry sheepishly grinned, "But they're really fun when I do get to throw them!"

"I want to throw a surprise party for Maud's birthday next month, but that's the only party I have planned," Pinkie offered, "It'd be fun to throw a party with you sometime."

"Yeah, that'd be a great party!" Blueberry agreed, and then she sat up with a shocked expression, "Wait! Have you ever thought about coming to Ponyville?"

"Ponyville?" Pinkie repeated as she turned to Blueberry, who was starting to get more excited the more she thought about it.

"Yeah! You can come with me back to Ponyville! It's super duper fun and there's lots of ponies we can throw parties for and spread some smiles!"

"Blueberry, it sounds... amazing, but I can't just leave the farm," Pinkie said, "I can't just leave behind everypony here. Besides, I don't even think I'd fit in very well in Ponyville..."

"Come on, they'd love you there!" Blueberry grinned, "At least consider it? I really want to try throwing a party with my sister."

"What would we even have at a party if we threw one?" Pinkie questioned Blueberry with a raised eyebrow, "Cake?"

"Ooh, cake. Yeah, cake. Definitely," Blueberry licked her lips at the thought of it, "We'd need a lot of streamers. And confetti."

"And polka music!" Pinkie chimed in.

"And party hats!" Blueberry added.

"And streamers!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"I already said streamers!" Blueberry snickered.

"We'd need more streamers!" Pinkie giggled.

The two fillies continued to lie in the dirt and talk, but Pinkie's thoughts were secretly on Ponyville. She had only been there a few times when her father went to sell rocks, but she wasn't sure what to think about it. What if it really was better than the farm? And even if it was, could she really just leave her family behind to go with Blueberry?

Ever since the rainbow had broken through the gray skies over the Pie Family Rock Farm, Pinkie had felt... unfulfilled. Like there was more out there then just rocks and the occasional party.

Was she really brave enough to seek it out if there was?

~~~~~~

Night fell and soon parted as the sun peeked over the horizon. The Pie family woke up early the next morning, and Blueberry soon had her saddlebag ready and was about to leave for Ponyville. She had spent the night sleeping on the couch in the living room, and woke up as chipper as ever. Pinkie had offered to let Blueberry sleep in her room with her and Maud, but Cloudy had told her "don't be ridiculous" and gave Blueberry a pillow and a blanket.

"It was great meeting all of you," Blueberry smiled sweetly as she hugged Igneous one last time before moving to stand by the door.

"You're going right back to Ponyville, right?" Cloudy asked, "You're not going to get into any trouble on the way?"

"Because I can walk you to Ponyville if you think you need help," Igneous volunteered, "It's the least I can do."

"Oh, I think I'll be fine," Blueberry giggled.

"Look, Blueberry..." Igneous sighed, "I... I know I was never really there for you, but if you ever have to... you're always welcome to come back to the farm. Besides, I think Pinkamena would be glad to see you again."

"Where is Pinkamena anyway?" Cloudy wondered, looking around. Marble, Limestone, and Maud were gathered in the living room to see Blueberry off, but the pink filly was nowhere to be found.

~~~~~~

Pinkie quickly shoved supplies into her blue saddlebag. The saddlebag was filled with mostly balloons so far, both deflated and inflated ones. There was also a bouncy ball the size of her head, a box of cupcakes, and a few streamers.

"Don't you think you should be packing things you need?"

Pinkie let out a squeak of horror and then whirled around. Behind her stood Maud, who was watching Pinkie with her usual stony expression. She didn't seem surprised at all that Pinkie was packing a bag.

"Maud... I, uh..." Pinkie sighed, closing her eyes and lowering her head, "I'm sorry... I just..."

Maud didn't say anything, and Pinkie lost her train of thought. She didn't know what she was about to say, and turned back to her saddlebag. Taking Maud's advice, she threw her toothbrush and a flashlight into the bag.

"I just... I can't stay here on the farm, Maud," Pinkie turned back around to her oldest sister, and fought back a few tears, "It... I don't belong here on a rock farm. You know I love you, and Mom, and Dad, and Marble and Limestone, but I... I have to go to Ponyville with Blueberry. I-"

Maud stepped forward and wrapped her hooves around her youngest sister, who let out another squeak of surprise as Maud tightly hugged her. The two sisters embraced for a moment, and then Maud, still holding onto Pinkie's shoulders, stepped back.

"Promise me you'll write?" she asked.

"All the time," Pinkie promised, "Cross my heart and hope to fly..."

"Stick a cupcake in your eye," Maud smiled as she let go of Pinkie and trotted over to her bed where she got down on the floor and reached under her bed, pulling out a small dark-pink box, "Here, I want you to have this..."

"What is it?" Pinkie asked, moving a little closer to Maud as she opened the box and reached inside.

"It's a rock candy necklace," Maud answered, holding up a few multicolored rocks on a brown string, "I was making it for you. I wanted it to be a surprise."

"Oh, Maud..." Pinkie started smiling widely as she took the necklace, "You're the best sister ever!"

"Better hurry," Maud nodded, gesturing toward the door, "Blueberry is about to leave."

Pinkie gently placed the rock candy necklace in her saddlebag before closing it and slipping it on. She gave Maud another quick hug, and then trotted out of their bedroom and went downstairs.

"Pinkamena Diane Pie! What are you doing?" Cloudy demanded as soon as Pinkie was at the bottom of the stairs, but the sense of dread she was feeling told her that she already knew what her daughter was doing. Blueberry had already left, and was outside, walking away from the farm.

"I love you, Mom," Pinkie hugged her mother, fighting back tears as she said goodbye to her family, and then she moved on to hug her father, "I love you too, Dad..."

"You... you're going with Blueberry?!" Igneous gasped as Pinkie let him go and hugged Marble and Limestone, who watched their sister in awe.

"I'm sorry," Pinkie said sadly, "But... I promise I'll write to you all as soon as I'm in Ponyville!"

"Pinkamena Diane Pie, you knock this foolishness off right this instant-!" Cloudy desperately cried out, moving toward Pinkie, but Igneous held his hoof in front of her.

"No, Cloudy..." Igneous's lip trembled as he looked at his daughter, "It... it's time. She's already made up her mind."

"Daddy..." Pinkie's voice quivered, and a knot formed in her stomach.

"Just go. Hurry up, before Blueberry is gone," Igneous told her. Pinkie looked back at them one last time, and then opened the door and hurried outside. Cloudy stared to cry, and she buried her face in her husband's chest as he hugged her, comforting her. Maud quietly came back downstairs in time to see Pinkie step outside just before the door closed behind her, and then Pinkamena Diane Pie was gone.

~~~~~~

"Blueberry! Wait up!" Pinkie called to the blue filly. Blueberry turned around as Pinkie scampered to catch up with her.

"What are you doing?" Blueberry's eyes widened.

"I'm coming with you!" Pinkie smiled, her eyes wild with excitement as she caught up to her sister, "I'm coming to Ponyville!"

"That... that's great!" Blueberry didn't know what to say, "I... wow!"

"Come on," Pinkie giggled, "Let's go."

"Try to keep up," Blueberry laughed as the two sisters set off down the long, winding dirt road to Ponyville, leaving the Pie Family Rock Farm behind them. Pinkie took one last look over her shoulder at her home, and then turned back to the road, intrigued to find out what awaited the two sisters.

The Road to Ponyville

"I spy something... green."

"Is it grass?"

"You got it, Blueberry! Your turn."

"Okay. I spy something... brown."

"Is it the road?"

"Uh-huh. You go."

"I spy something... green."

"It's a tree."

"You guessed it! Your turn."

"I spy something green."

"The grass? You can't pick that! I already picked that!"

"But there's nothing else out here, Pinkie!"

"It's the rules!"

"Okay, fine, I'll pick something else. Uh... I spy something... pink."

"Pink?" Pinkie looked around. She and Blueberry had been trotting for about an hour now, following the dirt road to Ponyville. As time went on, the trail seemed to be stretching longer and the journey got more boring. Pinkie had started a game of "I Spy", but there was nothing to look at besides the grass on the sides of the road, the trees around them, and the road itself. There were no flowers; only patches of dirt where the grass refused to grow, so Pinkie knew whatever pink thing Blueberry had seen wasn't a flower... "Is it a birdie?"

"Nope," Blueberry replied.

"A particularly colorful pebble?" Pinkie guessed, noticing all the tiny rocks in the road.

"Wrong."

"Uh..." Pinkie looked around, and then stopped as realization slapped her, "Wait! Is it me?"

"It was your mane, but good enough," Blueberry sighed, "This game is boring."

"Do you have any better ideas?" Pinkie asked.

"Nope," Blueberry confessed.

"Okay then," Pinkie said smugly, "Um... I spy something b-"

"It's me," Blueberry interrupted.

"I... yeah..." Pinkie sheepishly grinned, "You're right, this is getting boring. How far away are we from Ponyville?"

"Uh, well... it's hard to say..." Blueberry scratched the back of her head, "Maybe... we could be close... but we might not be..."

"You mean you don't know?!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"Of course I know!" Blueberry reassured her, "Well, I mean, I know which way it is, sorta, but..."

"We're lost, aren't we?"

"No! We're not lost!" Blueberry gestured at the path, "If we keep walking down this road, we'll end up somewhere, right?"

"I think we should stop and ask for directions from somepony," Pinkie suggested, "Just to be sure."

"Ask for directions from who?" Blueberry inquired, looking around, "There's nopony around. It's just us."

Pinkie glanced at the sky, "It's going to be dark soon. Are we going to be stuck out here when the sun goes down?"

"Are you telling me you're afraid of the dark?" Blueberry replied incredulously.

"Only a little..." Pinkie blushed.

"Nightmare Moon isn't real, and she's not going to getcha," Blueberry threw a comforting hoof over her younger sister's shoulders, "I promise."

"Pinkie promise?"

" 'Pinkie promise'?" Blueberry repeated. Pinkie giggled.

"Yeah, see, I made up a special kind of promise back on the rock farm," Pinkie explained, "I never gave it a name, but I thought about calling it a 'Pinkamena promise', but that didn't sound right. Now that I have a cool new nickname, I finally found a name for it! A Pinkie promise!"

"So what's so special about a Pinkie promise?" Blueberry asked.

"Here, repeat after me. Cross my heart," Pinkie swiped a line over her heart with her hoof.

"Cross my heart," Blueberry copied the motions Pinkie made with her hooves.

"And hope to fly," Pinkie giggled, flapping her hooves like wings.

"And hope to fly."

"Stick a cupcake in my eye," Pinkie put her hoof over her own eye.

"Stick a cupcake in my eye," Blueberry grinned as she put her hoof over her eye, "You know, it isn't supposed to be 'cupcake'. I've heard ponies say n-"

"Blueberry! Look!" Pinkie gasped, pointing

Blueberry looked down the path where Pinkie was pointing. Ahead, the road took a sharp turn around the edge of a cliff, and then the road continued into a forest. As Blueberry watched, a dark gray-ish unicorn with a purple mane trotted out of the forest and continued down the path, heading toward the two fillies. As she drew closer to them, a puzzled expression emerged on her face and her yellow eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Aren't you two a little young to be out here by yourselves?" the mare questioned, stopping in front of them.

"Nope!" Pinkie quickly answered before nudging Blueberry, "Ask her!"

"Ask her for what?" Blueberry mumbled to Pinkie under her breath, "Directions? We're fine!"

"Ask her!" Pinkie repeated firmly.

"Okay, fine. Sorry to bother you, miss," Blueberry began.

"Oh, please call me Shades," Shades interrupted with a little smile.

"Alright, Miss Shades," Blueberry continued, "Could you please tell us which way Ponyville is?"

"Ponyville? It's right down this road. Not very far from here," Shades told them, "Just keep going down this way, and when you come to a fork in the road, turn left. That road leads straight to Ponyville. The other one leads to Ghastly Gorge, and I think the quarry eels are mating, so you'd best steer clear of that."

"Turn left. Got it," Blueberry smiled, "Thank you!"

"Of course. Good luck, my little ponies!" Shades cheerfully bid them farewell before turning and continuing to trot down the road.

"See?" Blueberry smirked, turning to Pinkie, "I was right! I knew where we were going."

"We were lost, and you know it," Pinkie replied, trotting down the road toward the forest. Blueberry quietly sighed in relief that she hadn't gotten them lost before following, and the two fillies slowly entered the forest.

Unknown to them at the time, this particular forest was called "Whistling Wind Woods", named for the soft sounds that the wind made as it curled around trees, making a beckoning whistle that seemed to be calling to travelers who ventured into the forest. However, the wind was silent as the two fillies trotted through the trees. Pinkie nervously admired the trees around them as Blueberry walked ahead of her, focused on following the path. At one point, the road curved, and Blueberry followed the road. Unfortunately, Pinkie was too busy staring at a certain tree that seemed a bit taller than the other ones, and she didn't notice the road curved until she stepped off the path and trotted face-first into a tree.

"Ouch!" Pinkie cried, stumbling back away from the tree and raising a hoof up to rub her snout.

"Are you okay?" Blueberry quickly spun around as Pinkie found her way back to the path.

"I'm fine," Pinkie scrunched her muzzle a few times and then smiled at Blueberry, "The only thing hurt is my pride."

"Pay attention to the path," Blueberry instructed, "There are trees all over."

"It's starting to get dark, Blueberry..." Pinkie noted, nervously glancing toward the sky, "Will we be out of these woods before the sun goes down?"

"Maybe," Blueberry said, looking ahead, "Probably not, unless we hurry."

"A-are we going to have to sleep in the woods?" Pinkie whispered, "With all the t-timberwolves and... and taraxippi... and w-w-windigos-?

"What, you don't like camping?" Blueberry turned around to face her younger sister, "We might have to sleep in the woods with the bunnies and the birdies. I don't think there's anything-"

There came a low howl through the trees, and Blueberry stopped mid-sentence. Pinkie's eyes darted around the trees as the howling turned into a low whistle and then faded.

"I-It was the wind," Blueberry tried to shrug it off, "No big deal."

Pinkie, on the other hand, was petrified. That hadn't sounded like wind... it had sounded more like a wolf or-

"Blueberry! Did you hear that?!" Pinkie gasped, "Hoofclops!"

"What are you talking about?"

"I heard somepony trotting through the trees! Over there!" she pointed at a space between two trees, and Blueberry scanned the forest in that direction.

"I don't see anypony," she said quietly, "It was probably just your imagination. The sooner we get out of here, the better."

Pinkie, frightened, followed Blueberry down the path, but as Celestia slowly lowered the sun to make way for the moon, it became more difficult for the fillies to see in the thick darkness of the forest. Finally, Blueberry sighed and turned to Pinkie, who nearly ran into her sister in the black fog around them. Not even the moonlight could penetrate the leaves overhead.

"Look, Pinkie," Blueberry began, her voice eerily loud in the still silence, "Let's just camp right here. I can't see my own hooves in front of my face! It's too dangerous to keep going."

"No it's not! Look!" Pinkie reached into her saddlebag, and a moment later Blueberry squinted as she shined a light in her eyes, "I brought a flashlight!"

Blueberry was unimpressed, "Come on. Let's just sleep here. Did you bring a pillow?"

"No."

"That's okay, just use your saddlebag. We can sleep on the path."

Pinkie, disappointed, turned off her flashlight and lie down on the path next to Blueberry, laying her head down on her saddlebag. Blueberry was asleep almost instantly, as though she were really tired or just used to sleeping outside.

Pinkie on the other hand tossed and turned. A chill ran down her back every time one of those haunting howls whistled through the trees. As Blueberry lightly snored, Pinkie turned her flashlight on and off as she pointed it at the trees, finally pointing the light directly into her sister's sleeping face, sending shadows across Blueberry's face as she snoozed.

"Psst! Blueberry!" Pinkie whispered, "Are you asleep?"

There was a pause.

"Don't say anything if you are," Pinkie whispered again.

There was another pause. Pinkie sighed, realizing that she was, for now, alone. She was about to turn the light toward another tree that looked a bit like a spider out of the corner of her eye, but then a piece of paper sticking out of Blueberry's saddlebag caught her attention and she peered at the paper suspiciously before deciding to pull it out.

As gently and silently as she could, Pinkie clenched the paper in her teeth and slid it out of Blueberry's saddlebag. She shined the flashlight at it to reveal that it was an opened envelope with the Pie Family Rock Farm's address on the front.

"Is this the letter you sent to Dad...?" Pinkie murmured, pulling the letter out of the envelope. Blueberry stirred, moving her hooves, and then fell still. Pinkie, who was forced into a shocked silence when her sister moved, sighed in relief and then shined the flashlight at the letter.

The first thing she noticed was that Blueberry had written it in a sparkly blue ink. The second thing she noticed was that her sister's handwriting looked remarkably similar to her own. Silently, Pinkie began to read.

To Igneous Rock

My name is Blueberry Swirl, and I'm your daughter.

I'm sorry if this comes as a shock; I don't know how else to start writing this. It has been eight years since I was left in the Ponyville Adoption Center, and I've never really thought about you until now. I know you probably had your reasons for leaving me here, and I understand that. I just really want to know what they were.

The reason I was thinking about you... well, I was at school, and it was family appreciation day. The teacher read off my name and told me that I had to bring in a family member the next day, and I had to explain to her that I never knew my parents. The other fillies found me after class and cornered me and called me things like "orphan" and "mistake", but I could ignore them because

Pinkie stopped reading mid-sentence, and blinked at the page, re-reading that sentence. The paper crinkled as her hoof gripped it tighter, and she held her other hoof up to her mouth in shock.

Orphan? Mistake? Was that why Blueberry had been so determined to find the Rock Farm, because she felt she had to prove something to the other fillies? Pinkie felt a strange combination of pity and sorrow for her lost sister.

"Oh, Blueberry..." Pinkie sighed, now overcome with the desire to give Blueberry a hug, just to let her know that she wasn't alone anymore. She resigned herself to finish the reading the letter instead, and turned her gaze back to the paper when she heard a twig snap to her left. Her ears perked up, and her eyes widened. She shined the light in the direction of the sound, and gasped when a large, lumbering shape moved toward her from the trees. She dropped the flashlight in surprise and screamed.

"Hmm...? What..." Blueberry moaned sleepily.

"Blueberry," Pinkie said fearfully, quickly shoving the letter back into Blueberry's saddlebag before shaking her sister, "Blueberry?!"

"What is it?" Blueberry sat up and rubbed her eyes. Pinkie fumbled for the flashlight and shined it in the direction of what she had seen.

"Look!" Pinkie yelped. Blueberry followed the light, and cried out in surprise when the light landed on something that was slowly moving toward the two fillies, "What do we do?!"

"Run!" Blueberry yelled at Pinkie, throwing her saddlebag at the figure, "Go! Get out of here-!"

"Hey!" the figure said as the saddlebag hit him, "That hurt, kid!"

"What...?" Blueberry snatched the light from Pinkie and pointed it at the dark figure. A stallion with a brown coat and white mane blinked and squinted in the light, shielding his eyes with a hoof.

"Don't point that thing at me, kid, it's bright!"

"It's a stallion," Blueberry said in disbelief.

"Who are you?" Pinkie called to him, hiding behind Blueberry.

"My name is Barker, kid," the stallion held up his hooves in mock defeat, "I surrender! Don't throw any more backpacks at me!"

"Barker Kid is a weird name..." Pinkie giggled.

"What are you doing all the way out here?" Blueberry asked, lowering the flashlight, "You scared us. I can still feel my sister trembling..."

"I'm not 'trembling'!" Pinkie scowled.

"My, uh, friends and I were camping over there," Barker pointed through the trees, "I saw your flashlight and came over here to check it out, and I was wondering... ah, do you two want a warm place to sleep tonight? We've got tents... and sleeping bags... and hot cocoa..."

"Sure!" Blueberry accepted the offer.

"No thank you..." Pinkie said quietly at the same time. The two sisters looked at each other for a second with Barker watching in amusement.

"Could you please excuse us for a second?" Blueberry politely asked Barker, who nodded, and then pulled Pinkie out of earshot before whispering in an urgent voice at her sister, "How can you say no?!"

"He seems really nice and all," Pinkie whispered back, "But I don't trust him. He... he scares me. These are huge woods, and he just happens to be nearby? You don't think-"

"He said he saw your flashlight," Blueberry interrupted, "Were you awake and shining it around?"

"Uh... maybe..."

"Look, Pinkie, this stallion seems like a nice guy, and we'll only stay with him and his friends for one night. Then we can get back on the road to Ponyville. Deal?"

Pinkie looked uncertain, but she slowly nodded her head, "Okay..."

"Okay, Mr. Barker," Blueberry said to the stallion with a sweet little smile, "We'd love to camp with you and your friends tonight."

"Excellent," Barker said, turning away from the two fillies, "Follow me, kid. It's not that far. Right this way..."

~~~~~~

Barker's campsite was huge.

Blueberry and Pinkie were expecting maybe a few tents for two or three ponies apiece and a campfire. Barker led them through the trees into a clearing that had two smaller tents facing one enormous white tent that towered over the fillies, looking like it could hold more than twenty ponies. In the middle of the tents was a large campfire. Three ponies sat around a folding table near the campfire, playing cards when Barker and the two sisters arrived. There was a large, lumbering, gray unicorn stallion wearing a black fedora over his black mane sitting between another stallion with a scar over his left eye and a mare with a cherry-red mane and too much makeup. This fedora-wearing unicorn slammed his cards down on the table, and the other two ponies groaned. The mare let her cards drop out of her hoof onto the ground as she slumped back in her seat, and didn't seem in a hurry to pick them back up.

"That's Mendax," Barker pointed at the victorious unicorn, "He's in charge around here."

"What's in that big tent?" Pinkie asked.

"Just a few supplies," Barker gave her a crooked grin, "C'mon. Follow me."

Barker led the two fillies right up to Mendax's table, where the burly unicorn squinted at them, sizing each of them up in turn. Something about the stallion made Pinkie very uncomfortable. She glanced at Blueberry out of the corner of her eye, and though Blueberry didn't seem concerned about meeting strangers, she wasn't smiling and looked more serious than Pinkie had ever seen her. Despite her enthusiasm for coming here, she obviously sensed something wrong about Mendax. (Something besides the fedora.)

"Ah. Barker, did you know you were followed?" Mendax said, raising his arms in greeting at the two fillies, "Who are these two lovely foals?"

"I found these two in the woods," Barker explained, gesturing at them, "This is... uh..."

"Blueberry Swirl and Pinkie Pie," Blueberry introduced them, "Nice to meet you."

"Blueberry and Pinkie... which is which?" Mendax joked, and then straightened up, "Right. Barker, good job bringing them here. Are you two cold?"

"A little..." Pinkie admitted. Sleeping without a blanket had been rough on the filly, but she suspected that Blueberry knew a little bit about sleeping outside.

"Would you two like some hot chocolate?" Mendax offered, "We got amazing hot chocolate. Warm ya right up. Angel, get these two fillies some cocoa."

"Cocoa?" Blueberry repeated as the mare nodded and trotted away from the table, leaving her cards lying in the grass. Mendax nodded vigoriously.

"We pride ourselves on serving very special hot chocolate," he told a skeptical Blueberry and wonderstruck Pinkie, "That's what we do out here; make hot chocolate powder and send it off to places in a few cities."

"What's so special about it?" Blueberry asked.

"Find out for yourself," Mendax said as Angel returned, dropping two small glasses of a warm, rich brown liquid in front of them. Pinkie took one almost immediately, and Blueberry took the other to be polite, "It's a very popular drink in Manehatten, Ponyville, Fillydelphia... the cocoa beans we need for it only grews out here in Whispering Wind Woods, you see..."

"It tastes fine," Blueberry sipped her cocoa. It was smooth, but Blueberry had never been a fan of warm drinks.

"It isn't the taste that's so special," Mendax smiled, "It's what it does."

"What it does?" Blueberry repeated, puzzled, "What do you mean by that?"

"Isn't hot chocolate like this more of a big deal in colder places?" Pinkie smacked her lips together as she set the empty glass on the table, "It was tasty but I feel like it could have-"

Pinkie collapsed.

One moment, the pink filly was talking, and then she was lying on her side in the dry, patchy grass. For a crazy instant, Blueberry thought she was dead, but then realized that her lips were parted slightly, and saw that she was breathing. Blueberry stumbled back, away from the table. Her head started to pound. The glass fell out of her hoof, hit the ground and bounced, and landed on its side, spilling its contents into the dirt. Mendax pointed at them, and Angel and the stallion moved around the table toward them, following their leader's unspoken command.

"Great work, Barker," Mendax's voice was monstrously distorted in Blueberry's head, echoing in her ears and leaving behind the ghost of a growl as the filly moaned, struggling to stay conscious as she fell onto the ground. Dark shapes began to fill her vision as her head split in half, and she was faintly aware of the stallion lifting her into the air and carrying her away from the table. She could hear Barker reply to Mendax, but his voice was distant and so hard to hear that it felt like another language. Blueberry's body slumped as the filly finally lost consciousness and fell into the black abyss yawning before her.

~~~~~~

"What... nngh... w-what happened...?" Pinkie moaned as she struggled toward the light of consciousness, "Where... ooh, where are we...?"

Pinkie tried to sit up, but a wave of nausea swept over her and she fell back to lying on her side in the coarse dirt. There was a sweet smell in the heavy air, and she was faintly aware of Blueberry lying on her back in front of her. As Pinkie blinked her way back to the real world, half of her mind remained in her dream. She had been having such a lovely dream. In her dream, there were cupcakes everywhere and soothing voice that seemed to be coming from the moon overhead told her not to be afraid.

But as she returned to reality, Pinkie knew she had plenty of reasons to be afraid.

The white tarp surrounding her alerted her to the fact that she was in Mendax's huge tent, and judging from the dark crates stacked up around them, the group used it as storage. The entrance to the tent was hidden behind a large row of crates, but the sound of the tent flap being pushed aside alerted Pinkie to the fact that somepony had just entered the tent.

Her head felt like it had been cracked in half, and she tried to raise a hoof up to rub her forehead, but when she tried to move she became aware of something squeezing her hooves. She glanced down and gasped in surprise when she saw that her front hooves were tied together, as were her back hooves. Upon closer inspection of her sister, she saw that the same had been done to Blueberry.

"You two awake yet?" Barker's voice rang out, and then the stallion appeared from behind a few crates. He peered at the two sisters, "Good."

"What is this...?" Pinkie whimpered.

"He lied to us," Blueberry said through her teeth, "The drinks were drugged."

"Well, I never said any lie to you, kid, but yes. The hot chocolate was drugged," Barker shrugged and then grinned, "You ain't the first fillies to fall for that. A scared little foal, cold and lost in the middle of Whispering Wind Woods, is always eager to accept hot chocolate... even from strangers."

"What are you going to do to us?" Pinkie asked, afraid to know the answer, "Please, let us go-"

"You'd be surprised..." Mendax's voice sounded as the tent flap was pushed aside. A moment later, Mendax appeared behind Barker, the ugly fedora still on his head and a lantern clutched in his hoof, "...at how many ponies in Equestria are willing to buy a foal. You just gotta know where to look for 'em."

"You're SELLING us?!" Blueberry's eyes widened, "You can't do that! You can't sell foals!"

"We can, will, and have," Mendax sneered, making Blueberry shiver with his hungry gaze, "You two just have to sit tight and wait for a buyer. It might take a week, a month, or maybe Barker will have some perverted stallion outside tomorrow, but don't worry. A buyer will come, and you two fillies are outta here."

"You're a monster..." Pinkie sobbed as she started to cry.

"A monster with more bits than you'll ever see," Mendax replied as he set the lantern down next to the crates so the two fillies could see and then turned and left with Barker following right behind him. The two stallions disappeared behind the crates once more, and the sound of the tent flap being pushed out of the way was heard again as they trotted out of the tent, leaving Blueberry and Pinkie tied up, helpless, and afraid.

~~~~~~

"B-Blueberry?"

"Yeah, Pinkie?"

"I-I... I'm scared. That stallion... he's crazy..."

"Just stay calm. We'll find a way out of here, just stay calm. I promise you that I'll get us away from Mendax and Barker if it kills me."

"I haven't been this scared since I was really little."

"When you were sick? And thought you'd die?"

"I don't even remember that. I was waaayyy too young to remember that."

"Well, what happened?"

"I remember Dad took us to Granny Pie's house once. She lived in this cozy little house near Los Pegasus, on the edge of White Tail Woods. It was the first time I ever rode the train because Granny Pie usually came to visit us. I really liked her house and Granny Pie is really cool, but..."

"...but what?"

"The... the forest. It was the forest. I was outside playing Hide and Seek with Marble and Limestone in the woods. Dad told us not to stray too far from the house, but I didn't listen... I thought for sure that Marble was that way..."

"You got lost in the woods."

"Yeah... but I wasn't scared yet. I knew all I had to do was retrace my steps and find my way back to Granny Pie's house. I started walking, but the trees were so tall, and they all looked the same, so I didn't know if I was going in the right direction. Before I knew it, it was night and I was more lost than ever, and in that darkness... I saw things."

"What kind of things?"

"It looked like all the trees were monsters. The wind rustled their branches, and I thought they looked like spider legs trying to grab me. I couldn't stop thinking about those stories about foals being lured into the woods by the tall pony that takes them away, and it got even worse. It was so dark, and I-I... I got so scared..."

"How'd you get out of the woods?"

"I heard Dad calling for me, and I ran to him. I think he was scared because he thought I was gone for good. He scolded me, asked me what I was thinking, told me never to do anything like that ever again, but I couldn't stop crying because of the trees."

"That's horrible..."

"But when I got inside, Granny Pie saw how scared I was, and she pulled me aside and we had a talk. She told me that crying and screaming and hiding wasn't the way to deal with my fears. She said I had to stand up tall and learn to face my fears, and she taught me that if I'm ever afraid of anything, I just have to laugh at it and it won't seem as scary, y'know?"

"Huh."

"Yeah. Granny Pie was always full of that 'old pony wisdom' and stuff."

"Seems like good advice, but I don't see how it helps us now."

"I'm scared now, and I know you are too; you just don't want me to see."

"So why aren't you laughing?"

"...I'm too terrified to laugh."

~~~~~~

"There has to be SOME way out of here," Blueberry mumbled to herself, glancing around the tent for what seemed like the hundredth time. She and Pinkie had been sitting in Mendax's tent for what felt like hours, but also felt like seconds. Time didn't exist in the tent, but Blueberry was sure that it was still night.

"Even if there was, we're still tied up," Pinkie moaned, "And even if we weren't, they're probably watching the tent. For all we know, they're listening to us talk right now."

"Don't lose hope," Blueberry said, biting at the knot in the ropes, "We can still get out of here. There's always a way out."

"I don't think you can untie that rope with your teeth," Pinkie sighed, "Y'know, it was nice of them to leave us the lantern. Now we can see. I mean, we've been foalnapped and we're going to be sold to somepony to keep us prisoners forever and ever, but at least we can see-"

"Wait," Blueberry dropped the knot and bolted upright, her wide eyes staring at the lantern, "The lantern! That's it!"

"What?" Pinkie tilted her head to the side as she looked at the lantern. A single golden flame burned brightly inside. Back on the farm, Igneous caught fireflies and put them in the lantern, but Mendax must have decided catching fireflies was too much work and just used their impressive campfire to light the lantern.

"It's next to the crates!" Blueberry squealed excitedly, "The crates are made of wood! Wood can catch on fire! Fire can burn through these ropes!"

"You're going to light the crates on fire?! You don't know what's in them!" Pinkie protested as Blueberry shuffled over to the lantern as best as she could with her hooves tied up.

"This is the only plan we have, Pinkie!" Blueberry grunted as she manuevered herself onto her back beside the lantern, "If we don't get out now, we might never get out of here!"

"I... okay. Let's do it quickly," Pinkie said, a tone of urgency in her voice. Blueberry nodded, and then reared her back legs back before kicking the lantern into the crates. The lantern glass shattered and the crate caught on fire immediately. Fortunately, the wood was dry from being safely shielded from nature's rain in the tent. A small flame steadily grew on the side of the wooden crate, and Blueberry was quick to hold the ropes over her front hooves over the fire. Once the ropes had blackened, she quickly pulled her hooves apart and the rope broke. She was free.

"Hurry, Pinkie!" Blueberry called to her as she untied the ropes around her back hooves. Pinkie found it difficult to move with her hooves bound, but she managed to crawl close enough to the fire to hold the ropes over it.

"It's hot!" she gasped.

"Pull the ropes apart!" Blueberry urged her as the ropes started to blacken. Pinkie moved her hooves apart with all her strength, and the rope snapped off. She began untying the ropes around her back hooves as soon as Blueberry had finished untying hers.

"Now what do we do?!" Pinkie yelled, standing up as she freed herself. The fire that they had started was now growing alarmingly quickly, "It's out of control!"

"We need to get out of here!" Blueberry grabbed Pinkie and the two started to back away from the blaze, "When they come in here and see the fire, we're going to have to run past them-"

The crates exploded.

Blueberry and Pinkie couldn't have known it, but while some of the crates were empty and some were filled with cocoa beans and other hot chocolate supplies, the rest contained small glass vials of a liquid drug. The tent became an inferno as the fire reached whatever drug was in the crates. The drug, the same knockout substance that Angel had slipped into the sisters' hot chocolate, was an incredibly flammable liquid that only fed the flames into growing into a behemoth, a column of blazing orange, yellow, and red that exploded and destroyed the crates. The force of the explosion threw the two fillies backwards, and their hooves left the ground as they hit the side of the tent, tearing through the tarp as the tent itself caught fire. The blaze inside only found more crates filled with the drug and more explosions boomed in Pinkie's ears in addition to the crackling of the flames as they reached for the shiny night sky.

The pink filly landed on her back in a heap in the dirt. Mendax's campsite was on the other side of the tent, so she was safe for the moment as she groaned, panting heavily as she climbed to her hooves.

"Blueberry?!" Pinkie coughed. Smoke began to fill her vision, and she waved a hoof in front of her face as she coughed again, "Where are you?!"

"I'm over here!" Blueberry shouted from behind a large rock, "Pinkie, run! They're coming-!"

Pinkie yelped as she was suddenly lifted off the ground by the scruff of her neck. She kicked, and heard Mendax's voice behind her.

"You little shit!" Mendax hollered in her ear, and she flinched at how loud it was, "Barker went into that tent to get you out! He's in there now because of you-!"

There was another explosion that rocked the Earth itself, and Mendax stumbled. The tent collapsed, each side falling in on itself and serving as something more for the fire to devour. Mendax stopped, staring at the remains of his tent with his mouth open wide. Pinkie felt his grip on her loosen.

"Barker..." he breathed, and then he let out an "Oof!" as Blueberry slammed into his side. Pinkie fell to the ground again as Mendax dropped her and tumbled to the ground where Blueberry delivered a sharp kick to his side.

"Don't you ever touch my sister!" Blueberry screamed as she kicked him again, "Do you hear me?! You leave us alone!"

"Blueberry!" Pinkie grabbed her sister's shoulder before she could kick him again, "Come on! We need to run! The fire is getting worse!"

"I..." Blueberry blinked, and then started following Pinkie as the two galloped away just as Mendax lunged, grabbing nothing but air as he tried to catch Blueberry. The two fillies raced around the side of the tent-turned-bonfire, and Mendax clumsily gave chase, still off-balance. Flaming pieces of the wooden crates, thrown by the force of the explosion, littered the clearing where they had established their camp, and Mendax couldn't manuever himself around the fires as well as the two agile fillies could. The fires only grew, feasting on the dry grass and stiff leaves. Smoke drifted into the sky, obscuring their view of the stars as the clearing itself began to burn.

Mendax could only watch helplessly as Blueberry and Pinkie got closer and closer to the forest until he finally threw his head back and uttered a cry of rage, a cry that was as savage as a monsterous dragon.

"I'll kill you!" Mendax shouted, the flames raging on behind him as he stood in the middle of the flaming wreckage, "Do you hear me?! I will find you, and I will KILL you! BOTH OF YOU!"

Blueberry and Pinkie disappeared into the trees as Mendax slammed his hoof into the ground furiously. He bellowed out another dragon roar as his fedora fell off his head, drifting to the ground where it landed next to a smaller fire that quickly engulfed the fedora and reduced it to ash. His roar echoed through the trees, and though the two sisters could run from him, they couldn't escape the raw hatred in his shout as they tore through the trees, not stopping until the fire behind them was lost and they were again surrounded by the gray light of dawn as the sun started to rise.

Blueberry and Pinkie slowed down, panting and gasping for breath as they looked around. Pinkie grabbed Blueberry's arm and pointed through a few trees were a road was visible, and the two fillies hurried over to the road.

"...we did it..." Blueberry sighed, her face breaking into a wide smile.

"Yeah..." Pinkie said, chuckling even as she struggled to breath, "I'm so tired..."

"Where are we?" Blueberry glanced both ways down the road, "Which way do we go?"

"There's a sign," Pinkie nodded in the direction of a wooden post, and Blueberry trotted over to it where she turned around to face it, squinting as she read it.

"I don't believe it. Look!" Blueberry started smiling as Pinkie slowly made her way over next to her where she read the sign.

"Ponyville... only three more miles! We're not far!" Pinkie thrust her hoof into the air victoriously.

"Come on," Blueberry grinned, reaching up and playfully ruffling her sister's mane with her hoof, "The sign is pointing this way. If we hurry, we can be in town this afternoon!"

"Let's go," Pinkie laughed as she trotted after Blueberry. Both fillies were filled with energy as they started down the path once more, their destination finally in sight.

Blueberry Pie

"Pinkie, look! Up in the sky!"

"Whoa... I've never seen anything like that before."

The two fillies stopped and stared up in awe at the city floating in the sky. A gigantic cloud served as the base for most of what was built on top, and this supercloud loomed over Blueberry Swirl and Pinkie Pie. Tiny, individual drops of rainwater fell to the ground, either from a building in the clouds or the cloud itself, and even a rainbow was visible from beneath.

"That's Cloudsdale," Blueberry said, not taking her gaze from the astonishing floating city, "It's built entirely on clouds, which means only Pegasus ponies can go there. That's where they make the weather and where winter comes from."

"I heard that Cloudsdale is further north though," Pinkie's gaze was fixed on the rainbows.

"Normally, yes, but since it's on clouds, it can move. It must have come to Ponyville for some reason."

"What do you think rainbows taste like?" Pinkie asked dreamily.

"Candy? I don't know," Blueberry shrugged, "Hey, Pinkie... you know, according to Igneous's story... our mother is up there."

Pinkie stopped breathing as her eyes widened at the truth of her sister's words. The Pegasus that had given birth to them had told her father that she was going to move to Cloudsdale. If she had moved there and continued living there all these years, then surely...?

"You think if we wait here long enough, she'll look down and see us?" Pinkie whispered.

"How about we just keep going?" Blueberry said quietly, pulling Pinkie's arm. Pinkie refused to budge for a moment, and then gave in and continued following Blueberry down the road.

Pinkie knew Blueberry thought she wasn't watching her, but she was carefully watching her sister as they continued down the path, and saw Blueberry glance back at the floating city just once before quickly looking away and hurrying down the path, her knowing sister in tow.

~~~~~~

On the right side of the road was a large, grassy field. On this side, apple trees were visible in the distance at the end of the field, making Pinkie think that they were getting close to Ponyville. On the left side of the road was a leafy forest that wasn't nearly as dark or gloomy as Whispering Wind Woods had been because it didn't have as many trees. At one point, Blueberry saw two bunnies watching them from behind a tree as they trotted past.

Not long after this encounter with the animals, Blueberry noticed Pinkie's ear twitch, and the pink pony glanced around suspiciously.

"What is it?" Blueberry asked.

"Do you hear that?" Pinkie held up a hoof, gesturing for silence, and Blueberry listened. It was quiet, but Blueberry could hear what Pinkie was talking about; it sounded like somepony was singing a melodic tune nearby. Pinkie crept off the road into the forest, the sound of her hooves muffled by the thick grass as she started approaching the source of the sound.

"Come on, Pinkie," Blueberry sighed impatiently, "We should keep going to Ponyville. We don't have time to bother somepony."

"But aren't you a little curious about who it is?" Pinkie cast her an I'm going and you can't stop me smile, "I'm sure that whatever pony is singing would love to know that her singing is so beautiful that we came looking for it."

"I... oh, fine," Blueberry groaned, following an overjoyed Pinkie into the woods as the song grew louder as they got closer, "As long as we don't waste a lot of time."

Pinkie carefully stepped over a low branch as they trekked through the trees, and then proceeded to trip over a fallen log and tumbled through the brush between two trees into a small clearing. The singing abruptly stopped as somepony gasped in surprise, and Pinkie looked up to see that on the other side of a small, clear pond taking up most of the clearing was a yellow filly with a pink mane, a pegasus maybe a year older than she was, that was staring at her, appalled. She was surrounded by seven rabbits, two beavers, six mice, one raccoon (yep; I counted all of 'em) and a whole lot of birds, most of which were scared off by Pinkie's sudden arrival.

"Sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry!" Pinkie quickly apologized as the birds flew into the air, most of them perching on branches in the trees and watching the scene unfold as Blueberry made her way into the clearing behind Pinkie, "I-I didn't mean to scare your birds! It was an accident, I tripped! Blueberry pushed me, so if you get mad, get mad at her! Please don't get mad!"

"What?" Blueberry narrowed her eyes at Pinkie before turning to the scared-looking Pegasus with an apologetic smile, "Sorry about my sister. We, uh, we were just looking for somepony that was singing. Was it you?"

The Pegasus didn't reply, only looked away, not making eye contact with either of them. An awkward silence ensued as Pinkie and Blueberry glanced at each other, both of them urging the other to say something, before Pinkie finally stepped forward.

"We, um, really liked your singing," Pinkie said sincerely, "You have an amazing voice. What's your name?"

The Pegasus finally glanced at Pinkie, and then looked down at her hooves.

"I'm... um..." the Pegasus said something nearly inaudible.

"Sorry, I... uh, what'd you say? Buttersly?" Pinkie guessed.

The Pegasus repeated it, this time a little bit louder but still nearly impossible to hear.

"Flutterby?" Blueberry offered. The Pegasus quickly shook her head from side-to-side, her face bright red.

"I'm... Fluttershy..." the Pegasus finally spoke loud enough for both of them to hear her.

"Nice to meet you, Fluttershy," Pinkie grinned, finally getting her name right, "We were on the road back there when we heard your beautiful singing and wanted to tell you that you're really good!"

"Oh, um... I didn't think anypony... heard me..." Fluttershy whispered, hiding her face behind her pink mane.

Another awkward silence followed.

"So... I see you're a Pegasus!" Blueberry broke the ice, "We passed Cloudsdale not too long ago. Have you ever been there?"

"I used to live there..." Fluttershy's voice trembled when she spoke, and Pinkie was surprised to see her lip quivering. It was definitely time to change the subject.

"We're going to Ponyville," Pinkie quickly said, a bit louder than she was intending. Fluttershy jumped at the sheer volume of her voice, finally meeting her eyes for longer than two seconds, "Do you know where it is? Is it far?"

"Ponyville isn't that far," Fluttershy said quietly, reaching out with a hoof and scratching one of her bunnies behind the ears, "Just keep going down the road, past Sweet Apple Acres, and you'll be there."

"Do you live there?" Blueberry inquired. Fluttershy nodded thoughtfully.

"I'm staying in a cottage on the edge of town right now," she answered, "But I like to come out here and be with my animal friends."

"Alright. Thanks for the help, Fluttershy," Blueberry smiled pleasantly as she turned and started heading back toward the road, "Bye."

"See ya!" Pinkie giggled, following Blueberry back into the forest and tripping over the same fallen log again.

~~~~~~

At long last, after what felt like weeks and weeks of walking (even though it had been less than two days), the two fillies victoriously trotted, with tails moving from side-to-side and snouts proudly held high, into Ponyville. Naturally, the two sisters gained a few looks from ponies who were surprised by how identical they were, aside from their colors, but they hardly noticed. Pinkie was too busy marveling at all the sights and Blueberry was fixated on watching her sister's reaction to the wonderful town.

"Blueberry! Look at this fountain!" Pinkie squealed, running ahead of the blue pony to where the streets intersected. A fountain with a large, shining statue of an important-looking mare on a pedestal in the middle of the water was quick to get the excited pink filly's attention. Golden bits lie under the water at the bottom of the pool, and Pinkie let out an "Oooooh," of wonder as she gazed down at her own reflection in the water.

"Quite a few of those bits are mine," Blueberry smiled, leisurely trotting up behind Pinkie, "Y'know, make a wish and throw in a coin-?"

"Ooh! Blueberry! Look at this store!" Pinkie quickly lost interest in the fountain as she bounced across the street toward a shop, "It sells quills! And sofas! And... and... and I think that's it..."

"The Quills and Sofas shop," Blueberry grinned, "That IS all they sell. See, the owner couldn't decide whether to sell quills or to sell sofas, so-"

"Ooh! Blueberry! Look at this sign!" Pinkie zipped over to a streetlight, where a colorful piece of paper was hanging, " 'Party at Sugarcube Corner 2-day. All baked goods at 1/2 price. Free cupcakes, limit one per pony'."

"Really? There was a party today?" Blueberry surveyed the poster and then looked around, "Huh. That explains why the streets seem a bit emptier than usual..."

"Want to go?" Pinkie licked her lips at the thought of a free cupcake, and she had packed a few bits in her saddlebag that might have been enough to get her and Blueberry a few cookies. Blueberry considered it.

"Well... we could..." Blueberry said thoughtfully, but quickly continued after seeing the excitement on Pinkie's face, "But first we need to think of what we're going to do next! You're in Ponyville now. Where are we going to sleep? What... what do we do now?"

"Uh..." Pinkie stopped. She hadn't honestly considered what she and Blueberry would do once they got to Ponyville, and for the first time she was starting to regret how quickly she had agreed to come with her sister without thinking, "Well, is there, like, maybe a hotel or something...?"

"You could sleep at the adoption center!" Blueberry suddenly bolted upright as the idea entered her head, "At least for a few days! The staff took all the foals on a week-long trip to Fillydelphia, and that's why I decided to go to the Rock Farm. I knew they wouldn't miss me, and they won't notice if you sleep there for a few nights while we decide what to do next."

"Actually, Blueberry, I'm not very sure if-" Pinkie started, but Blueberry was bouncing around excitedly now. She had an idea, and Pinkie knew that it wasn't easy to dissuade her sister when she had an idea, "I mean, what if somepony finds me...?"

"Aw, nopony'll be there!" Blueberry began to wave her hoof in dismissal, then stopped as she realized Pinkie actually might've had a point... not that she wanted to admit it, "But, uh, y'know... if you're worried, I can go ahead and see if anypony is there."

"By yourself?" Pinkie questioned, tilting her head to the side.

"It'll be really quick," Blueberry assured her, "Just in and out. You can go to Sugarcube Corner, and I'll catch up with ya."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course! Come on, it'll be fine," Blueberry smiled, "Go on, get to Sugarcube Corner before they're out of cupcakes. Just go straight down this road, and it's the building on the right."

"Which building?" Pinkie asked, "What does it look like?"

"You'll know it when you see it. It's the bright, colorful one that looks like a cupcake on top of another cupcake on top of a piece of cake."

"Oh! Gotcha!" Pinkie grinned, bouncing down the street in the direction her sister had pointed in, "See you in...?"

"Five minutes! It's not far!" Blueberry called to her as she too started trotting down the street, but toward the Ponyville Home for Foals rather than the bakery.

~~~~~~

Blueberry Swirl cautiously pushed the front door open and poked her head inside the building. Sunlight from the doorway fell into the cold interior of the Ponyville Adoption Center where Blueberry had spent most of her life, and she didn't detect a trace of anypony inside. Still, she had to be sure, so she quietly entered.

"Brrr... it's cold in here..." Blueberry shivered, rubbing her hooves together, "More than usual..."

Her hoofsteps clacked on the tile floor, echoing through the empty rooms as she made her way out of the entrance room into a hallway that led to the bedrooms. She saw all of them were empty so far, but the bedroom that she shared with seven other fillies was at the end of the hall behind a closed door. Had she closed it when she left, or had somepony else...?

Blueberry stopped in front of the door and pushed it open slowly. The door creaked as the filly pressed her hoof against it, and she surveyed the room.

The first thing she saw was the window. There were two windows in every bedroom, and both of the windows in this one were open.

"No wonder it's so cold in here... somepony left the windows open," Blueberry mumbled to herself.

"Yeah. I did."

Blueberry jumped and yelped as the stallion's voice rang out from her right. She twirled toward the source of the voice, only to be greeted with the sight of a light-blue stallion, wearing a dark blue-and-black vest and sitting on the edge of her bed, glaring at her. This stallion was named Frosty Chill; he was the security guard at the Home for Foals and was supposed to be in Fillydelphia with the rest of the adoption center staff.

"Mr. Frosty...!" Blueberry gasped.

"I like the cold, Blueberry," Frosty adjusted his position, "Kinda like how you like making everyone worry."

"I didn't think..."

"Did you honestly believe that nopony would notice you were missing before the trip?" Frosty stood up, and Blueberry's bed creaked as his weight left it, "Did you think that you could sneak away from the group when we were at the train station and get away with it? Well?"

"Yes..." Blueberry hung her head, "Yes. I did."

"You have a reputation around here, Blueberry," Frosty stared down at her sternly, "If it was somepony who doesn't get in trouble like Clear Skies or Glory Shot who had tried to sneak away from the group, I might not have noticed. You however have ran away from the adoption center three times in the last year. When is it going to stop, Blueberry?"

Blueberry didn't reply, and Frosty sighed. She could tell that he wasn't such a bad pony, especially if he had missed out on the trip to Fillydelphia just to wait for her to return to the adoption center, but she really didn't feel like talking to him.

"Look, Blueberry, I know you're confused," Frosty began, "And Ponyville seems much more inviting than the adoption center, but you can't just run away for the rest of your life. Where'd you go, anyway?"

"Just... around," Blueberry answered slowly.

"Where did you sleep? Please tell me it wasn't outside again."

"No, I, uh... found a place," Blueberry shook her head and then looked up at the stallion, "Um, Mr. Frosty? I'm really sorry that you had to miss the trip to Fillydelphia because of me..."

"Eh, it's no big deal," Frosty shrugged, "Fillydelphia is a nice town, but it's no Manehattan, y'know? But I was really worried about you. There's going to be consequences, Blueberry..."

Frosty kept talking, but Blueberry was hardly listening. She was thinking about Pinkie Pie, and was wondering what they were supposed to do now that she couldn't sleep at the adoption center.

"...catch the next train to Fillydelphia," Frosty finished with a wide smile.

"Whoa, wait, what?!" Blueberry's eyes widened, "What did you say?"

"There will be consequences for sneaking away," Frosty repeated, "But those can wait because you and I can still catch the next train to Fillydelphia."

"The next train?!"

"In twenty minutes," Frosty smiled, "I can pay at the station."

"But... but we can't!"

"Hmm? Why not?" Frosty tilted his head to the side.

Blueberry's mind raced. How could she explain Pinkie to him? How was she supposed to say that when she skipped the Fillydelphia trip, she went searching for her long-lost family and returned to Ponyville with her twin sister? Would Frosty understand? Would Frosty Chills lose his cool, pun intended? Would he be furious and, Celestia forbid, march Pinkie down the road back to the Rock Farm?

"Well?" Frosty rose an eyebrow, "Blueberry?"

"Uh, y-you were right!" Blueberry's mouth went dry, like her tongue was made of sand, "Um, Fillydelphia really isn't anything special. Let's just, er, hang out here in Ponyville!"

"Don't be ridiculous," Frosty brushed her off, "We can catch up with the other ponies in Fillydelphia in the morning if we leave right now. Come along, Blueberry. We're going to the train station."

Blueberry opened her mouth to speak again, but then a shrill cry rang out from outside the open window. Frosty's head turned in the direction of the cry, and Blueberry jumped in fright.

"What in the name of Celestia...?" he murmured, "That sounded like a filly."

"Pinkie Pie!" Blueberry cried aloud, instantly recognizing it as her sister, and then she galloped across the room. All thoughts of consequences were forgotten as she shot out of Frosty's grasp, leapt into the air and landed on a bed in front of the open window, and then dove out the window. Her hooves never touched the ground; the earthpony was sprinting through the air, pushing herself to go as fast as she could, riding on the wind and following the sound. Blueberry's eyes narrowed as she surveyed the street, searching for her sister. There was no way she'd ever be able to explain this to Frosty without him finding out about Pinkie, but right now she didn't care.

Her sister was in trouble, and Blueberry had to do something.

~~~~~~

Pinkie Pie looked around Ponyville curiously as she slowly trotted down the street toward Sugarcube Corner. It was all so foreign to her, so much different from the Rock Farm. She had spent her days on the Rock Farm playing with her sisters, nopony else around, but Ponyville was a different story. Everywhere she looked were houses, and though there was almost nopony at all wandering the streets, she knew that there were going to be ponies everywhere in this town. Sugarcube Corner, wherever that was, was probably filled to the brim with all the ponies who lived here.

The ponies that Pinkie would have to get to know if she was going to live in Ponyville. She still shuddered at the thought; the Rock Farm was behind her and this was her life now. It was all so confusing, and though she anticipated what the future held for her and Blueberry, she still looked back on her family.

"They're probably moving all the rocks to the west field right now..." she sighed fondly, remembering the gray, cloudy skies and the low silence that hung over her home. Ponyville was sunny, with a few clouds in the sky and a different color everywhere she looked, whereas every color on the farm seemed to blend together into a gray-brown. The street she was on now had houses to her right and shops to her left, which included a grocery store and a saddle store. Up ahead, down another street and across an intersection, she could hear music playing. Probably Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie mused, where most of the citizens of Ponyville were engaged in a massive party, though there were still a few ponies wandering the streets.

There was a stallion with a silver coat walking down the road ahead of her, and a stallion and mare brushed past Pinkie as they walked in heated conversation.

"...was I supposed to know that the animatronics were alive, Cherry Blossom?!" the stallion, a Pegasus with a green coat and mane, cried incredulously.

"BECAUSE, Star Storm!" the mare, a blue Pegasus with a pink-and-yellow mane, "I've been telling you about them for ages now!"

They continued trotting, hardly appearing to notice the pink filly, as they turned a corner ahead and disappeared. Pinkie was about to cross the street at the same corner, but somepony came out of her blind spot to the right and bumped into her, causing her to stumble to the left.

"Oh!" Pinkie yelped, regaining her balance, "Please excuse me, I wasn't..."

Pinkie's voice trailed off as she looked up at the pony that had bumped into her. A sense of dread began to grow from the deepest pit of her stomach and rose to her pounding heart while her blue eyes widened as they darted around, looking at every part of the stallion. His unicorn horn. His gray coat. That ugly, now-tattered and burned, yet still familiar-looking fedora over his black mane. His bloodshot eyes staring hungrily, menacingly, down at the vulnerable filly, who gulped as her lips moved, her breathing heavy as her knees began to shake.

Mendax!

"You!" Pinkie's jaw fell open.

"Been looking for you," he said, his voice soft and eerily, totally insane. The sound of it sent chills down Pinkie's spine. He giggled a bit, shaking his head, "You caused... quite the mess... didn't you? You and your... sister..."

"Y-you foalnapped us..." Pinkie slowly answered, her voice shaking, "You were g-gonna hurt us-"

Mendax slammed his hoof down on the ground, and Pinkie jumped back in terror. An outburst of laughter erupted from him as he snickered at the terrified filly's reaction, and Pinkie got a clear look at him for the first time. Gone was the in-control, confident stallion they had met in Whispering Wind Woods; the monster that stood before her was trembling with either cold rage or utter madness... he had lost everything when they started the fire, including his very sanity.

"I have nothing left to live for..." Mendax giggled through his crooked teeth, still shaking his head. His unkempt mane moved back and forth with his head, but his glassy blue eyes were locked on Pinkie, "Because of you."

"H-how did y-you find me?" Pinkie whispered, slowly trying to back away.

"Barker!" Mendax shouted, and Pinkie jumped again, "He overheard you two mention that you were going to Ponyville. If you... weren't here... I was going to pay your family a visit..."

"My... what?!"

"While you were unconscious, I... sneaked a peek at your... saddlebag," it seemed like it was difficult for Mendax to properly form the words, "Written in black marker, on the side, was "PINKAMENA... DIANE... PIE. If found, please return to... the PIE Family Rock Farm". It wasn't hard to find out where that was..."

Pinkie gasped. Images of Maud, Marble, Limestone, and her parents, their bodies lying lifeless on the floor inside their burning house as Mendax stood outside laughing maniacally filled her head, and she grit her teeth.

"You stay away from my family, Mendax!" Pinkie growled, "And you stay away from me and Blueberry too! What you did was wrong, and-"

"Oh, Pinkamena," Mendax chuckled, "This isn't about my revenge."

"Then what...?"

"This is for Barker."

Mendax's unicorn horn lit up, and a blast of magic erupted from his horn. Pinkie barely had time to throw herself to the side, avoiding the white-hot spell. She let out a shriek as she galloped away from Mendax, who started giggling again.

"Where ya going?! To get your sister?!" he called after the fleeing filly before launching another burst of magic at her. It missed, and hit a shopwindow, which exploded and threw glass everywhere as it shattered. Pinkie raced back-and-forth through the street, trying to get away while simultaneously managing to avoid his magic, but now Mendax was galloping too, chasing her. The few ponies that weren't at Sugarcube Corner were hurrying out of their shops and racing toward that street, drawn by the sounds of the chaos, but nopony in Sugarcube Corner could hear it over the pounding music.

Pinkie's hooves left the ground as she jumped over a wooden cart, and a moment later, the cart blew up and sent pieces of wood flying through the air. One piece hit Pinkie's back right leg, and she howled in pain when she hit the ground, landing on her injured leg. Pain jolted up her body as she stumbled, trying to get away from Mendax, but her leg buckled under her weight and she fell to the ground. Nopony was close enough to help, and Mendax trotted toward her now, slower than before. He was in no hurry; she wasn't going anywhere.

Mendax's tongue slid out from between his lips, and he licked those same lips now as his horn lit up once more. This time, Pinkie squirmed as she was lifted off the ground by magic, but she knew it was useless. The stallion had her right where he wanted her: at his mercy.

"It ends here, Pinkamena!" Mendax cried triumphantly. Flames danced in his wide eyes, and his lips were pulled back in a demented grin as he got in the filly's face, "After I kill you and that blue brat, I'm going to pay a visit to your family!"

"You can't!" Pinkie shouted, tears falling from her eyes as she began to cry, "You can't! You can't! The-The Royal Guard will stop you! You should just run away now!"

"I've come too far to stop now!" Mendax hollered, spit flying from his mouth onto Pinkie's face as he prepared the spell that would end her life, "Burn in Tartarus, you little-!"

"No!"

Pinkie fell to the ground as Mendax was knocked to the side. His concentration broken, the magic aura holding Pinkie up vanished, and now she held her hoof over her hurt leg as she stared, awestruck, as Blueberry Swirl threw punches at every inch of Mendax that she could reach in a scene that eerily replicated what Blueberry had done back in the forest after the tent caught fire and Pinkie was at Mendax's mercy.

"You're not touching my sister!" Blueberry screamed as she and Mendax tumbled to the ground. He rolled onto his back, but Blueberry recovered first. Before Mendax could climb to his hooves, Blueberry was slamming her hooves into his face while shouting, "Not now! Not ever again! You-"

There was a burst of blue light. Blueberry was thrown off Mendax, and flew through the air in a wide arc, landing on her back in the dirt. To Pinkie Pie, it seemed like the world had slowed down as she watched Blueberry hit the ground with an earthshaking crash.

She limply bounced once, twice, and then came to a stop lying on her side. Mendax climbed to his hooves, his unicorn horn still smoking from the final spell, and Pinkie turned her gaze to him. He turned his head to look at her, and then he cast her one final grin before a group of stallions in golden armor seemed to appear out of nowhere to surround him.

"Stop! By order of the Royal Guard! You're under arrest!" one of the guards demanded as they grabbed his hooves, putting him in shackles and wrapping an anti-magic tape over his horn as they carried him away. Pinkie couldn't see Mendax anymore past all the Guards, nor would she ever see him again, but she knew that for the rest of her life, she would be haunted by the memory of that final wicked, evil smile.

"B-Blueberry!" Pinkie coughed, ignoring the pain in her leg as she galloped to her sister's side. Blueberry blinked her eyes a few times and moved her lips weakly as Pinkie reached her and sat on the ground next to her, gently lifting her head and upper body in her hooves and cradling her lovingly, a single glistening tear falling from her eye.

"P-Pinkie Pie..." Blueberry managed a smile, but even this effort was almost too much for the poor filly. Her eyes were shining with tears now as well, and Pinkie's heart sank.

"You're gonna be okay, Blueberry. You're gonna be okay!" Pinkie repeated. Not counting the Guards that were surveying the area and hauling Mendax to a prison cell somewhere, there were less than ten dumbfounded ponies around, keeping a respectful distance as Pinkie and Blueberry said their final goodbyes.

"Pinkie, i-it's fine..." Blueberry said soothingly, a tear of her own leaving her eye and sliding down her cheek, "I-I... I'm your... big sister. Fighting that psycho... was what I was supposed to do... right? And it... it doesn't even hurt anymore..."

"It... it's not..." Pinkie's lip quivered, and she squeezed her eyes shut to stop the tears, "It's not fair... i-it's just not... we just met each other..."

"Pinkie Pie..." Blueberry's voice was quiet now. So fragile, so comforting... "The last few days... they've been the best of my life. I-I'm so happy... that I met you... besides... I didn't want to go back... to the adoption center anyway..."

Pinkie sobbed as she stared down at her dying sister through eyes blurry with tears.

"There... I have to tell you something else..." Blueberry's eyes were half-closed now, "There's something... something else. I found m-my file... about my parents..."

"That's h-how you found m-me."

"Yeah, and... and I found out something else..." Blueberry took a deep breath, and her breathing was more ragged now. Another tear fell from her other eye, "The... the Pegasus... our m-mother... we weren't her only foals... she had..." Blueberry gulped, "She had one more... a Pegasus, just like her."

"We... we have another sister?" Pinkie's voice shook. Blueberry nodded.

"Maybe someday you'll find her... tell her that... that I said hello..." Blueberry smiled, and the color in her eyes seemed to fade. Her breathing was slower now, mixing with her own sobs as Pinkie cried, still hugging her, "Pinkie... don't be sad..."

"You're dying, Blueberry... I-I can't... I don't want to be alone," Pinkie whimpered, "I need you!"

"You're a wonderful sister, Pinkie-" Blueberry shivered, "Pinkamena. Make sure your family on the Rock Farm knows that... and I want you to promise me something... one last thing."

"Anything," Pinkie kept one hoof under Blueberry's head, and moved her other one to hold Blueberry's, which she squeezed as more tears fell.

"Never stop smiling," Blueberry said her final words with a weak, sad little smile on her face, "You... you have such a beautiful smile..."

And then she was still.

All Pinkie could hear was silence, the sound of her own blood pulsing in her ears, as she shook Blueberry's body, tears falling from her eyes and landing on her sister, getting her blue fur wet as the ponies who had previously been watching now drew closer, all seeking to comfort the filly. By some symbolic moment of fate, or a cruel cosmic joke about the solemnity of the moment, dark clouds blotted out the sun overhead and it began to rain, as though the world itself was mourning Blueberry Swirl, the filly who had done so much for Pinkamena Diane Pie.

Pinkie felt a hoof on her shoulder, and heard a Royal Guard's voice behind her.

"Shh... it's okay..." he comforted her.

"N-no it's not!" Pinkie exclaimed, another sob escaping her, "T-This is my sister!"

"Do you have anypony here who can take care of you?" the guard asked.

"N-no..." Pinkie answered quietly, "I-I... I'm alone..."

"I can take her!" a mare's voice rang out. A blue mare with a red mane made her way toward Pinkie, and she stopped next to Blueberry where she knelt down next to the lifeless foal.

"Do you know this filly?" the guard inquired.

"No," the mare admitted before tearing her gaze away from Blueberry and looking up at him, "But my husband and I knew her sister. We'd be happy to let her stay with us until this whole mess is straightened out... if that's okay with you, of course."

The guard considered it, and then he nodded. The mare put her own hoof on Pinkie's shoulder as the guard moved away from them, telling the other stallions to bring the body with them. Pinkie didn't hear where they said they were taking Blueberry.

"Come with me," the mare bit her lip, "Oh, you poor thing..."

Pinkie sat motionless for a few empty seconds, and then she got to her hooves and looked up at the mare, who gestured for her to follow her, and then she began leading Pinkie in the direction of Sugarcube Corner.

"Who are you?" Pinkie asked quietly.

"My name is Cup Cake," the mare answered with a reassuring smile, "My husband Carrot Cake and I own Sugarcube Corner. I was out getting supplies when that awful stallion attacked you and Blueberry."

"You knew Blueberry," Pinkie remembered, "She said you let her help you bake cookies."

Mrs. Cake nodded, "Blueberry was a special filly... what about you? What's your name?"

"I'm Pinkame-" she stopped, "Um... I'm Pinkie Pie."

"Don't worry, Pinkie Pie," Mrs. Cake said as they reached Sugarcube Corner, thunder crackling overhead as the rain worsened, "Everything is going to be alright now."

Pinkie looked back, getting one final glimpse of the rain falling before the mare led her inside, into the warm, dry bakery.

~~~~~~

Maud Pie opened the front door to the house, and stepped inside. In her hooves, she held the mail: a few letters and papers atop a large, rectangular brown box. The letters were addressed to her parents (with the exception of one addressed to "Occupant" and one that was an ad for tail extensions), but the box was addressed to her from Pinkamena.

Maud tossed the letters on the kitchen table for her father to find, and hurried upstairs with her parcel. She trotted down the hall, and went into her bedroom. It seemed so empty now that Pinkamena was gone, even though her bed was still there (and still unmade. Typical Pinkamena, leaving her bed like this, Maud thought with a grin). Maud set the box on her bed, and then pulled it open. Sitting on top of whatever was inside was a piece of parchment. Maud took the parchment out, and she recognized her little sister's quick handwriting. A letter from Ponyville, Maud realized before she began to read.

Dear Maud,

By now, you've probably heard that Blueberry is dead.

Maud had heard; the whole family had. They were mortified when they got the news, and were relieved to learn that Pinkamena was safe at a bakery called Sugarcube Corner. She continued reading.

I'm still shaken by her loss, but even though my time with her was short, she still left a deep impact on me.

But not as deep as the impact that you have made.

I love you, Maud. You're an excellent sister. You cared about me when I was lost, and didn't know what to do. You helped me, and I'll never forget that.

Before she died, Blueberry revealed to me that our birthmother, the Pegasus, actually had three foals. I'm going to start looking for my other sister, but I won't forget about you, or my family on the Rock Farm. You'll always have a special place in my heart.

And I'll never forget you.

Love,

Pinkamena Diane Pie

Maud covered her mouth with her hoof, wondering what her youngest sister felt like at that moment, and then she realized there was more writing at the bottom of the page.

P.S., Btw, I'm thinking about coming for a visit at the end of the week. You can tell me what you think of my present (in this great little box!) then.

P.P.S., Quick, can you send over your recipe for stone scones? I added too much salt to the last batch of cupcakes, so we had to throw those out and now we're behind. Stone scones are easier and quicker to make than cupcakes are, and they taste amazing, so

Maud stopped reading and chuckled. She placed the letter on her bed next to the box, and peered inside.

Inside the box was a rock candy necklace, similar to the one that Maud had given Pinkamena, but she immediately knew that it wasn't the same one; Pinkamena had made this one herself.

Maud, taking the necklace in her hooves, trotted across the room to where an empty pink box sat against the wall. She had kept the necklace she made for Pinkamena in this box, but now she would put her sister's gift inside. Maud gently placed it in the small box, and then closed the lid.

Maud turned, and started looking around her bedroom for a parchment and quill so that she could write down her recipe for stone scones.

~~~~~~

Pinkie Pie paced around her bedroom in Sugarcube Corner.

The Cakes had been kind to her; Mr. Cake had led her upstairs to a room on the top floor of the bakery. It had a bed, a table, and a few boxes piled around. Probably used for storage of some kind if they ran out of room in the cellar.

"Blueberry used to stay here," Mr. Cake remembered as he helped Pinkie carry both her and Blueberry's saddlebags to the room, "When things got tough at that Home for Foal's and she needed somewhere to be. You're welcome to stay here as long as you need."

"Thank you," Pinkie tonelessly, but sincerely, thanked him. Mr. Cake set down the saddlebags, and then narrowed his eyes at the filly.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked, "If you need somepony to talk to..."

"No, no, it's... it's fine," Pinkie whispered, "I just need to be alone right now."

Mr. Cake slowly turned and started trotting out of the room, but paused when he was halfway through the door, "Y'know, we're baking a cake downstairs, if you'd like to help...?"

Mr. Cake left, and Pinkie found herself alone in the room. She took a moment to examine the room, and then turned her gaze on Blueberry's saddlebag. Pinkie cautiously made her way over to where Mr. Cake had set it down, and then she opened it. Inside, she saw a few basic necessities like deflated balloons, as well as a few scraps of paper in a folder. Pinkie grabbed the folder, which appeared to be the most valuable thing inside, and pulled it out before opening it.

Inside, the folder contained what appeared to be Blueberry's records. A quick scan of the papers indictated that, yes, she and Blueberry had a third sister. The records also mentioned the Rock Farm, even giving an address, which probably sparked Blueberry's quest to find her, but Pinkie was more focused on the part about a third filly, a Pegasus, in Cloudsdale.

"I'll find her someday, Blueberry," Pinkie vowed aloud, closing the folder and dropping it on the floor next to the saddlebag, "I promise... just like I promised myself that your last words to me... I promise that I will never forget them."

Pinkie turned, and began trotting out of the room. After all, the Cakes DID need help baking that cake...

~~~~~~

A week later, Pinkie's life in Ponyville began to take shape. She had read and memorized every paper in Blueberry's records, and was doing her best to always smile. Pinkie never forgot how Blueberry had always seemed to want to make other ponies happy, so she threw parties almost every day. Her parties brought ponies to Sugarcube Corner, and the Cakes were pleased at the sudden increase in business. She had also started helping them bake, and was soon making her own cupcakes without help from a recipe or one of the Cakes. In a way, it was the beginning of her first job. The Cakes even paid her a few bits every week, which she used to buy party supplies from a few ponies around town.

And she kept her promise to Blueberry. She never stopped smiling.

Well...

Almost never.

~~~~~~

Pinkie Pie's blue eyes followed a single raindrop as it made its way to the bottom of her window. When it hit the bottom, she only stared at it for a while before she turned, and began trotting out of her bedroom, the room the Cakes had given her so many years ago, and then she was trotting downstairs and out of Sugarcube Corner.

The streets were empty, no doubt because of ponies looking to avoid the rain. A chill went down Pinkie's back with every cold drop of water that hit her, soaking her coat and mane. Pinkie inhaled deeply, and exhaled through her mouth. The air felt so fresh when it rained, and each breath felt like it was cleansing her from the inside.

Finally, Pinkie reached a fountain, a fountain that she remembered visiting with her sister so long ago, if only for a brief moment. A small plaque on the side read "IN MEMORY OF BLUEBERRY SWIRL". Pinkie reached out her hoof, and caressed the plaque gently. It still seemed as polished and new as the day it was put on, which seemed like a miracle to Pinkie. She turned her gaze to the water, which still reflected the lights of hundreds of golden bits through the clear blue water. Each drop of rain sent circular ripples through the water, yet the water was calm.

"I miss you Blueberry," Pinkie whispered, "I miss you a lot."

The pink pony sat alone in the rain and thought.

Author's Note

"A Knock at the Door" was always kind of turbulent for me, but I always knew how I wanted it to end... y'know, until I changed my mind a few times. I always knew which direction I wanted the story to go, but getting it there was difficult. Mainly, I just wanted to answer questions about Pinkie Pie.

WHY did she decide to leave the Rock Farm?

HOW did she get her nickname?

WHY is there a filly in "Cutie Mark Chronicles" that looks like a blue Pinkie Pie?

The idea of Pinkie having a sister made for a great story, but I wondered where she would be when the show takes place.

Fluttershy's appearance in this story was more of a reference to another story of mine: "Bitter Regrets/Now I Know How to Fly", where I looked at Fluttershy's past, specifically HOW that chant at Flight Camp got started and WHY she left Cloudsdale to live by herself in Ponyville, never mentioning her parents. That was the story that got me thinking about the Mane 6's past, and it got me to examine Pinkie's a little more closely.

All-in-all, I hope you enjoyed reading this story, because I loved writing it. :)