Pinkie's Day in Ponyville!
Hello, everypony! My name is Pinkie Pie. How are you? I’m great! How was my day, you ask? Weeeeellll… it was superfantasteriffic! Let me tell you alllll about it!
The very first thing I did was leap out of bed to start the day. I could just tell it was going to be a wonderful day! Before I headed downstairs, I said good morning to Gummy. “Good morning, Gummy!” I said, and then ran downstairs. No wait! I fed him and THEN ran downstairs. That wouldn’t be very nice if I let him starve, now would it?
Of course, Mr. and Mrs. Cake were already up and getting all the bakery thingamajigs set up and ready to open the store. I’ve got breakfast duty this morning, so it’s up to me to get everything baked up for the hungry customers coming in soon! “Good morning Mr. Cake!” I sang. “Oh my gosh, you forgot to put pants on today!”
“But Pinkie, I never wear pants,” said Mr. Cake, looking down at himself.
“Teehee! Made you look!” The next few hours were filled with the mesmerizing scent of sugary wonderfulness as I set to work baking and selling delicious treats to happy ponies. All my friends think I must chug coffee every morning to be this bouncy, but it’s just my normal Pinkie self! Besides, nopony wants to come in here and have to deal with grouchy ponies at six in the morning.
Before I knew it, my shift for the day was over. Because breakfast is the busiest time of day, the Cakes usually let me have the rest of the day off. Bidding farewell to Mr. and Mrs. Cake (and the babies!), I set off to enjoy the rest of the glorious daytime. And what better way to enjoy myself than by spending time with my super awesome friends? No better way, that’s what! So my first stop was Rainbow Dash’s place. Or more accurately, her favorite napping cloud she’s always on in the late morning. Being the ground-bound earth pony that I am, I can’t exactly fly or tele… telemagically poof myself up there, so I’d have to get her down here. Luckily, I have my special ways of getting her attention…
“Rainbow DAAAAAASH! DASHIEEEE!”
There was some shuffling, and then Dashie rolled over and hung her head over the edge of the cloud. “Ugh, hey Pinkie,” she said all grumpily, but I could tell she was smiling on the inside. “Need something?”
“What’s up?” I asked, giving her my biggest, bestest grin. I usually save this grin just for Dashie. Well, Dashie and sometimes chocolate pudding.
“…Sleeping.”
“Ohhh, I get it! Because you’re UP there, and you’re sleeping! So sleeping is UP!” I giggled. “You’re such a jokester, Dashie! You should do standup!”
“Right. Well, if you don’t mind-“
“Wanna go to the park?”
Dashie seemed taken aback, which is weird because it was a pretty simple question. Even a sillyhead could answer it, and she’s pretty silly sometimes. She spent a few seconds thinking about it, mumbled something about “being awake already,” and then turned back to me and said, “Sure, why not?”
“Yay!” I chirped and bounced up and down. Bouncing is fun! This one time, I walked all the way from the library to Fluttershy’s place, but instead of walking, I just bounced the whole way there and the whole way back. Ponies asked me if I was okay or getting tired, but they just don’t understand it like I do. And then for some reason they kept asking me if I was “on something.” I was obviously on the ground, duh. Except for when I was in the air. Wait, where was I?
Oh, right. So I bounced with Dashie (well, she flew, but you get it) all the way to the park and had a fun-tastic picnic for just the two of us. When I set it up, she asked where I got the food and stuff all of a sudden. Psh, like I’m not always prepared for anything! I looked around at all the other happy ponies having fun under the sun and said to Rainbow Dash, “I’m having a super fun time Dashie! Was it you who made it so wonderfully sunny today?”
She chuckled. “Wish I could say it was me, Pinks, but I had the day off and left Cloud Kicker in charge. It’s nice to have a pony I can trust to do her job… right…” she trailed off and thought for a minute. “Pinkie, what day is it today?”
“It’s Tuesday, silly!” I reminded her. “Why?”
“Oh HAYSEED!” she screamed suddenly. It startled the jeepers out of me! “We were supposed to have a rainstorm this morning! Stupid Cloud Kicker,” she mumbled, kicking over the basket. “I’m really sorry Pinkie, but I’d better go make sure the boss isn’t mad… and maybe give Cloud Kicker a piece of my mind while I’m at it.”
“Oh that’s okay, Dashie,” I smiled. “It’s not your fault. But does that mean it’s gonna start raining? I was hoping to spend a little more time frolicking and bouncing today, and that’s not as fun in the rain.”
Dashie was already starting to take off. She turned back and said, “Well, at this point it’ll probably have to be rescheduled for tomorrow.”
“Oh. Well alrighty then, you better go see what’s up. Don’t want you getting into any trouble!”
“Right. See ya later Pinkie!” she waved. I heard her mumble, “Honestly, who does she think she is, getting me in trouble… that’s MY job…” as she took off in a brilliant streak of rainbow.
“Bye Dashie! Try not to get fired!” I called. “Hm, it’s still barely noon. I’ll have to find somepony else to spend the rest of the day with. But who?” So I thought, well, the Carousel Boutique is only just down the road from here. Let’s go visit Rarity! And with that, I was off. Of course, I bounced all the way there to take advantage of the sunny day that wasn’t really supposed to be sunny but it is so why not have fun while it’s still sunny and not raining because rain isn’t as much fun but sometimes it can be fun like sometimes dancing in the rain can be fun and singing and some other things like that and like
“Oh hey, I’m here already.” The sign on the door read “open,” so I gently barged in to see Rarity on the main floor digging through some drawers.
Without turning around, she sang, “Welcome to the Carousel Boutique, where everything is-“
“Chic, unique, and magnifique!” I chirped in unison with her.
Immediately she turned around and smiled. “Pinkie Pie! How lovely to see you. Is there something you need?”
“Not really,” I smiled back. “Just thought I’d drop in and say hi!”
“Well that’s very thoughtful of you, dear. I wish I had time to chat, but unfortunately I have a large order to fill for some important ponies in Canterlot.” I think she went on describing who they were for and why they were important and the kinds of tea they like, but I don’t really remember any of it. “So I really must get cracking, as it were,” she finished.
“Well alrighty then. But I don’t see why you would crack when you could be designing clothes!” I giggled.
“Hi Pinkie Pie!” interrupted an adorable little cracking voice before Rarity could respond. I turned and saw Sweetie Belle just coming down the stairs.
“Heya Sweetie Belle! Any luck on the crusading front lately?” I winked.
She frowned and hung her head slightly. “Not really. Yesterday we tried to be Cutie Mark Crusader Sword Swallowers. Apple Bloom and I visited Scootaloo in the hospital this morning.”
“Yikes,” I winced. “But hey, you live and learn, right?”
“Don’t encourage her, Pinkie,” hissed Rarity.
“But encouragement is a good thing, silly!” I reminded her.
“Not when you’re encouraging my little sister to shove sharp metal objects down her throat!”
“Oh stop worrying, Rarity,” said Sweetie. “I thought it was a bad idea anyway. Scootaloo is the one who comes up with all this dangerous stuff.”
“That mischievous little filly,” Rarity chastised. “She sure takes after her idol, no doubt.”
“Her mane isn’t THAT colorful,” I pointed out.
“She means her behavior, Pinkie,” said Sweetie.
“She’s all sweet and innocent one day, and ramping that scooter off of really tall things the next,” groaned the older unicorn.
“Don’t worry, Rarity. I’m sure she’ll grow out of it,” I assured her. “She’s just got that young fillies’ taste for adventure in her heart! And her mouth.”
Rarity sighed. “I hope you’re right, Pinkie. Celestia knows we don’t need two Rainbow Dashes dashing about.”
I thought about it for a second. “That actually sounds kinda fun! Imagine the amazing pranks the three of us could pull. Or if there was another Pinkie too, then the four of us would make the awesomest pranking team EVER!”
Rarity sported a look of horror while her younger sister had a grin plastered on her face. “When you put it that way, it actually does sound fun!” Sweetie exclaimed.
“Oh goodness, I may have nightmares for the next week,” groaned Rarity, but then she smiled softly. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I really must get back to work. Do you mind showing yourself out so I can have a bit of peace and quiet?”
“Okie dokie lokie! See ya later Rarity! Bye Sweetie Belle!” I said as I closed the front door behind me. “Well, that was fun while it lasted, anyway. I’ve still got the whole afternoon to kill.” What a strange phrase, killing time. Time has always been pretty nice to me, so why should I kill it? Maybe I should buy it some flowers or bake it a cake instead.
“I’ve still got the whole afternoon to bake a cake for!” I exclaimed, trotting in no particular direction. But then I decided I would bounce on over to Fluttershy’s cottage. I hadn’t seen her for a while, so we needed to catch up! What if she got married since I last saw her, and I’m the last one to find out? Well, I guess that couldn’t really happen in a week. And she would probably tell me. But still!
When I knocked on the door, I wasn’t greeted by the adorable ball of yellow and pink herself, but her almost as adorable bunny Angel. “Hi, Angel!” I chirped. “Is Fluttershy here?”
Angel shook his head and pointed at his watch just after where the minute hand was, and then gestured inside the house.
“She’ll be back soon?” I guessed. He nodded sharply. “How soon?” Angel pointed out the door and behind me, where Fluttershy was trotting briskly toward us. “Well that was pretty soon,” I admitted.
When she got closer, she greeted us with a smile. “Hey Pinkie Pie. Have you been waiting for me? I’m sorry.”
“Of course I have! I’ve been standing here for twenty whole seconds!” I joked. Fluttershy retreated into her mane and whimpered. “Heehee! I’m just messing with you, silly. I’m not really mad,” I told her and gave her a warm hug.
She returned the embrace and said, “Oh, I was worried for a second. But hey, what are you doing here anyway? If you don’t mind me asking, I mean, if there’s something I can do for you…”
“Oh, right! It’s just that I still have most of the afternoon to bake a cake for-“
“Um, what?”
“-and I was wondering if you’d hang out with me,” I grinned.
Fluttershy scratched the back of her neck. “Well gee Pinkie, that sounds nice, but the little Cutie Mark Crusaders will be here soon,” she explained. “I’m watching them for the afternoon.”
“Awwwww,” I whined and hung my head. But wait! Idea time! “Hey, what if I hang out HERE and help you watch them? Huh huh huh huh huh?”
“Wellllll… I don’t see why not,” she smiled. “It’ll be fun.”
Half an hour later, everything was all spick-and-span for the fillies’ arrival. Then came the knock on the door, which my fluttery feathered friend answered. I heard them exchange happy greetings as the voices came a little closer. A little closer… just a few more steps… and…
“Hey Fluttershy, why is the kitchen so dark?”
“SurPRIIIIIIISE!” Boom goes the party cannon! On come the lights! Fluttershy may or may not have yelped and hidden in fright, because I may or may not have told her what I was planning. Whoopsie! The three fillies, however, showed a mix of shock and glee.
“This is gonna be even more awesome than I thought!” said Scootaloo.
“Looks like fun!” said Sweetie Belle.
“How did that all even fit into the cannon?” said Apple Bloom.
“You girls ready to have some fun?” said Pinkie. Oh wait, that’s me!
“As long as it doesn’t involve breaking things,” chimed in Fluttershy as she returned to the kitchen (or should I say, party central!).
“We would never do anything to make YOU upset, Fluttershy,” said Sweetie Belle, well, sweetly. The others nodded in agreement.
But one thing confused me. “Scootaloo, aren’t you supposed to be in the hospital or something?”
She shook her head and smiled. “Got out this morning. It wasn’t that bad, just a cut. Nothing I can’t handle!”
“Say, why are you throwing a party anyway?” asked Apple Bloom. “What’s the occasion?”
“The occasion is that parties are fun, duh!” I enlightened her. “Now who wants some cake?” Three little hooves wildly waved in the air.
Suddenly, Fluttershy spoke up. “Pinkie, may I speak with you for a second in the living room?” she asked.
“Sure!” I chirped, and in we went.
Fluttershy looked nervous and worried about something. She paced around the room a little bit before turning back to me. “Listen, it’s just that… I appreciate what you’re doing and all, but…”
“Oh no!” I cried, fearing the worst. “Did I do something wrong? Did I break something by accident, or scare some furry little animals? It’s okay! Please don’t cry! I can just leave if you want me t-“
“No, no, it’s nothing like that,” she interrupted. “It’s just that… I’ll need you to watch them extra close if you’re going to feed them all that sugar.”
“Oh, is that all? I was starting to think you hated me!”
“Oh goodness, why would I h-“
“But don’t you worry your silly head about anything! I’ll make extra special super sure they don’t start bouncing off the walls and things. Besides,” I proudly put a hoof on my chest, “I eat sugary stuff allllll the time, and I never get crazy.”
“Well actually…“ she began, and then trailed off. I guess she forgot what she was gonna say. Then she smiled a little and said, “Okay Pinkie, I trust you. But if I’m not in the room, please feel free to come find me if you need help calming them down, okay?”
I saluted and said, “Will do, ma’am!”
Now I have to admit, the scene when we got back in the kitchen was pretty shocking. The entire cake was already gone, and the hungry hungry ponies responsible had moved on to the punch, which they repeatedly splashed at each other’s faces. I turned to Fluttershy’s worried expression and met it with a guilty grin.
“Girls,” she said simply and softly.
The three misbehaving fillies immediately snapped their attention to their hostess. “Yes, Miss Fluttershy?” they said in unison.
“Could you please try to have fun without making such a mess?” she asked, gently but firmly.
The girls looked around and seemed to notice their chaotic surroundings for the first time. Then they looked at each other, and finally back at Fluttershy, who was eyeing them disapprovingly. “We’re sorry,” they said, lowering their heads.
I gasped in awe. “How did you do that?’
Fluttershy winked at me and said to the fillies, “Now why don’t you clean up this mess, and then we can have some more fun.” They immediately set to work.
“I wish I had that sort of control over Pound and Pumpkin,” I giggled. “They can sure be a handful sometimes.”
Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo finished up cleaning their mess in no time. Well, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle did while Scootaloo was trying to drain punch out of her ear. When they were done, they hastily lined up in front of Fluttershy and saluted. “All done, Fluttershy!” reported Apple Bloom.
“Hey, I didn’t know you were recruiting an army!” I said. “Can I enlist?”
Fluttershy giggled. “I didn’t know I was either.”
“Well it sure looks like it. Er, I mean, sir yes sir!”
For the next few hours, I kept a sharp eye on the girls while Fluttershy was in and out caring for her many pets. And by “kept a sharp eye on,” I mean there were only a few household items broken and substances spilled on carpeted floors. But that’s okay! We got them all super-sparkly clean so that Fluttershy wouldn’t be upset.
“Okay girls,” called Fluttershy as she walked in on the four of us building the awesomest card house ever. “It’s five o’clock… time to go home for dinner. I can hear your sisters calling!”
“I can’t,” moped Scootaloo and stared at the floor.
“Awwww, but we were just getting started!” I whined.
Sweetie Belle put her hoof on my shoulder and said, “It’s okay Pinkie Pie. We can hang out some more another time. I had fun!”
“Me too!” cried Apple Bloom.
“Me three!” chimed Scootaloo.
I looked back and forth between them and smiled. Something about their adorable filly faces just fills my heart with glee. Tapping me on the shoulder, Fluttershy offered a grin of her own. “Um, thanks for sticking around, Pinkie Pie,” she told me with sincerity in her eyes. “You were a big help.”
I reached out and pulled her into a hug, much to the squeaky pegasus… pegasususes’s?... er, much to her surprise. “It was my pleasure, Fluttershy! That’s why they call me Pinkie Responsibility Pie!”
“Who calls you that?”
“Well no one, really. They usually just call me Pinkie, or Pinks, or P-dawg, or ‘be quiet, Pinkie! I can’t hear my own thoughts!’”
Fluttershy would have responded, but she was busy wincing as I got tackled by a certain group of playful fillies who might have still had a liiiiittle bit of sugar in them. One of them (I’m not really sure which) said, “Thanks for hanging out with us!” and they all giggled.
When my mouth was no longer being sat on, I replied, “Awww! You girls are too sweet! I had fun too. But don’t forget to thank your gracious host!” I added and gestured toward Fluttershy.
“Oh, oh no, I don’t nee- EEP!” she squeaked out as she too was bombarded by a mess of little hooves and muzzles. Pretty soon we were all in a giggling heap on the floor. You know, it’s funny how even the simplest and silliest things like that can be the most fun.
“Okay, you little troublemakers,” Fluttershy gasped as she started getting her breath back. “You really should be going now or somepony will start to get worried.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” resigned Apple Bloom. “Come on girls, we’d best be gettin’ home.” The others nodded, said their goodbyes, and took their leave.
“I guess I’ll get out of your hair too,” I winked.
Fluttershy shrank back a little and said, “Well, usually I’d invite you to stay for dinner, but… I’m afraid I have plans to meet Rarity already, so I should probably get ready. I’m sorry.”
“Ooh, don’t be! You two have a blast, okay?”
“Alright,” she replied quietly. She shifted her eyes back and forth for a moment, and then gave me a soft hug. “I’ll see you later, Pinkie. Thanks again.”
“Mhmm! Bye Fluttershy!”
And with that, I also took my leave. Out in the open air, I stopped to think for a moment. “Hmm, I don’t really want to go home yet. I’m having too much fun! Maybe I can find somepony else to have dinner with. Let’s see, Fluttershy and Rarity already have plans, obviously, and Rainbow Dash is probably still at work. Hmmmm. I guess I could go see-”
“Are you… talking to yourself?” asked a confused voice.
I whipped around to see… nopony? Carefully, I narrowed my eyes and searched the horiz-
“Down here,” the voice grumbled.
I looked lower and saw… wait, nope. Still don’t see him. “Where are you, Mr. Voice?” I asked out loud. I lifted Spike and looked under him, but there was nopony under there either.
“Pinkie, it’s ME. I’M talking to you.”
“Ohhhhh!” I cried in realization and nudged him. “Why didn’t you say it was you?”
“Ugh…” He put his hand on his face like a sad little dragon, but then brightened up a little. “Listen, I overheard you talking to… well, you, about having no dinner plans. So I was wondering if maybe you’d like to come to the library and eat with Twilight and me?”
Hooray! Well that was fast. Mission accomplished, Pinkie! This calls for some more bouncing. “I’d love to, Spike!” I cheered.
Spike looked noticeably relieved and said, “Awesome. Heh, it’s just that… Twilight hasn’t exactly been out in a while… like, a long while. So I’m glad she’ll at least have somepony else to talk to this way.” He scratched his neck and added, “I hope she doesn’t get mad that I invited you over.”
“Oh, she won’t be mad, silly! Twilight never gets mad,” I assured him.
“Hah, if only you knew… Hey, what are you doing?”
“Oh this?” I asked from the air as I fell back down and went up again. “Bouncing! It’s fun!”
Spiked grinned goofily (is goofily a word? It is now, at least). “It actually does look like fun,” he admitted. “Can I try it?”
I grinned back at him and said, “Of course you can, silly! It’s not like I own the rights to bouncing. Tigger owns those!”
“Ti-who? Eh, never mind.”
And so Spikey-Wikey and I bounced the rest of the way to the library. He was actually pretty good at it too! By the time we go there, Twilight had just closed up for the day. Spike didn’t hesitate to open the door and let us both in. “Shouldn’t you at least knock?” I asked.
“Well it’s my house too, Pinkie,” he deadpanned.
“Oh, right! Heehee!”
Spike rolled his eyes and smiled. Then he took a few more steps in and called, “Hey Twilight.”
“Mhm,” came a distracted sounding voice from the basement laboratory.
“I’m home...”
“Kay,” it came again.
“With company.”
This time there was some muffled thumping of things maybe being knocked over, and after a few seconds the basement floor flew open to reveal…
“…T-Twilight?” I gasped. She looked awful! (That sounds mean but you know I don’t mean it like that.) If you set a dirty, ragged mop out to dry, kept it awake for three days, and then told it that someone drank all the coffee, that’s pretty much what Twilight looked like. Her mane was absolutely everywhere and she had layers upon layers of bags under her eyes. Something that was definitely not a smile was on her face.
Upon seeing me, she straightened up a little. “Oh… hey Pinkie Pie,” she said weakly and rubbed her eyes. “I wasn’t expecting company,” she added a little more sharply, with a glance at Spike.
“Do you need to see a doctor?” I asked worriedly.
“Just a shower,” grumbled Spike.
Now Twilight turned on him. “Can it, Spike. Just stop talking. And did I tell you that you could just bring somepony over without notice?” She got all up in his face and continued. “The library is CLOSED, Spike. That means we don’t just have ponies shuffling in and out like they own the place. Do I LOOK like I want to be SEEN right now?! I just… I… uh…”
She trailed off and mumbled an embarrassed apology. Poor Spike only stood there mortified, while I gaped at the outburst. I mean, I know Twilight can go bananas sometimes, but I’ve never seen her yell at Spikey-Wikey like that before! She needed help, and fast.
“Whooooo wants coffee and donuts?” I sang, setting them on the living room table.
Twilight looked confused, then upset, then confused again. She opened her mouth to speak and closed it again. That kinda happened a few times repeatedly, until Spike said, “I think you broke her.”
“Actually… that sounds pretty good,” Twilight finally spoke up. “What? No it doesn’t!” she yelled, arguing with herself like a silly filly. “It’s five thirty! We were about to have dinner, not poof-out-of-nowhere donuts and coffee.”
“Oh, come on, Twilight!” I pleaded with her, puppy dog eyes and all. I’m really good at those.
“You DO need to loosen up a little,” added Spike. “Besides, you haven’t eaten much lately. The sugar and caffeine might do you some good.”
We both gave Twilight pleading smiles until she just couldn’t take it anymore. “Oh all right, fine. You win,” she conceded with a hint of a chuckle.
“Alright! Donuts for dinner!” cheered Spike.
“Yay! Say, if you’ve barely been eating… or sleeping… then what HAVE you been doing?” I asked.
“Yeah! Are you working on some sort of secret experiment?” said Spike.
Suddenly, Twilight was looking really nervous and guilty (on top of sleep-deprived and mop-headed). She tried to stammer out an explanation, but we weren’t buying it. So after a moment’s silence, she hung her head and mumbled something that ended with “…prime.”
“Er, what now?” Spike scratched the side of his head.
“METROID PRIME!” she shouted in a mix of shame and frustration. It startled Spike clean off his feet! “I was trying to get 100% scan completion in Metroid Prime, okay? But don’t judge me! It’s all very interesting stuff! The detailed description, the alien sciences, the cryptic lore-”
Before she could ramble any further, she was interrupted (not nice!) by Spike’s sudden burst of chuckling and rolling on the floor. He composed himself and said, “You actually READ all that stuff? Who DOES that?” and then laughed some more.
“I said don’t judge,” Twilight huffed. “No judging. Judge-free zone.”
“Says the girl who would rather have ‘normal’ dinner than poof-out-of-nowhere donuts and coffee,” I winked.
“Ooh, sick burn.”
“Can it, Spike,” said Twilight again, but this time with 50% more fun than the leading brand. She grabbed a jelly-filled donut with her magicy stuff and took a bite while pouring herself a cup of coffee. “See? I’m open minded,” she managed through pieces of pastry in her mouth.
This caused a three-way giggle fit (although Spike would call his “manly guffawing”). When we recovered, we spent the next hour or so just eating and chatting. Twilight slowly but surely came out of her zombie-like scary meanie state as we ate. Now all she needed was a good night’s sleep!
“Well this has been fun and all, but I kinda just realized how exhausted I am,” yawned Twilight, as if reading my mind. Ooh, can you do that with magic? I’ll have to ask her sometime. Anyway, then she got up and started cleaning up the dishes.
“You’re going to bed this early?” chucked Spike. “That’s a first for you.”
“Ha ha. Yes I am, smarty-pants, but you can stay up if you want. Just be in bed by ten.” Spike nodded his consent, and then Twilight turned to me. “Um… sorry I was a little rude earlier, Pinkie.”
“A lot rude,” coughed Spike, earning a vicious glare from his big sister unicorn.
I shook my head all crazy-like. “No worries! It ended up being a super fun visit anyway.”
She nodded and smiled. “Yeah, it was. And thanks for snapping me out of my… er…”
Instead of replying, I playfully put my hoof over her mouth and winked. She nodded again and blushed a little. “I’ll leave you guys alone now, so that somepony can get her beauty sleep,” I giggled.
“Alright, see ya Pinkie! Thanks for the donuts!” called Spike on my way out the library’s front door.
Ah, out in the fresh air again. The sun was just beginning to set, lighting the evening sky with a brilliant orange. Maybe it’s time for a little me time, I thought to myself. So I found a nice hill on the edge of town and sat there to watch the sunset by myself. I was surprised to find that it didn’t really get boring, even though there was nopony else around to talk to. Usually I don’t go off by myself like this when I’m looking for fun; I do just about the opposite and find the biggest crowd possible. Oh and there’s usually cupcakes involved. No cupcakes here.
I’m not sure how long it was since I sat down, but the sun was almost completely swallowed by the horizon (I wonder what the sun tastes like) when I heard a really loud, authoritative voice out of nowhere from behind me. “PINKAMENA!” it boomed. I whirled around quick as can be and saw…
“Princess Luna!” I gasped, bowing respectfully. She was stepping out of a weird light-warp-teleport-thing (Twilight would know) and onto the grass. Being the expert that I am at handling myself around royalty, I straightened up and happily said, “What’s up?”
“We require your assistance, Ms. Pie,” said the Princess of the night with a serious expression.
I tried to return her stern gaze, but ended up giggling after a few seconds. “Silly Princess! Didn’t your sister ever tell you? The royal ‘we’ is SO last millennium.”
“She did, actually. I meant the plural ‘we’ this time, for there are others involved, including my dear elder sister,” she explained.
“Ohhh, I see,” I replied, tapping my chin. “Well, whatever you need, I’d be happy to help!”
“EXCELLENT!” she shouted with a haughty smile, and then caught herself. “Er, I mean, excellent. Come this way, please.” The portal thingy opened back up and she stepped through. I looked carefully at it from every angle, trying to figure out anything about it. It was neat looking! Princess Luna’s head stuck back through toward me suddenly. “Are you coming or what?” she muttered.
“I can kinda see my reflection in the edges! OoooooOOOOooooOOOoo-“
“I don’t have all night…”
“Okay, sorry!” I said quickly and jumped through.
And wow! The thing certainly was bigger on the inside than it looked on the outside… or maybe it just teleported us somewhere else. Either one. In any case, we entered a room that was pretty big, but somehow felt stuffy. Probably because of the dim lighting, musty smell, and clutter everywhere, including empty potato chip bags and soda cans. Basically, all of the things that I DON’T think about when I think of Luna. Except maybe the dim lighting.
Speaking of Luna, she simply turned and watched as I took it all in. After giving me a minute, she smiled and said, “Welcome to Canterlot Castle, Pinkie.”
The castle? It didn’t look anything like the castle, really. The color scheme was similar, but it still seemed more like a thirteen-year-old colt’s bedroom than part of a castle. Maybe the portal thing took us to the wrong place?
That’s what I thought, anyway, until I looked over in one of the corners for the first time to see two silhouettes, one larger than the other, huddled in front of a bright screen. Luna approached them and motioned for me to follow suit.
“Freakin’ spawn campers,” muttered one of them in a familiar southern twang.
Luna cleared her throat loudly. “Our fourth has arrived,” she announced.
The two figures seated on the couch turned and noticed me for the first time: one tall and regal, the other basically the opposite of tall and regal. Then I was able to get a good look at their faces.
“Princess Celestia? And Applejack?” I thought aloud. “What’s going on here?”
“Hello, Pinkie,” greeted Celestia, all smiles. “I hope my sister didn’t interrupt you from anything of importance. I told her not to force you here against your will.”
Luna rolled her eyes and said, “I know what you told me, Celly. I am not stupid.”
“Anyway, you are here because we needed a fourth,” finished Celestia simply.
“A fourth?” I asked, more confused than ever.
“Yes,” Luna answered. “Rainbow Dash couldn’t make it tonight, so we’re short one.”
“Ohhhhhh! I get it now!” I cried in complete understanding. “A fourth what?”
Luna was busy trying to smell her hooves or something (why else would she bury her face in them?), and Applejack had gone back to staring incessantly at the screen, so her sister answered. “You see, once a week, the four of us—Luna, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and myself—meet here for a few hours of Halo. We make a most excellent team in four-on-four Slayer. Rainbow Dash, unfortunately, had to work all day today, so she doesn’t have the time. So I was hoping that perhaps you’d like to fill in for her.”
“Ooh, sounds like fun!” I said delightedly. “Just the four of us shooting stuff and having a good time. Good thing I brought these cupcakes!” I added, placing them on the table in front of the couch.
Luna’s eyes went wide. “But you didn’t have those when we-“
“Oh boy!” interrupted Applejack, tearing her eyes away from the game and grabbing one with her mouth. “I was worried we were plum outta snacks,” she said while chewing.
“I’m always prepared for snackage emergencies!” I boasted.
“Alright, this game’s over. Luna, Pinkie, time to join,” said Celestia.
It took a minute or two to get everything set up for the four of us, and then a little more to start a game. During the wait, Luna asked, “Are you any good at this game, Pinkie? You’re filling pretty big shoes.”
“Eh, I’ve only played it once or twice,” I said truthfully. “But don’t worry! I’m a fast learner. Also I’m not wearing shoes, silly. Heehee!” The princess only offered an unsure expression as a reply.
“Here’s the plan, girls,” explained Applejack. “Everypony head right toward the tower at the very start. Celly, stay topside and go fer the sniper rifle. Luna, grab the plasmas and cover her from below. Pinkie, follow her and do the same. I’ll head underneath and grab the shotgun to take ‘em head-on, down an’ dirty style,” she grinned maniacally. “Any questions?”
I raised a hoof. “Which one’s shoot again?”
“Oh, Luna have mercy…”
“I’m right here, you know,” Luna told her.
“I know, and I mean it. You were pretty hard on me when I first started.”
“You tried to play with your back hooves!”
“Ladies, please,” interrupted Celestia. “I’m sure she’ll do fine.”
The game started, and it was really confusing! Well, at first, anyway. I wasn’t kidding when I said I’m a fast learner.
“So, which one is this?”
“That’s the sniper rifle.”
“Ohhhh, okay. So what, I just do this?”
“…Did you just take out three guys?”
“I… guess so! Hey, this is fun!"
And so on and so on and blah blah blah. Well, not bad blah-blah, because it really was a lot of fun. But I’ll spare you the details. Point is, we fragged and we ate and we laughed into the late hours of the night.
“Well, it’s nine o’clock,” announced Luna. “We should call it.”
“Only nine? I could do this all night,” complained Applejack.
“Some of us have royal duties to attend to…”
“Alright, fine.”
“But it was still super fun while it lasted!” I reminded them.
“And who knew you had gamer blood in your veins, Pinkie?” winked Celestia. “That twenty-kill spree was definitely the highlight of the night.”
“Oh, you!”
“Well, I guess open up that portal-thingamajig then. I got an early mornin’ to look forward to anyway,” said Applejack.
Luna nodded and started conjuring it. Then she smiled and said, “Thank you for joining us, Pinkie. Perhaps you could become part of our regular get-together.”
“Sounds awesome!”
We each bid our final farewells, and pretty soon I was surrounded once again by yummy fresh air instead of grubby gamer air. I did miss the snacks, though. So many snacks. But that’s okay! I live in a bakery. Speaking of living in bakeries, I should probably get home, I thought to myself. Luna has duties tonight, and so do I. Like sleeping.
So I walked through the peaceful night, thinking back on the things I did that day. The ponies I hung out with, the fun I had… it was enough to make me smile again, just as brightly as I did when I was there. But like all awesome days, this one had to come to a sweet, sleepy close.
I walked into Sugarcube Corner to see Mr. and Mrs. Cake cleaning up to finish the day. Instead of offering my usual loud and excited greeting, I felt a little more thoughtful and mellow (and sleepy), so I just headed silently towards the stairs. But not before Mrs. Cake turned around and caught me on my way up.
“Oh, hello, Pinkie dear,” she smiled. “I haven’t seen you since this morning. How was your day?”
“It was alright,” I said.