Prologue: Something's not right
Pinkie Pie! The happiest pony in all of Equestria!
Not always.
Today was a strange day and Pinkie didn't know why, the earth pony didn't jump out of bed in the morning as usual. Pinkie's mane was straight and flat, she looked at herself in the mirror and tried to smile but it just didn't look right. Pinkie had never felt like this before, not even as a filly when life was really difficult, she could always find something to smile about. She was sad sometimes of course, but this was different, She felt tired and weak. She felt as if she couldn't smile and if she did something would go wrong. Her head was aching and no matter what angle she looked at herself in the mirror, she didn't look or feel like herself.
“Maybe I'm just hungry...” Pinkie thought to herself, as she slowly walked downstairs. Instead of trotting.
After throwing away her half eaten-muffin, Pinkie Pie sighed and brought her hoof to her head. Her head hurt a lot and it made her feel terrible, even worse than when Discord made her unhappy and unable to laugh.
“Are you okay, Pinkie Pie?” asked a concerned Mrs Cake. She had never seen Pinkie like this before.
“I'm fine, Mrs Cake!” the pink earth pony reassured her.
Mrs Cake nodded and carried on feeding the baby Cake twins mashed apple for breakfast, occasionally helping herself to a spoonful of the foals' food.
“I'm just going to go outside for a walk, Mrs cake,” Pinkie Pie told the older pony. “I'll be back later to help with the baking".
Stepping outside, Pinkie felt a little better. She breathed deeply and tried to ignore the pounding in her head.
“I'll go and see Twilight, the library will be peaceful. Nice and quiet” Pinkie said aloud to herself.
Pinkie seldom enjoyed peace and quiet, but with her head feeling as bad as it was, the library seemed like the best place to go.
It took Pinkie longer than usual to reach the library, she had to keep stopping to rest. The streets seemed long and strange, many pony's she knew spoke to her, but she walked as if she hadn't heard them.
When she finally arrived, Twilight Sparkle noticed that Pinkie Pie wasn't her usual self. She asked the party pony if she was okay, Pinkie just nodded at the unicorn and assured her that she was fine, Twilight doubted this but didn't challenge her friend.
Pinkie found a comfortable corner in the library.Twilight had set this particular corner up as a foals section, but Pinkie couldn't resist the huge beanbags and cuddly toys.She sat down with a book: ''Pony Tales for Young Filly's".
Twilight chuckled softly at her friend.
The ache in Pinkie's head wouldn't go away and she soon fell asleep. Twilight considered waking her, but she looked exhausted and so the unicorn put a blanket over her friend and gently took the book from under her sleeping head and placed it back on the shelf.
“Pinkie!” Spike was shaking the earth pony.
“Spike!... how long was I asleep for?” she asked with pain in her voice.
“About three hours now...are you okay? Twilight asked me to check on you...”
“Three hours?! Oh no! I promised Mrs Cake I'd help with the baking!”
Pinkie jumped up and ran out of the library.
Pinkie ran, ignoring the pain in her hooves and the ache in her head. She had made a promise and Pinkie never broke her promises.
“Sorry I'm late Mrs cake!”
Pinkie yelled as she ran into the bakery, bowing her head in apology.
Mrs Cake continued icing the large carrot cake in front of her but nodded her head at Pinkie; accepting her apology.
Mrs Cake asked Pinkie to make some muffins, any kind would do, as long as there where plenty to sell.
Pinkie got to work baking cupcakes, she was going to try and make a new flavour today: Extra hot chilly sauce, but she decided to bake something quick and easy, so she made oatmeal muffins.
“Oatmeal?! Are you crazy?!” giggled a familiar voice.
Pinkie smiled at her friend. “Hey Rainbow Dash, want a muffin?”
The rainbow pony took the muffin and began to take large bites from it.
“So Pinkie Pie” Rainbow Dash said with her mouth full, “what time do you finish helping here? Are you up for some pranks when your done?”
Rainbow grinned mischievously, punching the air with her hoofs
.
“Sorry Dashie, I think when I'm done here I'm going to take a nap, I don’t feel so good.”
“It's cool” said Rainbow Dash, helping herself to another muffin. “Do you need any help here?” Rainbow asked after swallowing the muffin in three large bites.
“That'd be great, I need to make a few more batches.”
Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie got to work making muffins, Rainbow humming the song Pinkie had taught them to remember ingredients.
The humming hurt Pinkie's head, but she didn't want to spoil her friends fun and so suffered in silence as Rainbow stomped around the kitchen making jokes and telling stories.
Rainbow Dash declared herself the official taster of all cakes, usually Pinkie would have tried cakes with her, she loved cake, even oatmeal muffins, but she wasn't hungry at all.
After making six batches of oatmeal muffins, Rainbow Dash began to fly home.
“See you Pinkie Pie! Thanks for letting me try all that cake”
Pinkie waved goodbye to her friend. Pinkie would have liked to play some pranks with Rainbow, but now all she wanted to do was go to bed.
Pinkie Pie woke up the next morning, feeling even worse.
Her head had never felt so bad and she felt she couldn't keep her eyes open.
Pinkie stumbled down the stairs and into the bakery.
Mr Cake was feeding the twins and Mrs cake was reading a book while sipping coffee.
“Morning Pinkie!” Mr and Mrs Cake said in unison. The twins burped one after each other, and then giggled at Pinkie, who pulled a silly face at them.
Pinkie smiled at her friends and their foals, they where like a family to her and she loved them very much.
Pinkie got herself a small,green apple and sat down at the table.
“Not hungry dear?” questioned Mrs cake who was looking up from her book and at Pinkie, who was rolling the apple around the table.
“Not really Mrs cake, I feel a little funny but I'll be okay”
“Well if your sure....” Mrs Cake went back to her book.Pinkie left the table and went back to her room.
“What's wrong with me Gummy?..... I don't feel well at all!”
The baby alligator blinked.
“You’re right Gummy! I'll go see my friends! Then I'll feel better!”
The alligator blinked again, he took a large breath and closed his mouth again.
“ See you later alligator!”
Pinkie kissed him on the head and then jumped out of her window, landing acrobatically on the ground, regretting it almost instantly, because of the pain in her head and now spreading through her legs and hoofs.
She began to walk towards Carousel Boutique, as it was the closest.
“Pinkie darling!”
Rarity kissed the party pony on both cheeks as she walked into the Boutique.
“Hey Rarity, You're in a good mood”
“Well, I've just been asked to make a dress for Princess Celestia herself! I was thinking..... maybe you could organise some sort of party. This is possibly one of the greatest moments in my career!” Rarity squealed in delight.
“Yeah... maybe” said pinkie pie faintly.
Apple Jack, Twilight and Fluttershy walked into the Boutique.
“Rainbow Dash is on her way, she's just cleaning up a few clouds over the Apple fields for me”
Apple Jack told every pony.
“Princess Celestia wrote to me Rarity! This is fantastic!..... Wow a dress for the princess!”
said Twilight happily.
Pinkie's head was spinning.
“Are you okay Pinkie Pie?” Fluttershy asked quietly.
“I'm fine, I just...”
Pinkie never got to finish her sentence.
She fell to ground, her head repeatedly hitting the floor
Pinkie's friends watched in horror as she lay shaking and screaming, blood was pouring from her mouth and nose creating a small pool of scarlet all over the sparkling clean floors of Carousel Boutique.
Pinkie could hear her friends calling her name, but she couldn't focus, she didn't know what was happening.
Pinkie saw Rainbow Dash fly through the door. She tried to call to her friends but she couldn't, as the world began to grow dark, Pinkie tried to smile and her friends. Her wonderful friends who called her name.
…. “Pinkie”......
Pinkie woke up in a white room. She immediately figured out that she was in the hospital.
Pinkie quickly began to try to stand when suddenly she was being pushed gently back onto the bed.
“Sugar cube, you're in the hospital, you're gunna have to just lay here till the doctor comes”
Apple Jack gently told Pinkie.
Pinkie lay back into the pillows, squinting at the bright lights. There was a table full of cards and flowers in one corner of the room and the other side of the room was taken up by large pieces of machinery and several monitors that Pinkie noticed then were connected to her.
She turned her eyes to the small window: it was dark outside, Princess Luna had not risen the moon tonight and there where hardly any stars.
“....How long have I been here?”
Pinkie Pie croaked, her mouth was dry and her throat felt as if she had swallowed stinging nettles mixed with Equestria's hottest chilly sauce.
“ About 4 months now Pinkie Pie”
Apple Jack told the pink pony through tears.
“We where all scared.... scared ya.... wouldn't make it”
Pinkie gasped reaching out to Apple Jack,who wrapped her hooves around pinkie and the two friends wept. Happy and sad all at once.
When they finally let go of each other Pinkie summed up the courage and asked Apple Jack:
“What's wrong with me?”
At this moment a nurse pony with a cutie mark shaped like a red cross trotted in. She smiled at Pinkie Pie and looked into her eyes,she took her pulse and her temperature and wrote some notes. She looked puzzled.
“We took several tests during the time you where in a coma state. All came back clear and from the tests I have just taken, everything is completely normal....We have no idea what caused this, as things are looking normal I believe you should be fine to go home within 3 days. We need to keep you in for observation, but I don't think we will ever find the cause of this.”
Apple Jack thanked the nurse and turned to Pinkie.
“ We've all bin' visitin' you everyday. I’m so glad you're okay sugar cube. No pony could cope without you.”
Pinkie Pie smiled she was glad her friends were there for her.
But something was troubling her.
Pinkie's headache was coming back, the same as last time.
Pinkie carried on smiling. She didn't want Apple Jack to worry, she knew she could really tell somepony, but despite what a lot of pony's thought, Pinkie never EVER wanted to be a bother to any pony and for the sake of others smiling faces, she would always be fine.
No pony would have to know, she would be fine. Pinkie would be out of hospital in 3 days and then she would make every pony smile and laugh and a stupid headache wasn't going to stop her.
She promised herself.