A solution to make everypony happy! (Well, nearly)
The yaks continued their incessant clapping long after Pinkie Pie had exited stage left, impressed as they were not by her perhaps less-than-perfect yovidaphone repertoire, but by her obvious joy and enthusiasm when it came to performing on the somewhat obtrusive instrument.
"So ladies, what did ya all think? I started off the groove a bit slow, but I kinda think it all came together in the third act when I really tried pushing the boundaries!!" the party pony beamed at her five closest friends, who'd been waiting patiently nearby for her to conclude her auspicious debut.
"W-Well, um..." "T-That is to say..." "A slight improvement from last time. M-Maybe?!" Pinkie's nearest and dearest stammered and spluttered their impromptu critiques, as unwilling as they were to have a repeat of the recent incident when their brutal honesty almost led to their inconsolable chum packing up her worldly goods to depart Ponyville permanently.
The exception to all this incoherent hesitancy was Twilight Sparkle herself, who maintained as poised and polished a front as ever. And seeing as it was the Princess Of Friendship's pretty tactless initial announcement of Pinkie's lacklustre musical skills that caused the party pony's depressed spell to emerge in the first place, she was all the more eager to make amends now.
"Perhaps we didn't derive quite as much fun out of it as the rest of your appreciative audience here..." Twilight gestured to the hairy bovines mingling about, still engaged in the raucous art of hooting and hollering as if it would never go out of style. "...But the most important thing is, you did something that gave you personal pleasure and contentment. Nopony else should ever try to take that away from you, and I'm sorry if my maybe harshly chosen words earlier made you feel you needed to give up the yovidaphone forever."
"Oh, thank you Twilight!" A now fully coloured-in Pinkie flashed her infamous thousand megawatt grin in response, and it was good to see it again despite the associated temporal blindness. "On another topic, while I was here giving myself twenty-six brain freezes on variously flavoured dairy treats, I had a bit of time to do some pondering of my own. And what I figured out was this: as much as simply playing the instrument fills me full of all the numerous joys of cake-making, party-planning and dimension-hopping all in one beautiful package, maybe it would be even more superific if I got some professional lessons! After all, how are other ponies supposed to learn the subtle charms of this niche hobby of mine, if they run lickety-split every time before I even begin my opening refrain? If I get really good like the experts, maybe I can increase my own popularity and elevate this wonderful art form into the mainstream too!"
"E-Erm, maybe one step at a time, Pinkie." As much as Twilight was happy to encourage her committed friend's new musical pastime, the fact remained that internationally it was still a strictly acquired taste. Besides. if it caught on in a major way, how was she supposed to get any reading done with half the town sounding like a chorus of distressed cats? "For now though, may I make just the tiniest of suggestions?"
"Of course Twi, fire away! Now I'm reunited with my truest of true passions, I'll listen to anything you have to say!" Pinkie sighed, though it was hard to make out her exact response, being as her muzzle was fully buried in her reunited yovidaphone as she embraced it tenderly.
"Yeesh... I-I mean, glad you think so!" Twilight tried to ignore Pinkie's slightly disturbing infatuation with this inanimate gasbag, and the soft groans it emanated as the party pony's cuddling grew ever stronger. "I've just this minute remembered: Yona told me a while back that she wanted to practice by herself for the upcoming school orchestra, as she wanted her audition to be a surprise. At the time I thought that was a bit odd, especially when she asked to be given the classroom with the thickest walls to rehearse in alone. But after what I've witnessed today, along with the mysteriously centralised earthquakes we've been having of late around the building, I believe I'm beginning to understand the situation better."
It took a few seconds for the scales to fall from Pinkie's eyes, and also for her to disentangle herself from her oversized musical instrument. "Y-You mean... that Yona... might be able to help me get mega-brilliant?!"
"Well, I haven't actually heard her play properly..." Twilight confessed in earnest. "...But considering what a strong cultural presence the yovidaphone seemed to hold in the yak community, I dare suggest she might've been blowing on it since she was a mere dri. So, I think you could do worse than to ask her for assistance when term-time starts up again, and as an added bonus, you won't have to give up your teaching position to relocate here if you want to continue this 'fascinating' new pursuit of yours."
"Twilight, you're a total genius! I don't care what anypony else says about your unhealthy obsession with books and worrying lack of social interaction in general, you're the best reclusive royal a common pony like me could have as a best friend!" An unthinking Pinkie Pie went on to give Twilight the briefest of hugs, before dashing off to prepare for her promising future as a true maestro. "Now, what shall I ask Yona to teach me first? 'I've Got A Lovely Batch Of Cupcakes'? 'Gummy's Lament'? Or maybe just a load of random tooting noises that sound sorta good when jumbled together? Oh, I can't wait to get started! ...by the way, have my yovidaphone sent on, could ya? Gotta go! Gotta go!!"
"Same's here! I have to figure out how to regrow fifty crates worth of exploded prime produce by the end of the month, lord knows how long it'll take me to do that!! My clientele will be wearin' my guts for garters at this rate, I tell you what." Applejack referenced the problems a certain off-key party pony had given her earlier, as she also departed the crowded venue.
"...And I'm off to practice for the next big Wonderbolts contest. If Soarin thinks he's gonna out-lap me ever again, he's got another thing coming! And that 'thing' just so happens to be Yours Truly overtaking him on the very last bend!" Rainbow Dash blushed slightly as she took to the skies without a second thought, thinking perhaps she could arrive home much quicker flying solo than in a crowded hot-air balloon.
"I'm starting my entire seasonal collection again from scratch, darlings! Now that the unwelcome aural distraction has been eliminated, presumably my glorious inspirations won't resemble disastrous experimentations by a rank amateur!" Rarity might've sounded like she was fuming, but privately she was rather looking forward to planning and conceiving a brand new line in fashion excellence. The creative process was always the best part of her job, after all.
"As for me, I have a poor naked birdie to replumage when I return to my cottage, provided I can stay awake long enough to put all the feathers in their proper places." If it hadn't been Pinkie's obnoxious piping all night long keeping Fluttershy up lately, it'd been the yellow pegasus's fretting about her morose straight-maned friend's state of mind. So much so, she'd had to trade in her usual sugary brew for copious amounts of the blackest of coffee just to get through the day without collapsing in an unsightly heap on the ground. Hopefully, things would swiftly return to blissful normality now.
However, one pony who didn't seem quite so serene was Twilight Sparkle, and as the small equine party (sans Rainbow Dash) cloistered into their inflatable transportation which would inevitably deposit them back to Ponyville in the very near future, her rampant paranoia didn't exactly give the rest of her chums an easy return journey.
"What do you mean, 'unhealthy obsession?!' Books are the best companions, they're mirrors to the writer's soul for Celestia's sake, knowledge is power I'll have you know! 'Limited interaction?!' I fulfil my contractual obligations at every two-bit event they send me to, even ones without proper fire safety protocol! It's not my fault if other ponies aren't so worldly that they can't appreciate an extended lecture on the tenuous links between friendship and hard labour! Wax on... wax off... mumble, mutter..."
Author's Note
THIS IS NOT A DRILL OR A THREAT. I have returned from World Cup misery, and bought my keyboard with me. 
Hope you enjoyed this imaginary follow up to the recently aired episode 18 (when 14-17 haven't even been shown yet, go figure) and there should be more articles of a fan-ficcy nature coming soon. 
Just remain vigilant, be nice to your sister, and keep on watching the skies... 
