Pinkie Versus Faulty Servers
Error 500 - Internal Server Error
"No. Oh no. This is bad. This is really bad. No no no no no no! This can't be happening! HEEEEELLLLLPP!!!"
Pinkie gave a yell that was so loud and sudden it could have been her death scream. It was probably audible word for word in Manehattan. She was in total and utter disbelief at what she saw on the computer screen in front of her.
She had been on the Internet, a world of information that could be accessed using the right equipment, such as a computer. It turned out that another unexplored world of humans had discovered that Planet Equis was real, and had their own ideas about life in Equestria. There was one website called fimfiction.net, which exclusively held Equestrian fanfiction. Pinkie did not like admitting that she was a reader, but she could get hooked on some of the stories that she found. They even gave her ideas for parties sometimes.
The problem was that this online library had an error 500: the server was down. That meant that no pony, human or other creature could access the site until the error was fixed.
"I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M GONNA DO!" she shouted, smashing a front hoof on the desk. In truth, she had plenty to do: there was housework to be done; the Cakes could do with some help at Sugarcube Corner, which would earn her a few extra bits; she had to go food shopping; and there was a party that needed planning for Princess Flurry Heart's fifth birthday. She facehoofed. Part of her actually wanted to sit in front of the computer screen until the site was back up and running.
She looked for a website that would tell her more about the error. Apparently, there was a problem with the hardware, and the site had been down for a few hours. There was no telling when the issue would be fixed. Pinkie knew that other fanfiction websites existed, so that she could find many more stories about her and her friends, but for some reason she did not want to look at them. FiM Fiction was her favourite website by far.
She heard a spell being cast, and Twilight cried, "Pinkie! What's wrong?" She turned to see that all of her friends were here. Cheese Sandwich was as well, for some unknown reason. That comforted her, though. His Cheese Sense probably already knew what was up.
"You know that I found the Internet with my Pinkie Sense? And that fanfiction website?"
"Yes?" Twilight asked.
Pinkie said as calmly as she could, "FiM Fiction is down. Celestia, please help me. Go live in Tartarus, Twilight, it's over. All that hard work is lost. Entire libraries worth of literary masterpieces, gone!" A tear rolled down her cheek. Cheese Sandwich reached into the pocket of his yellow jacket, somehow produced a large accordian, and began to play a song often heard at funerals. He understood her perfectly, but Rainbow Dash did not: she had to stuff a hoof into her mouth to stop herself from laughing. Rarity just shook her head.
"It's ok, Pinkie," Fluttershy whispered, "I'm sure that it can be fixed. It won't be gone forever."
"Thanks," Pinkie choked out.
"Hey, Pinkie, why don't we continue planning Flurry Heart's birthday party, to take your mind off things?" Cheese Sandwich asked.
"Might be a good idea."
Soon, they had sorted out what the cake would look like, and ordered plenty of decorations. They had already sent all of the invites, and Rarity was currently making an outfit for the young princess to wear. There was not much else to plan, and the website was still down. Pinkie harrumphed when she saw the Internal Server Error message. Even her usually curly pink mane and tail were straightening and hanging down, framing her face wrinkled due to her frown.
"Cheer up, Pinkie!" pleaded Cheese Sandwich. "I am really beginning to get desperate! I need everypony around me to be happy, and when they aren't happy, neither am I!" He pulled his cheeks to give himself a loooong face.
"It's fine, Cheese."
He was surprised at how quickly she brushed him off. He sighed. "Do I have to blast you in the party cannon to Griffonstone before you smile again?"
"The idea is appealing." She smiled. "Oops, I smiled too early." The smile isdisappeared. "I guess we just have to wait for the issue to be fixed. It could be weeks, but I'm not giving up hope."
The next day…
Pinkie saw on Equestria Daily - the news website for pony fans - that she only had to wait for one more day. The website was being transferred to a new server in order to continue working. Apparently it had been jump-started by accident. One more day, and then she would have all of her pony stories! She entered the website address for FiM Fiction anyway.
An image of Derpy Hooves crashing through a ceiling flickered onto the screen. There was a new message below. It read:
Maintenance
The site is currently going through maintenance. Check out Twitter to see if anything is up!
She already knew everything about the problem that she needed to know, so she didn't bother checking Twitter. Instead, she headed to Sugarcube Corner for a day of baking, frosting and selling cupcakes for Mr and Mrs Cake. She would also get to see Pumpkin and Pound Cake, who were growing up incredibly quickly and happened to be very adorable.
Unfortunately, work was not as pleasant ash she was anticipating it to be. It was a busy day, and Mrs Cake had too many customers to deal with. She was incredibly stressed, and Mr Cake had taken Pumpkin and Pound on a trip to Canterlot for the day. Pinkie tried to smile and be polite and serve as many customers as possible and get the orders right and write out receipts when ponies wanted them, but it was hard work. At the end of the day, she came home exhausted.
She also came home to Cheese Sandwich on the computer, scrolling through the newest stories on the newly restored fimfiction.net website.
"Hey, Pinkie. It's working again. Knighty left an apology for everypony."
Pinkie gasped. It was working. It was working! She could only manage to get out a few words due to sheer joy and excitement.
"Need... To... Have... A... Celebration! Party!"
Author's Note
This was something that I wrote on Google Docs while the website was down. HUGE THANKS to this website's Knighty in Shining Armour, the amazing General Xaquseg, and the army of workers who keep FiM Fiction working. Our favourite pony fanfiction website would not be here without you, and without the server shutdown, neither would this story, or the realisation of how long I spend on here...
