Friends

Friends

I see friendship all around me.

The other ponies, they're all friends. They all play, they all prance, they all joke and they all laugh. They all pass me by without a thought, just smiling at me and thanking me for my parties from force of habit alone. Rarely do they talk with me, play with me, prance with me, joke with me... But that won't stop me from making them happy. It never has.

I look around and see everything I could ever hope for, everything I could ever dream of having, everything that makes me do what I do. Friends. I just wish that once, just once, I could call myself somepony else's friend. But that doesn't matter. As long as they're happy, I'm happy. Friends as far as the eye can see, from street to street, one side of Ponyville to the other. It just makes me so happy, seeing them so happy. It always has.

I turn around and glance down the streets some more, thinking. It's always way too hard to decide where to go and what to do on days off. I could go to the marketplace and buy some stuff, but I can't think of anything I need. I could go to the park and frolic through the flowers like a little filly, but that's just silly. So is rhyming, but that's silly in a good way. I could go to Rarity's place and finally get fitted for a dress, but that's just too boring. I could go to Applejack's farm and help her buck apples, but that's work and today's my day off. So many choices, and nothing to do.

I decide to head to the library and check out a book for Fluttershy. Surely that would let me stay at her place for a little while. We don't even have to hang out or anything; having company is more than enough for me. All of a sudden, my Pinkie Sense starts acting up. It's hard to figure out what it's trying to tell me sometimes, especially when I shake and twitch and wiggle in a combination that's never happened before, and especially-er when I can't even keep track of what's doing what, when. It finally stops, and I look around. Nothing's happened, everything's the same. Bon-Bon over there, relaxing on a bench, talking with Lyra. A group of colts there, trying to get the most out of their weekend. A royal chariot there, dropping off a purple unicorn before it heads off for its return trip.

Wait, that's not the same. Craving a break in my daily schedule, I set course for the unicorn. Something crosses my mind just then, and I stop a few feet in front of her. Maybe, if I hold back on what everypony else calls 'craziness', she'll want to be my friend. Maybe that's why they all avoid me, or talk to me just to not be rude. And so I simply stare at her while her little dragon friend tells her something. I'm not exactly sure what he said since my mind was too busy realizing a little dragon was talking right in front of me, but I snap back to reality when the unicorn speaks.

Since this was the perfect opportunity to mess with me, my mind didn't seem to want to snap back fast enough, and whatever she just said completely eludes me. Now I feel bad for not listening to her and she's probably expecting an answer or something, and I can't just sit here and say nothing because that would be weird and I don't want her to think I'm weird. I don't think I can even come up with a reply, my heart is beating too fast and I'm feeling really, really excited and pressured now. The perfect plan to befriend this mare pops into my head, and it's so amazingly awesome that I'm out of breath. And being out of breath is definitely not a good thing.

To fix my out-of-breathness, I breathe in so hard and so fast that I find myself up in the air, and now the unicorn is looking at me like I'm crazy. I don't want another pony thinking I'm crazy, especially a new pony I've never met before, so I decide to just run away really fast to calm myself down. By the time that happens and I've mustered up enough courage to go back to where they were for a second chance, the unicorn and little dragon are gone, and I think I might've done something wrong. It doesn't help that I'm probably right, either.

Anyways, I decide not to look for them for a while and head off to the library to set up a party. I'm not sure why, but something's telling me she's going to stop by the library later tonight. It doesn't take too long to set everything up, thanks to my handy party supplies stashed around Ponyville, and now I have a few hours to invite as many ponies as I can to the party... Which leaves me with a couple hours to myself, and nothing to do. Oh well, that's a problem for later. Right now, I have invitations to send.

The invitations are out, everypony's coming, and the library's ready for a party. I've already run out of ideas for what to do until it starts, so i guess I'll just wait for everypony to show up. None of the guests have arrived yet, but there's still an hour or so until the party starts, which means I should probably do something to pass the time.

Books are out of the question, I can't focus on them for too long. Unless they're picture books or comics, those are fine. If I happen to spot one, I guess I'll read it. For now, I'll just... hmmmm. I'll just...make a sandwich, yeah. That's easy enough. Maybe it's too easy, and easy things aren't much fun. And sandwiches don't really take much time to make, either. I could probably add some more decorations, but... I dunno.

There's nothing to do in a library. At all. Other than reading, which is even worse than nothing. There's a comic book over there, The Amazing Spidermare, so I might as well read it. I hop up to the top shelf and pluck it from its hiding spot behind some other big, boring books, and fling myself on to a seat to read. Which wasn't a very good idea, considering the seat, if you can even call it that, is just a slab of wood.

About a half-hour later, I check the time and set out the refreshments, pouring myself a glass of punch and taking it to the desk I've been reading at. I set the glass down just a little bit too fast, and a drop flies out of it and onto the book. Oh well, it's just one drop. Nopony will really care, so I just forget about it and start sippin' away while I read.

A time passed, and while I read on, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, as of some pony gently rapping at the library door.

"It's a visitor," I clamor, "Tapping at the library door." So I get up, set my book down, and open the door. There are four guests here, about a quarter of an hour early, which is great! Now I might have something to do while I wait. "Hi!" I say, and welcome them in with an elaborate wave of my hoof.

They smile at me, nod at me, head in, sit down, and start talking amongst themselves. I smile at them and head into the kitchen and whip out a nice, big plate. There are plenty of snacks around, so I load it up with a round of hors d'oeuvres and bring it out for us to eat while we wait. As I try to enter their conversation, though, everything goes quiet. It's normal for ponies to shut up when I try to talk to them, and there is knocking at the door once again, saving us from further awkwardness.

After the new arrivals are settled, I just wait by the door to allow the rest of the guests in when they come. Then at long last, the last final pony enters, and the lights are shut off.

Everypony's here, save for the guest of honor, and the darkness is doing well at keeping my excitement hidden. The four-minutes of torturous waiting has been killing me for hours. I can't take much more of this. I'm just about ready to kick that door open and- Oh, look. It's open. Guess that means it's time to jump out and start this thing. Or, maybe it could wait. She's talking to somepony, and I should probably focus on what she's saying. It takes a while for me to calm down enough to focus, but I can finally pick something up.

"...[size=2]that Nightmare Moon[/size] [size=4]is coming, and we're[/size] [size=7]running out of time![/size] I just need to be alone so I can study without a bunch of crazy ponies trying to make friends all the time. Now, where's the light?"

Ahh, the key word. The lights should shoot on any moment now, and then I'll be able to forget about how she doesn't want friends. That's silly, everypony wants friends. How could you not want friends? Friends are what make you happy and not lonely and happy and stuff. Granted, I don't exactly have a friend of my own, but still. Friends make you happy, and not wanting friends means you're sad. This isn't about making a friend for myself, anymore. It's all up to me to see this mare happy, there's nopony else that can do it. It's my duty to make this new mare happy and not friend-less.

Aaaand, there's the lights. And my retinas with them. I'm sort of dazed from the sudden brightness, something that's never happened before. After all the other ponies have probably yelled, "Surprise!" I finally gather my bearings. Yet, something's off about this whole picture. Nopony's moving or talking or playing or joking, except for the new unicorn. She's actually moving quite oddly, shaking me with one of her hooves. Come to think of it, she looks really familiar, almost like I've known her my whole life. My mind tries to grasp both of those things at the same time, and now my head hurts. She gives me one more gentle shove.

And I wake up.