Patter, patter, patter.
"Oh look, honey, it's raining."
Mr. Cake parted the two saloon doors open with a small force, looking to his wife, then towards the window. It had been a slow day, not too many customers, and the clock was broken on the wall, which made time go slower.
The twins were upstairs and Pinkie was carefully putting her leaves from the tea tree she was growing into the small cup of hot, steaming water. It had been so long since she had a nice cup of tea, she couldn't remember the last time she did. She also couldn't remember the last time she felt the warm paint itself on her face as she brought the cup towards her.
Her lips crisply gripped the rim of the clay cup, slowly enjoying the liquid fill her mouth up and swallowing it down, warming her stomach. She placed it down on the small plate and carried it over to a nice, comfy chair next to a candle, a small table, and a window looking out to the town center.
Mrs. Cake slowly leaned over to her husband and whispered, "Do you think Pinkie has been acting a little less like herself these days?"
Mr. cake nodded, "Maybe... Things haven't been going so well anyways, maybe she is taking things to seriously."
Pinkie sat down in the chair, snuggled up, and looked out the window. Her drab hair dangled in her face. She slowly sipped a bit more of the tea and looked outside at the haunting, beautiful sight. The rain was falling down soft, but in large drops. Nothing has been happening over the course of the week, no adventures, no contact from her friends, nothing.
The rain reminded her of such good times, even as a little foal, where her sisters would play out in the rain, tell stories in the dark comfort of their little home, and stay up all night talking. She can easily recall one night back on the farm where she asked one question to her sister while the other was sleeping.
"What do you want to be when you grow up?"
"Pinkamina, why do you ask, you know when we grow up, we stay farmers."
"I don't believe one bit of that, Sis, when I grow up, I want to be like a, uh... Baker!" she exclaimed.
"Keep it down, Pinkamina, Pa will wake up," her sister hushed.
"I told you not to call me that! My names Pinkie!"
Pinkie brought the cup back up and laughed into it as the rain slid gently down the window. When was the last time she did anything fun? Even before the week became drab, she still didn't do anything like she and her friends used to do. When was the last time they saved the town or helped somepony, or even pretended to do something. She was longing for a release of all her pent up energy, but now it was just caving in on itself and turning into negativity.
That was the first time she laughed in about two weeks. It was hard to believe, the funniest, incredibly adorable, and most random pony in all of Ponyville just laughed for the first time in two weeks.
The rain brought back so many memories and emotions that she hadn't felt or seen in a long time, like when Twilight first came to town. Their was a scheduled rain shower, but it was canceled for the Summer Sun Celebration. A thunderstorm was supposed to happen before the meteor shower to brighten up the area so the meteors would look even more magnificent as they haloed through the night sky.
Her cup was now about half empty, Mr. and Mrs. Cake were silently watching Pinkie as they cut up some ingredients. They couldn't help but feel sorry for her, looking at their pink fuzz ball of what they could call their daughter.
The candle next to her warmed her fur and the light dance around her soft coat, gently spreading the warmth down to her three balloons on her flank. It felt good and Pinkie sat there to enjoy her only hope of happiness that day, her tea and memories.
She could remember the time she forgot it was her birthday. That was one crazy day; party after party, then it was rejection after rejection.
"None of my friends like my parties and don't want to be my friends anymore..."
That quote bounced around inside Pinkie's head, brining a tear to her eye. She whipped it as she took another sip. She had never felt so... Alone, so useless in her entire life. Those were some dark times, but her friends still managed to brighten up her day. Her tail flicked gently near the candle.
Pinkie can recall the time she foal sat the twins. She would talk to them, let her imagination get the better of her, and think that they would talk back to her.
"You foals are so lucky, not a care in the world."
"That's not true, Pinkie, we still have responsibilities, like my brother and I have to take care of each other," Pinkie's imagination spoke for Pumpkin Cake.
"Well, I guess that's true," Pinkie shrugged.
Pound Cake chimmed in, "Tell us, Pinkie, you know so much about us, but... We don't know much about you. Do you have any friends?"
"Of course I do. Six of them are my best friends, plus everypony in Ponyville knows who I am!"
"Do you like your friends?" Pumpkin asked.
Pinkie paused for a moment.
"I... I love my friends."
Maybe that was why Pinkie started crying when she couldn't control the twins. It was a small cover up for something that had a much bigger meaning.
Pinkie saw a few ponies running for cover from the rain, shielding themselves. Pinkie laughed again. She was making progress, slumping out of her sad state, but she would need something of a kick start to get her going again.
She remembered the time they went up against Discord, which was scary as much as it was fun, especially the chocolate rain. It was the best thing she had ever tasted, except for the MMM cake. She could picture it now, huge mouthfuls of melted chocolate filling her body with delicious textures of an all natural chocolate rain cloud created by the Spirit of Chaos himself. While other ponies saw it as a curse, Pinkie thought of it as a secret gift.
The tea was almost gone. She closed her eyes and carefully licked her lips and sighed out. Maybe if she took the time to look outside, she would see something that interested her. Without anypony to see, the world suddenly looked bleak and empty, until something caught her eye, and then another, and another.
What she saw gave her a smile that was three times the one she first had. She could see all of her friends, respectively minding their own business. She could see Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Spike on one of the roofs of the many houses, testing out a lightning rod. She could see Spike reaching out and grasping the pole silently, only to be shocked. She let out a loud laugh.
Rarity was seen through the window of her shop as she whisked around the room, multiple pieces of clothing flying around with her. Typical Rarity, it only made Pinkie laugh even harder.
Applejack was gently pushing a cart of apples down the road, through all the rain and mud, while Fluttershy was leading a parade of animals back to her home, hovering over them to keep the dry. A word popped up into Pinkie's head;
"Umbrellashy!"
Pinkie felt an uncontrollable burst of happiness over come her, she shut her eyes again and saw all of her friends gathered in the barn, a cake saying 'happy birthday' in the center of the room, and all of them smiling.
"Happy birthday!"
Laughter and tears filled the room and Mr. and Mrs. Cake's faces where glowing from the counter.
Pinkie got up from the chair, spilling the tea, and opened the front door. The Cakes looked through the window as Pinkie waltzed with herself in the rain.
She twirled around as Twilight, Spike, and Rainbow turned their heads and laughed at Pinkie.
"So, do you think she's over it?" Mr. Cake asked.
Pinkie's mane was slick with water
"Even though the rain is holding her mane down, I'm sure it's going to puff up any time soon."
And it did.
Patter, patter, patter.
