PonyPark

If there was any girl that would be the personified definition of a “spoiled brat”, than it would be the four-year old Pennsylvanian red-hair named Emily.

Her kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Harper, would constantly belittle her every time she acted out, when she was called on for talking during a lecture or throwing a tantrum when things didn’t go her way. She even got herself a trip to the principal’s office once. Her parents tried to reprimand this behavior, but nothing often worked.

This problem only worsened when the girl found a new interest: My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, a widely popular girl’s cartoon that surprisingly attracted a wide variety of audiences, with the cable ratings only growing every time a new episode premiered. Emily caught onto the craze after some kids in her class were talking about it, and soon enough, she was hooked. The colorful characters and the magical world of Equestria filled her daydreams. She started a doll collection of her own, after begging her parents to get her all six figures of the main ponies along with a pink Princess Celestia toy.

But the pony she loved most was none other then the party pony, Pinkie Pie. When Emily watched the show, she saw herself in the earth pony, as the mare was to do whatever she pleased when she pleased, and was just as outspoken as the human. Emily wished she was allowed to be as carefree as Pinkie without being scolded by teachers or her parents. She even imitated things that the pony did in the show in real life any moment she’d get the chance.

Anything she wanted, her family would get it for her, especially when it came to the question of birthday gifts. Every year on February 12th, or the weekend near it, a huge party would be thrown in her honor with all of her friends around, most of those being the neighbor’s kids. It was always very loud year after year, which was the nightmare of any parent, but a joy to Emily.

The upcoming weekend was her fifth birthday, and Emily was expecting her parents to allow her to send out invitations to her kindergarten class. It would have been the first time she’d do so, as preschool hadn’t exactly given her the chance. However, she grew nervous as the days of the week passed, with no promise of a party of any kind came from her parents.

This notion had made Emily noticeably angry, and when she finally confronted her parents the night before her birthday, they told her that they would unveil a special surprise for her the next morning. She protested, even trying to cry to win over her parents, but nothing worked, so she just marched off to bed angrily, forcing herself to be patient until morning.

Emily was awoken by her parents early the next morning, around five, with the first thing she saw being three slips of paper that looked like tickets. She was confused at first, asking them what they were, but they only brought her over to their white sedan, and she noticed that large suitcases had been in the trunk. As her father settled her into the backseat, she posed a few questions.

“Daddy, where are we going?” she demanded, getting a bit annoyed.

“You’ll see, sweetheart,” he told her, before getting into the driver’s seat. Emily watched the dark blue sky with the sun barley creeping up into it, and kept giving her parents many ‘Are we there yet’ questions, with every answer being “almost”.

Eventually, when the car pulled up into an airport, her parents finally told her the big news: her birthday gift was a trip to the one and only PonyPark in Orlando. She exploded with joy at this news, and practically ran into the airport from her excitement, her parents having to stop her from going too far off.

Pennsylvania was a long ways away from Florida, but thankfully the flight was only about two and a half hours long. They arrived to their hotel, which had a lovely pony theme to it, specifically wielding a Pinkie Pie bed in the children’s suite in their second-floor room, which Emily loved.

Thankfully, since they had woken up so early, they were able to arrive to the park itself just after it opened for the day. After her mother told an employee that it was her daughter’s fifth birthday, the woman in a pink and purple uniform smiled, and knelt down to Emily. On her uniform was a name tag bearing the word “Melissa”.

“Hi, Emily!” Melissa smiled after kneeling down to Emily’s height. “Somepony told me today was a super special girl’s fifth birthday!”

Emily admired the peppy tone that the employee had in her voice. “It’s my birthday, I’m five today!”

The woman smiled, and Emily noticed she also had red hair like she did, except in a brighter shade. That made her even more excited. “Your hair, it looks like mine!”

“It’s a pretty color,” Melissa exclaimed. “Now, I have a super special party planned for you later, since it’s your birthday today! It’ll take place in SugarCube Corner, right at noon!”

“There’s a SugarCube Corner here?” Emily asked as her expression lit up.

“Of course, silly filly! It looks exactly what you think it’d look like. Remember, be there at noon!” She let out a shrill giggle before walking off, presumably to SugarCube Corner. Emily smiled, thoughts of having a party at SugarCube Corner with the ponies filling her head. She wondered if Pinke Pie would be there, and if they’d have cupcakes as she and the Mane Six would party in her honor. Just thinking about her dreams coming true made her birthday even more amazing.

“Emily, honey, what would you like to do first?” Her father snapped her out of her daydreaming, and many ideas raced through her mind. Maybe she’d ride something first? She was a bit hungry as well. But then again...she could take pictures with the ponies.

“I wanna meet Pinkie!” Emily knew exactly what she wanted right when her dad asked. “And the rest of the Mane Six, too.”

“All right,” her mom smiled, and held Emily by the hand so she wouldn’t get lost in the crowd. Emily thought internally of how badly she wanted to be free; how she could roam around the park as she pleased, but didn’t want to waste any more time before meeting the ponies. It would all be worth it soon enough.

The line to meet each pony, especially Pinkie Pie, had been extraordinary long. It was likely on any Saturday that the crowds would be at an all time high, with the park barely keeping a stable capacity. This had made Emily upset, but she tried to keep her patience for as long as she could. Eventually, the wait for Pinkie had gotten so long that Emily’s parents tried to persuade her to pick a different pony. Emily screamed, alerting the other guests in the other five lines, but came to her senses when her mother alerted her when Rarity, her second favorite pony, had the shortest line.

Was she exactly happy about changing lines? No, but it wasn’t the worst thing in the world. In front of her was a boy almost a foot taller than she was, with a Rarity shirt on and a doll of the same character in his hand. Emily tapped him on the shoulder, thinking a bit of small talk would make the time pass by faster.

“Hey,” she started, not giving him a chance to react to her gesture. “Wanna hear a knock-knock joke?” It was what Pinkie Pie would do, and the girl liked to imitate the pink pony all the time.

“Uh...” the boy in front of her looked a bit nervous. “Sure, I guess.”

“Knock knock!”

“Who’s there?”

Emily paused for a few moments to keep the suspension. “Boo.”

“Boo hoo?” Asked the boy in front of her, looking confused.

“Why are you crying? I’m just telling a joke!” This earned a laugh out of the other child, and Emily laughed along with him at her own comedy.

“Wow, that was pretty funny,” the boy laughed on, but eventually calmed himself. Emily then noticed his nails, how they were painted purple, and thought of how odd it was to see on a boy. She said nothing, though, but her opinion on them didn’t change.

“What’s your name?” Emily asked, her attention going back to the boy’s face.

“Robert,” the boy replied. “What’s yours?”

“Emily. I’m turning five today!”

“Really?” Robert smiled at her. “Happy birthday!”

“I’m having a party today at SugarCube Corner at noon,” she explained, hoping that he would be able to visit her at her party. “Do you want to come?”

“Well, actually, uh...” Robert suddenly looked a bit nervous. “I’ll be busy. I wanted to go to Canterlot around that time.”

“Oh,” Emily grew sad at the comment. Again, things didn’t turn out like she hoped. But, the day still wasn’t that terrible, so she just smiled. “That’s okay. I hope you have fun.”

Robert noticed that it was his turn next to see Rarity, and bode Emily goodbye, before saying, “Maybe we’ll meet again someday, Emily. Happy birthday!”

Emily smiled. Meeting Robert had made the day just a bit better.

It was almost time for Emily’s party at SugarCube Corner, and the last thing she wanted to do before said party was to ride the gigantic coaster of the park, Sonic Rainboom. The line wasn’t as long as waiting for Pinkie Pie, thankfully, but the family had barley made it. Emily waited excitedly as she grew closer to the coaster, the many turns, loops and the big drop looking more and more enticing.

“Okay, next cart!” The worker in front yelled out, signaling for the next batch of people to load into their seats. Emily and her parents made their way to the front, but the girl was suddenly stopped by the employee, and she saw that the other cart that had just taken off with the previous group in it had stopped out of nowhere. Thankfully, it had barley just started to move onto the track, so nobody was suspended up into the air.

For Emily, however, this made her absolutely explode with anger. Her parents tried to soothe her, and told her the ride would be fixed soon, but she ran off in the crowd, only wanting to head to SugarCube Corner. Her eyes darted as she ran through an ocean of people and she looked for the familiar building that resembled a house made of sweets.

An aroma of baked goods and sweets made its way to her nose, signifying that she was close. She looked in front of her, and saw the iconic sugary-sweet bakery that looked nearly identical to how it looked like in the show. Quickly running towards the pink door, Emily entered the bakery, the smells of sweets now overpowering any of her other senses. Nobody else was in the bakery, except for Melissa, who had been waiting for her behind the restaurant’s counter. The woman recognized the five year old immediately, and went from her spot to where Emily was standing.

“Hi again!” Melissa chimed, a smile never leaving her face. “You’re a bit early, but that’s okay. The party’s always better when it starts sooner!”

Emily looked behind the woman, seeing a large plate of rainbow-iced cupcakes that looked absolutely delicious. Melissa noticed this, and exclaimed to the young girl, “I made them myself! Chocolate and vanilla, baked with love by yours truly.”

Emily smiled, but the happiness inside her quickly faded when she heard a loud BANG from behind her, and she saw that both of her parents had found her. They looked very angry at her, clearly not happy about her running off without warning.

“Emily, that was very inappropriate!” Her mother scolded, pointing a finger directly at her. “How could you just run off like that? We thought we lost you, we were very worried!”

“I’m sorry, mom—“

“You can say you’re sorry when we drive our rental car back to the airport,” her mother grabbed her by the wrist forcefully, and walked back towards the pink colored door as Emily whined in protest.

“WAIT!” Emily looked back at Melissa, and saw that the red-haired woman had a shocked look on her face. “It’s her birthday, a-and the party just started! Do you really want to cut the party short? I even made cupcakes just for her!”

Emily’s father looked to Melissa, to Emily, and back to her mother hesitantly. He then said, “Honey, it’s her birthday.”

Her mom sighed, looking back at Melissa. “All right. We can stay. I’m sorry, Emily, I was just so worried,” she pulled her daughter into a tight hug. “I don’t want anything to happen to my only daughter while we’re here.”

“Well, I’m going to make sure that your little angel is one hundred and one percent safe every second she’s here!” Melissa’s voice grew less shaky than before and was back to its normally shrill, peppy tone. “And make sure that she has the most bestest fifth birthday party EVER! So...are we gonna have a party, or what?”

Both her parents laughed behind her. They agreed, and soon enough, the four of them sat at a nearby table, seeing the marvelous array of rainbow frosted cupcakes before them.

Melissa had asked Emily’s parents what flavor cupcake was their favorite, and her mother responded with red velvet, as her father replied with lemon poppyseed. Melissa nodded, and went back to the kitchen for a few minutes, leaving the family of three alone.

“Mommy, Daddy,” Emily began suddenly, “I’m really sorry about running off. I was just upset about the ride.”

“That’s all right, honey,” her father replied. “We know it’s your birthday and—“

“And I’m sorry for always acting out!” Emily interrupted, her voice louder this time. “A-and always acting spoiled, like everything has to go my way...when we get back home, I promise never to do that stuff ever again.”

“Well, what brought this on?” Her mother smiled, seeming very surprised yet pleased at her child’s speech.

“I’ve thought of all those lessons that the ponies teach on the show,” Emily continued. “I finally realized I should learn them and learn to be a better daughter. I’m sorry I’ve been so bad.”

“Oh, Emily...” her mother’s voice was starting to quiver as her eyes began to fill with a couple of tears. “You’re already our perfect little angel.”

“You always have been,” her father’s voice was beginning to shake as well. “And we promise to love you very much. We will always love you until the day we pass.”

“Pass?” Emily asked, not knowing what he meant. He covered his mouth quickly, which made her confused. “Pass what?”

“Well—“

“I’m back!” Melissa had suddenly emerged from the kitchen with two fresh cupcakes she had presumably just baked. “Two red velvet and lemon poppyseed cupcakes, coming right up!” She set down the plates with the treats on them on the purple table, a wide smile still on her face just as before. Both of the other adults looked pleased, and thanked the employee for going out of her way to make them two special cupcakes for no extra charge.

“It’s no problem, really!” Melissa insisted. “I love baking for my friends! Now, how about we sing happy birthday to the special birthday girl?” She looked at Emily, and the little girl giggled in excitement.

After singing the traditional happy birthday song for the fifth year in a row, the two adults took a bite out of their cupcakes, and Emily picked a chocolate cupcake that was in front of her. It was surprisingly tasted even better than she expected; in fact, it was the best cupcake she had ever tasted!

“So,” Melissa started conversation with the young girl’s parents. “What’s Emily like? She seems like the sweetest girl on the planet, with such loving parents, too.” She added a giggle to the end of her sentence.

“Oh, she is,” her mother explained, once she and her father had finished every bit of their cupcakes. “We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect daughter than our dear Emily.”

“Awwww,” Melissa laughed. “That’s so sweet! You must feel so lucky to have her.” She looked directly at Emily, blue eyes meeting the birthday girl’s. It scared Emily a bit, how intently she stared at her, but shook it off the second the woman’s gaze returned to her parents’.

“Melissa, what should we do after the party?” Emily’s father posed a question to the smiling woman.

“Well, I could suggest one thing,” Yet again, Melissa gave a scoff.

“What is it?” Asked her mother.

“You take a nap.”

Emily, as well as her parents, looked at the employee in confusion, but after a few seconds, her parents’ eyes started to flutter, and soon enough, both their heads hit the table with a loud THUD. Emily immediately grew very afraid, asking Melissa what happened to them over and over.

“Melissa, what happened to them?!” The girl started to whimper. “Why did they fall asleep?”

Melissa smiled at her, saying nothing, as the woman suddenly merged into an entirely different creature. Emily watched, becoming even more confused, and she recognized someone familiar who replaced Melissa. A pink party pony with three balloons on her flank.

“Sorry about that!” Pinkie giggled, as Emily shook in her seat with fear. “I had to make sure we were alone before I showed you who I really am.”

“You—“ Emily sobbed, choking on her words. “You killed them!”

Pinkie’s ears dropped down, and her face held a frown. “No, no, no, no! Don’t worry!” She frantically pleaded. “I just had them sleep for a little bit, so we could play!”

“But why couldn’t they watch?” Emily, still upset, demanded an answer.

“Only children are worthy of seeing us!” Pinkie was back to smiling in a flash. “Besides, would you really want them ruining your super special party upstairs with all my friends?”

“...your friends?” Emily stopped crying, after looking at the pink pony before her in surprise. “But you guys aren’t—“

“Of course we’re real!” Pinkie quickly interrupted her, as if she knew Emily was going to ask the question she just did. “We don’t show ourselves much, is all. Adults are so boooring, anyway. With all those dumb rules they make when children should be out in the open, having fun, doing as they please! Wouldn’t you agree?”

“I...”

“Of course you do!” Pinkie screamed, giggling madly. “And, I can even take you to a place with no parents or teachers or any other meanie adults constantly telling you what to do at every turn! Would you like that?” Pinkie looked at her directly, just as she did when she appeared to be Melissa.

“Uh...” Emily had to process the question fully, as Pinkie had spoken it much too fast. “I...that’d be great, actually—“

“Perfect!” Pinkie skipped around with glee, again interrupting Emily. She headed for the stairway beside the counter filled with desserts, and gestured Emily to follow her. Emily nodded, still a bit nervous, but thought on wanting to see if the other ponies really were waiting for her on the second floor.

Pinkie, after finishing walking up the stairs, stopped in front of a door, presumably leading to her room. “Okay, Emily!” She said, growing more excited. Emily noticed a small amount of drool was making its way down her face from her mouth. “Hurry it up, I’m STARVING!”

“Starving? But—“

“For cake!” Pinkie cut her off yet again. “Delicious cake, a-and the party we’ll have together with our friends!” She frantically opened the door, and gestured a hoof inside. Emily entered, seeing a beautifully decorated room with balloons, streamers, and a table with a large birthday cake on it. She gasped loudly, and ran straight to the table, ready to eat the entire thing in one bite. But then, she noticed that the six other chairs surrounding the table were empty.

“Pinkie?” She tried to look for the pink earth pony, but saw that she had miraculously disappeared. “Where are your friends? And where did you go?”

“Riiiight behind you!” Pinkie’s voice shouted from behind Emily’s chair, and the girl yelped in surprise. Pinkie was now back to resembling Melissa, and her alternate appearance smiled at the girl widely. “Sorry about switching so often. I really like this form.”

“Uh...okay,” Emily was getting very confused, but didn’t bother to question things anymore. After all, it was just Pinkie Pie being...well, Pinkie Pie. Or, in this case, Melissa.

Melissa nodded, and she lit up five candles that were neatly placed onto the cake with hot pink and white icing. Giggling with excitement, she ran to the light switch next to the door, and turned it off, making the candles the only thing illuminating the room.

“I’ll be right back from the kitchen,” Melissa said, her voice growing more and more hectic from anticipation. “I’ll get something to cut the cake with!” In a flash, she was gone, leaving Emily alone.

Emily sat at the table by herself, wondering exactly why Pinkie had to knock out her parents. Surely they deserved to see Pinkie Pie just as much as she did, right? She knew that they had sometimes ruined her fun with correcting her all the time, but at the end of the day, Emily still loved them very much. Emily decided that when they woke up, and when her party was over, she decided she’d convince Pinkie Pie to show her parents this special world Pinkie promised to show Emily.

The door opening broke the girl out of her thoughts, and Melissa...or, Pinkie, had returned. Emily saw this as a good opportunity to express her question.

“Melissa—I mean, Pinkie, what’s this place with no adults you talked to me about?” Asked Emily, and Pinkie, still resembling a human, returned to standing behind her chair.

“Equestria, silly filly!” Pinkie laughed, her voice sounding the same as her pony form’s, although she was human once again. “Where you and I and all of my friends will be together forever, and have parties every single day! You’ll never have to worry about anything here ever again!”

“But...” Emily sighed, thinking on what exactly Pinkie had meant. “What about my parents? My friends? And—“

“We’ll talk later, okay?“ Pinkie cut her off again, but this time, her tone grew dark, even a bit sinister. Emily quit asking questions, not wanting to anger her new friend. Besides, since when was she going to get another chance to go to Equestria of all places?

“Okay,” Emily smiled. “After we eat cake, you’ll show me the way to Equestria, right?”

“Of course!” Pinkie seemed like she was in a hurry. “Now sing happy birthday to...well, yourself!” She laughed, even louder than last time.

“Okay,” Emily took a deep breath, staring at the cake with five candles in front of her, ready to sing.

“Happy birthday to...me,” Emily giggled, as this seemed a bit funny. “Happy birthday to—“

Something cold went directly through her stomach. Her entire body went numb with shock for a few seconds, before every inch of her was struck with a burning pain. She tried to scream as loud as she could, to maybe wake her parents, but a pink hoof covered her mouth.

She looked down, seeing that something metal had plunged into her stomach, and a strange red substance was spilling out of her, covering her shirt, the chair, the table, and dripping down onto the floor.

“Happy biiirthday~!” Pinkie was back to resembling a pony again, and was laughing madly as she kept plunging the metal object in the same place as before, the pain in Emily’s body growing every single time the unforgiving steel struck her nerves.

“I! Am! Tired! Of! WAITING~!” Pinkie shouted in a singsong voice, yet her tone remained grim. “SO DIE, YOU LITTLE SHIIIIT~!”

Emily’s vision was growing dark fast, and she managed to choke out a single “Why?” before all she could see were the five candles in front of her as her senses faded.

“I’ll see you in Equestria, silly filly!” was the last thing the birthday girl heard.