Author's Note
I have changed and edited this a lot! It's gonna be a couple chapters now, with a few added scenes.
Part One
"Omigoshomigoshomigosh!" Pinkie Pie bounced up and down around her kitchen as she clutched something close to her. She ignored the frosting and crumbs smeared on it, even as the mess transferred to her shirt.
Pinkie stopped spinning and held what appeared to be a large envelope in front of her. The golden stripe of gold at the top had alerted her to the special paper in the trash, and she had plucked it out without even thinking about it. When she opened it, though, she was surprised as to why it had been thrown away.
"We invite you to attend our campus opening..." The fancy script was hand written, obviously a personal invitation. And it was to her sister's dream college, no less! At first Pinkie frowned, confused as to why her sister had thrown it out. Had it been an accident?
But Maud wouldn't accidentally throw out something that special. Which had led to Pinkie wondering if that meant Maud didn't want to go.
But it had been Maud's dream for years. The college was known for its great archaeology and science programs, so it was little wonder why Maud wanted to go. So, naturally, Pinkie didn't understand why Maud had thrown it away. Even Maud, her showing-emotion-challenged sister, would have shown some kind of excitement at the offer. But instead the papers had been thrown away, and she hadn't said a word about it.
Pinkie rolled her eyes with a smile. Maybe her sister was embarrassed? Maybe she didn't want to make a big deal out of it?
This is enough to qualify for a party! Pinkie grinned to herself. A "Maud's so smart we need to celebrate" party! Maybe then she'll want to go!
"Pinkie." Her sister's calm voice down the hall made her jump, and Pinkie quickly shoved the papers up her shirt. She turned to her sister with a grin as the papers poked at her sides.
"Ooooh, heya Maud! What's up? Anything new going on?" She wiggled her eyebrows for effect. There was also the possibility Maud was waiting to tell her... Like a surprise!
Maud's eyes flickered to her sister's shirt, and then to her grin. As always she looked like she wanted to say something, but instead shook her head. She had developed a kind of intuition when it came to Pinkie on when asking a question would bring up more questions, not answer them.
"About to go to work. Stay out of trouble."
"Ay-ay, cap'n!" Pinkie giggled as Maud turned to leave. Once the older girl was gone, Pinkie turned her attention back to the papers in her shirt. Instead of taking them out (as a non-Pinkie person would do) she pulled open her collar and stared down at the papers.
She won't suspect a thing.
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The next day Pinkie told her friends the great news. They had all gathered inside Sugar Cube Corner. She grinned and gestured wildly as she told it, but her friends didn't look nearly as thrilled. Fluttershy looked about to cry, and Sunset looked scared. Her other friends' emotions were all over the place, and she felt a stab of fear herself at the thought of upsetting them.
"Wait, Pinkie," Rarity cut in, "If she started in the fall... You'd have to miss your senior year at Canterlot..."
"You'd have to move?!" Rainbow slammed down her smoothie, her eyes wide. "Pinks, have you really thought this through?"
Pinkie hesitated for a split second, but smiled at her friends. She had expected-hoped-for similar reactions. Ones telling her not to go. It felt good, to know her friends wanted her to stay, and she certainly didn't want to move, but she had already made up her mind.
"I know. I'm not just doing this all willy-nilly you know!" Some of her friends rolled their eyes, but she moved on. "I know I'd have to miss next year, and that'll be tough, but Maud would get to go to her dream school!"
"Can't she go next year?" Sunset's voice was uncertain, "I mean, you can finish here, and then you guys could move. If you have to move at all."
Pinkie gave her friend a smaller smile than her usual one. "The invitation was for this year, scholarship and all. I don't want her to have to take the risk of losing that." She turned to the others, "And besides! It would be fun to keep in touch, like pen pals! I can throw Skype parties!"
"Now wait just a minute," Applejack cut in, "Ya don't know fer sure that you're leaving yet. Maybe Maud doesn't want to go any more?"
"That's just silly! We just talked about it the other day! She wouldn't just change her mind like that." Pinkie crossed her arms, and her friends shared conflicted looks.
"But we'd miss you." Fluttershy whispered, and Pinkie's heart stuttered at the sight of her friend's watery eyes.
"Pinkie..." Sunset said slowly, "Have you considered Maud wants you to finish here?"
"Well, that's been the plan." Pinkie admitted. She watched as Rainbow wrapped an arm around Fluttershy, and her mind began to wander. Ever since she had moved in with Maud, Maud had promised that they would stay in one place so she could grow up in peace. "But that was before!"
"But what if she still wants to wait, for your sake? You can't just make her go to school!" Rainbow laughed at her own joke, but the others ignored her.
Something about that stuck with Pinkie, though. For your sake. Maud had already done so much for her sake. If that was true, then Pinkie wanted Maud to go even more than before.
It was bad enough that Maud had to save her from their parents. It wasn't like Pinkie could just expect her to drop everything for her, of course, but she didn't want Maud to think she could never do anything for herself. It had been the two of them for so long, but between being the younger sister and the more out going one, everything seemed to be about Pinkie.
As Pinkie considered this, a feeling of guilt rose in her stomach. She knew she hadn't done anything dramatic like ruin Maud's life, but there were plenty of times when she wondered if maybe Maud would have been better off had she never offered her help.
"Do you understand, Pinkie?" Pinkie snapped out of her thoughts and looked up as Rarity finished. She hadn't heard a word her friend had said, and sighed.
"I'll... Think about it." She grinned her biggest grin, though it almost pained her to do so, "But, let's just say we do have a party-!"
Her friends groaned.
