On a normal, somewhat busy day in the quiet little town of Ponyville, a particular pink pony bounced through the streets. This pony was, indeed, pink; nearly every inch of her body was covered in the color. Her coat was a lighter shade than her mane, but it was, nevertheless, pink. In fact, the only non-pink parts of her body were the trio of balloons that covered her flank, two
cyan and one yellow, and her eyes, which were a vibrant cerulean.
This remarkably, well, pink pony was, of course, named Pinkie Pie. Element of Laughter, baker, and licensed party animal. Pinkie knew everypony, and everypony knew Pinkie. It was hard not to. She threw parties for everything. If it was somepony’s birthday, she threw a party. If somepony had a foal (or foals), she threw a party. If somepony got married, she threw a wedding. But it was a wedding party, obviously.
Making ponies happy was her special talent. And throwing parties was often an easy way to do just that. It worked, and Pinkie was happy, too.
And today was a special day, which was why Pinkie was now headed to her best friends’ houses, so that she may tell them about--
“Hey!”
The narrator looked down from his location above everything, at the pony he’d just been talking about. Indeed, the voice had come from her, and Pinkie Pie was now pointing at him and frowning playfully. “I’m supposed to be the central character in this story! Let me start doin’ that!”
The narrator decided to grant her wish, as she was, in fact, telling the truth. So, with a shrug, he gave the story’s viewpoint over to the reality bending pony, and sat back to watch it unfold.
“That’s better!” Pinkie Pie said, satisfied. As she put her hoof back onto the ground and returned her gaze forward, she noticed some ponies giving her odd looks. After a moment, they turned away once again, resigned to the fact that Pinkie Pie was probably just being Pinkie Pie.
With a smile once again plastered onto her face, Pinkie continued her bouncy gait towards the center of Ponyville. She was going to the library, where her friend Twilight Sparkle lived. As she went, she glanced around. Right now, she was in the park, and she saw a mint-green unicorn sitting on a bench in an odd way. As she passed the pony, Pinkie called out a greeting. “Hey Lyra! What’s up?”
Lyra looked at Pinkie, smiling, and waved her hoof. Pinkie smiled back and turned forward once again. All of a sudden, her ears pricked up as she heard a buzzing noise. The drone was shortly followed by the appearance of a scooter connected to a red wagon. Situated in this wagon were none other than Applebloom and Sweetie Belle, being pulled along by Scootaloo. The noise was coming from the orange filly’s little wings, flapping quickly and propelling the trio.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders were quite possibly the most awesome foals Pinkie knew, besides the Cake twins. Widening her smile just a fraction, the pink mare extended her foreleg and waved at the approaching vehicle. The grinning fillies in the wagon waved back, while Scootaloo simply nodded, knowing not to release the handlebars. As they passed, the wind whipped Pinkie’s mane and tail backwards, along with the grass, the flowers, the leaves on the trees, and basically everything else in or near their path. After the sudden gale passed, Pinkie’s hair drooped momentarily before springing right back up again, defying normal logic as usual.
Continuing, Pinkie bounced into the marketplace, which was currently mostly full. Looking around, she saw an orange mare and a huge red stallion behind a vendor’s stall, apple baskets surrounding them. To any passerby, Pinkie’s smile would appear to stretch beyond the limits of her face, and most would be sure that ponies didn't possess that many teeth.
The party pony changed directions and began hopping towards this particular stall. As she neared, the orange mare saw her and grinned. Arriving, Pinkie suddenly stopped, ignoring inertia forces, and greeted her friend. “Hiya Applejack! How's it goin’?”
“I’m doin’ okay, Pinkie. Just sellin’ apples,” Applejack replied warmly.
“Awesome! Hi, Big Mac!” Pinkie said, directing her words toward the large stallion who was behind the farmer. Said stallion glanced at her with his stoic features and nodded in acknowledgement. Pinkie then turned her attention back to Applejack. “Isn’t today a great day, Applejack?”
“Shure is, Pinkie. It’s, uh, Wednesday, I think?” Applejack stated, somewhat confused.
Pinkie’s smile faltered almost imperceptibly, but she quickly righted herself. “Yup! Good ol’ Wednesday! Anything else going on today?”
Applejack looked thoughtful for a second, before shrugging and replying. “Nothin’ I can think of. Hey, uh, no offense Pinkie, but I’m kinda busy right now.” She pointed over Pinkie’s shoulder, at a line of somewhat grumpy customers that the mare had cut in front of. “Do ya wanna buy some apples?”
“Er, sure, Applejack. That’d be nice.”
Bits were exchanged, and Pinkie set off again, apples now resting in her saddlebags. Although she still smiled on the outside, she was pouting a bit on the inside. Well... some ponies forget things. Yeah, Applejack’s probably just busy, and can’t remember right now. That’s gotta be it!
Reassured, she continued on towards the library, eager to see another of her friends.
____________________________________________________________________
The door to the Books and Branches library burst open, and a pink pony hopped in. It seemed like a lot of ponies knocked, which Pinkie found a bit odd. It was a public library, after all. Plus, Twilight and Spike lived in a different room than the place with all the books, so it wasn’t like it was trespassing or anything.
Pushing those thoughts aside, Pinkie looked around and saw Spike dusting the top of the bookshelves. At least, he probably had been dusting, but right now he was lying atop a pile of books, disoriented and holding a duster. A ladder was on its side next to him.
Curious, Pinkie hopped over to him. “Spike, you silly-billy! Why are you sleeping on those books? Books are for reading, not for napping!”
Coming to his senses, Spike grumbled and sat up, rubbing his head. Addressing Pinkie, he muttered a retort. “Gee, thanks Pinkie. Didn’t know that. What would we do without you around?”
“Well, you would probably be all bored all the time!” Pinkie stated, failing to recognize the sarcasm in the dragon’s voice.
The aforementioned dragon finished getting up and started reshelving the books that had fallen down. Meanwhile, Pinkie’s ears pricked up once again as she heard a clip-cloppy noise. Looking at the stairwell, she smiled as she saw a lavender unicorn mare trotting down the stairs. “Spike! Where did that noise come fr-- oh, hi there Pinkie Pie,” she said, cutting off as she caught sight of the party pony.
“Hiya Twilight! How ya doin’?” Pinkie said cheerfully.
“I’m okay, I guess. Planning on reorganizing the library today,” Twilight responded, assisting Spike in picking up the books with her magic. “How are you?”
“I’m just super-duper! Say, isn’t it such a nice day today, Twilight?”
“Yeah, it’s nice...” Twilight looked at her with her head tilted. “Are you okay, Pinkie? You seem a little bit on edge.”
Pinkie quickly straightened up and renewed her smile. “Yeah! Just peachy, nothing wrong here!”
Twilight gazed at her uncertainly for a second, before shaking her head and turning around. “If you say so, Pinkie. But if you don’t mind, I’m going to have to ask you to leave. Have to close the library for the reorganizing, you know how it goes. Okay?”
Pinkie turned and started walking towards the door, partly to leave, and partly to conceal the frown that had momentarily set on her face. She quickly wiped it off and tossed it in the metaphorical trash bin, replacing it with yet another smile. “Yeah, sure Twilight. See ya later, then?”
“Yep, bye Pinkie!” the librarian said, distractedly. Pinkie trotted out onto the doorstep, and the door shut behind her.
Pinkie thought for a moment. Well, not Applejack, and not Twilight. I’m sure that the others will, though! Definitely. With those thoughts in her head, Pinkie once again looked up and started bouncing down the street, albeit a bit less enthusiastically than before.
She rounded a corner and slid to a halt. Standing before her was none other than Fluttershy, wearing her saddlebags. Strengthening her grin, Pinkie walked the last few steps to her friend and addressed the shy pegasus.
“Fluttershy! What’s goin’ down?”
Jumping slightly, Fluttershy turned to the source of the noise and, seeing Pinkie, smiled softly. “Oh, I’m fine, thank you Pinkie. How are you today?” she asked in her gentle way.
“Just dandy! What’s in your bags?” Pinkie, once again ignoring logic, stretched her neck farther than what was physically possible for the equine body to get a better look at her friend’s packs.
The canary mare glanced back at them and replied, “Oh, those are groceries. I’m picking up some food for Angel. He’s very picky when it comes to salads.”
“Oh. Neat! I know I’m not picky, I actually like a lot of things, like balloons, and parties, and balloon parties, and parties, and streamers, and balloons, and party balloons! The party balloons are so cool, especially when they’re being used at balloon parties!” Pinkie said, throwing her hooves up for emphasis. Of course, the word “said” is very loosely applicable to what had just been emitted from her mouth. It was more like Pinkie ejecting her thoughts in the form of sound waves barely classifiable as words at a rapid pace.
Fluttershy blinked, and smiled awkwardly. “Er, right, Pinkie.” She and most of the citizens of Ponyville had grown used to the fact that Pinkie could talk like a sugar-crazed chipmunk.
Some wires in the pink pony’s brain reconnected, and she quickly remembered her goal. “Hey Fluttershy, doing anything important today? Maybe involving a special event?” Pinkie asked.
The pegasus looked upwards, before responding, “Well, Harry has a sore back again, so I need to help him with that. Otherwise, no. Why, is there something happening today?” she asked with polite curiosity.
Pinkie flinched, very slightly. “No, just wonderin’. No reason at all! Everything’s just peachy in Pinkie Land!”
“Oooookay, then. If you’re sure, Pinkie.” The caretaker turned around once again and began trotting towards the edge of town, in the direction of her cottage. “I have to get these groceries home, so I’ll see you later.”
“Okey-dokey, ‘Shy!” Pinkie called, before deflating and frowning. That’s Applejack, Twilight, AND Fluttershy! Sighing, she turned her gaze back towards the center of town, towards a particular building. Maybe Rarity will...
Half-heartedly, Pinkie smiled again, determined. Though it wasn’t her usual bounce, she quickly started trotting towards Carousel Boutique.
Maybe...
_____________________________________________________________________
CLOSED
The large letters on the sign hung from the door of the dress shop were easily legible. That helped their meaning sink in for Pinkie, who simply stared disbelievingly at the text. She was sitting on her haunches, leaning forwards to make sure her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her. Sure enough, they indeed worked correctly.
She wiped her eyes, and looked up. No, still the same, emotionless word.
She wiped them again. As she feared, no change.
Morosely, the not quite vibrant pony stood up and turned around. She couldn’t ask Rarity, which was almost as bad as what had happened with her other friends. It was almost as bad as a ‘no’.
No! Stop thinking like that, Pinkie! Who knows, maybe she’s just out to lunch!
The mare looked at the sky. Pinkie didn’t see a clock anywhere, but she knew that lunch had been over quite a while ago Well... maybe she’s just...
A sigh. Busy. Too busy for silly old me.
Walking back onto the road, she felt like a bit of weight had been added to her head. Swivelling her eyeballs up, Pinkie saw that her mane wasn’t as curly as it should be. She gasped, and concentrated on happy puppies. It poofed up again.
Looking forward, she was greeted by... a pair of fuchsia eyes. Huh?
Almost comically, Pinkie stretched back her head, before seeing the eyes’ owner. She practically squealed. Before her was none other than Rainbow Dash!
Excitement and worry coursed through her. Excitement that her friend was here, and worry about the answer to her question. Before she could speak, however, the prismatic pegasus spoke instead.
“Hey Pinks! What’s up?” the light blue speedster asked energetically.
“Oh, nothing,” Pinkie replied, hoping that she was being convincing. Dash knew better, though, and became concerned.
“You sure about that, Pinkie? Ya seem kinda...” she flew around Pinkie once, before settling back down in her original position. “...down in the dumps. Anything wrong?”
As with Twilight, Pinkie again straightened and smiled widely. “Nothin’ at all, Dashie Washie!” she exclaimed. She must have overdone it a bit, however, as her rainbow-maned friend leaned in and scrutinized her intently. Pinkie’s smile became nervous, and she started sweating. Please don’t notice, please don’t notice, please don’t notice...
She repeated the mantra five more times before Dash leaned back, satisfied. “Well, good! Got kinda worried for a second there.” She laughed, and Pinkie laughed with her, albeit a strained one. After she’d finished, the party pony decided to get on with it. “So, Dashie, what are you doing today?”
Rainbow Dash thought for a second, before suddenly perking up and looking up. “Oh yeah, I gotta go ask Twilight about the new Daring Do book! Daring Do and the Sultan of the Wind, it’s supposed to be awesome!”
The desperate hope inside Pinkie flickered and dimmed to the point where it barely existed. “Oh. That’s nice, Dashie.”
The pegasus was about to turn and leave, when she looked back to her friend. The flicker of hope burned brighter. “Say, Pinkie, did you want to come with? They’re really good books, believe me!” she said, before adding, “At least, as good as books can be.”
And out it went. “No, I think I’m okay. Thanks for the offer.”
“No problem! Catch ya later!” the daredevil called over her shoulder as she soared back towards the library. Pinkie watched the rainbow contrail until it disappeared, and sighed heavily. But- but Dashie’s my best friend! Why would she... she...
Her vision blurred, and she quickly cleared her eyes with her fetlock. Head down, she set off on a slow pace towards Sugarcube Corner. The sun had sunk in the sky, and it was getting late. Her head filled with thoughts as she auto-piloted back to her home.
Why did they forget? Is it not important to them? Am Inot important to them?
She struggled to clear her head, but the thoughts kept coming.
I’ve always done it for them! Did they remember, but just choose not to?
She quickened her pace. Sugarcube Corner was in sight.
Do I not matter to them?
10 feet away.
Aren’t they my friends?
5 feet.
Aren’t they?
1 foot.
...Wait.
Pinkie stopped, inches in front of the door. What if they hadn’t forgotten, and were planning a surprise party? Her gaze was drawn to the glass of the entryway. It was fogged up. I bet they’re waiting right inside! Oh, I knew I shouldn’t have worried! They’re my best friends, of course they didn’t-
Click
The door swung open, and a strange stallion stepped out. He trotted past her and walked back onto the road, not even sparing her a glance. Through the still closing door, Pinkie could see the emptiness inside the shop.
...forget.
It was true. They had forgotten.
Sadly, the mare trotted inside the store. None of her friends. The only pony in sight was Mr. Cake, standing behind the counter. As she walked in, he looked up, and smiled at her. Pinkie’s attempt at returning it failed miserably, only conjuring up the weakest of grins. Her employer was quick to catch on. “Pinkie Pie? Is something wrong?” he asked her, worry evident in his eyes.
“No, no, I’m fine,” Pinkie replied, although her mannerisms made if very clear that she was quite the opposite of fine.
“Come on, Pinkie, just talk to me. You know you can tell me anything, right?”
Defeatedly, the deflated mare sat herself down at one of the tables, shortly followed by the thin stallion. “So, tell me what the problem is.”
“Well...” Pinkie began, “there was something important today, but nopony remembered it. Not even my best friends.”
“I’m sorry that happened, honey. I wish I could do something to help. Maybe they were all just busy and got caught up in their work.”
“Maybe,” Pinkie said quietly, frown adorning her face.
“Hey now,” Mr. Cake said sternly, “don’t be like that. Cheer up! Just because they forgot... whatever it was, doesn’t mean they aren’t your friends or don’t like you anymore. Everypony forgets things, even the Princesses! Remember that time that Princess Celestia forgot where her crown was, when it was right on her head the whole time? Remember how funny it was?”
Pinkie chuckled a bit. It had been pretty funny.
Mr. Cake smiled. “See? Just don’t get yourself down, and I’m sure it’ll be okay. Friends are friends, and with the bonds you and the girls have, it’ll stay that way. Alright?”
The pink mare smiled. “You’re right, Mr. Cake. Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it. Now, I gotta go help the missus with an order to be sent to a high profile client. The Sultan of Haissan!" With that, he stood up and trotted back towards the kitchen. It was still light out. Pinkie looked at the unmanned counter. Smiling, she trotted over and stood behind it. Being all mopey is no way to work!
It wasn’t until several minutes later that she realized Mr. Cake had forgotten too.
____________________________________________________________________________
Several hours later, Pinkie still stood at the counter, but she wasn’t happy any longer. As the last customer of the day walked out, she sighed and laid her head on the top. Although Mr. Cake had been right, it didn’t change the fact that they had forgotten. Even if they were still her friends.
She hardly registered it as Mrs. Cake trotted over to the door and changed the sign from ‘Open’ to ‘Closed’. “Good night, Pinkie Pie!” she said over her shoulder as she walked up the stairs.
Pinkie just sighed. Mrs. Cake had forgotten too.
That was it then. Maybe they were her friends. Maybe she did matter. But they forgot.
Her bottom lip quivering, mane straightened, she walked over and slowly ascended the stairs, singing quietly to herself.
“Happy birthday to me...”
Clip-clop.
“Happy birthday to me...”
Level with the upstairs hallway.
“Happy birthday, dear Pinkie...”
At her closed door. She sighed and whispered the last words.
“Happy birthday to me.”
She opened the door.
“SURPRISE!”
A wave of noise hit Pinkie’s ears and she looked up in shock. Her eyes watered.
Her room was full of ponies. Green, brown, yellow, all the coats mingled and weaved until it was simply a colorful mass. Young, old, all ages. It was like everypony in Ponyville had come.
Hoofsteps sounded behind her. She looked, and saw even more ponies flooding from Mr. and Mrs. Cake’s room. Even from Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake’s rooms. Not like; literally everypony had come.
She turned back to her room, and saw the best thing of all: her smiling friends, wearing party hats and standing under a banner hung from the ceiling.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY PINKIE PIE
She sniffled. They remembered.
And as the citizens of Ponyville watched, Pinkie’s hair poofed up, and her smile grew, and grew, until it was three times larger. And they watched as she bounced to her friends and enveloped them all in a great big hug.
“Oh, thank you thank you thank you all! You girls are the best friends a pony could wish for!” she almost shouted in glee.
“No... problem, Pinks,” Rainbow Dash managed as the party pony crushed her inwards.
Pinkie let go, and stood back on her hindlegs in a feat of incredible balance, forelegs spread out. A party hat had mysteriously found its way onto her head. “Now come on, everypony! Let’s party!”
The crowd cheered, and a white unicorn tossed a record onto her set and hit play. Music blasted out as ponies started dancing.
And Pinkie was with her friends, amongst all the ponies in Ponyville, laughing and having fun. Gone were the thoughts and feelings of abandonment. Gone were the questions of friendship and importance. In its place, was happiness.
Happiness, because it was her birthday.
Happiness, because she was with her friends.
Happiness, because they loved her, and she loved them too.
And so, the party continued on through the night. Good times were had, and life was celebrated. And at the center, Pinkie was content to enjoy it with her five best friends in the world.
