"Subsection A code 41, Mountain Wildlife of the Gryphic Mountains, goes here. Subsection D code 68, Canida: The Lost Diamond Dog Republic of the North goes here."
Spike slid in the last book that he was tasked with re-shelving and smiled contently at his work. The shelf was the very picture of perfection. Every single inch was occupied by some book, text, manuscript, scroll, or other written work, all neatly arranged according to genre, and then alphabetized by author. Children's books, to science texts, to treatises on theology, it always impressed the young dragon at the great variety that was present in the Ponyville library. Twilight was always happy with it too, always finding something that pertained to her interests, of which there were many.
Spike stepped down from his stool and went over to a table. From it, he grabbed a small slip of paper and walked towards a shelf. He selected a volume, pulled it out, and replaced it with the marker before walking up the stairs.
The purple dragon hopped into his basket, and opened the book to read aloud. Twilight was absent that day, and so he could do as he pleased.
"The Connoisseur's Guide to Gems," he began. "It is a well-known fact that the land of Equestria is one of abundance in all things, including, as is relevant to this book, gems. With this abundance, however, comes the necessary burden of holding an ever more scrutinizing eye for quality. While some Minotaurs in the south may be content to find a piece of quartz to adorn a pauldron--"
A knocking sounded at door and Spike hastily stowed the book behind a cushion. "Come in!" he called out, stepping out of his basket. As he made his way down the stairs he could hear the door open and the familiar voice of Pinkie Pie.
"Hi Spike!" the pink mare shouted with all the enthusiasm of a six pound cat given a shot of adrenaline. "I had a break from Sugarcube Corner and I totally thought that right now would be a fantastic time to visit you and Twilight!"
"That's great to hear Pinkie," Spike said, "but Twilight isn't here right now. She's at the spa with Rarity and Fluttershy." He stepped down into the foyer once more and looked around. "Pinkie? Where are you?"
"I'm right here silly!" Pinky exclaimed from underneath the stairs. Spike turned to the bubbling voice's source and looked at Pinkie. What he saw struck him dumb.
Her mane, where it once possessed the volume, bounce, and garishness of rubberized cotton candy, was now as flat, deflated, and straight as regular licorice.
"Uh, hey Pinkie. H-how are ya?" the perplexed dragon inquired.
"I'm doing fantastic! Although it is a little disappointing to hear that Twilight isn't here right now, but I'm sure you and me can have lots of fun on our own!" the mare bubbled her response with all her usual exuberance.
"Uh, sure, I suppose I could do with some time outside," Spike offered sheepishly, off put by the contradiction before him.
"Great! Come on Spike! We can go see if Rainbow Dash wants to pull some pranks." The pink pony began trotting off when Spike's slightly perturbed features registered with her. She turned around and looked at the dragon as he took in a sharp breath at the sudden movement.
"Is Spikey okay?" she asked innocently, putting on a mock pout.
"Uhh, I guess?" Spike responded, staring at Pinkie's mane.
The mare absentmindedly reached over to her new do with a hoof before she flinched with insight. "Oh! Do you like my mane? I had it done like this yesterday!"
"Uh, it's... nice? Wait, you had it done like this?" The purple dragon shook his head, thinking that something crazy had crawled in.
"Of course! I could never get my mane like this without help! I mean, how would I even use a straightener? I'd have to grow little stubby things out of my hooves to grab with, and that's just plain silly." Pinkie nonchalantly waved a hoof at the dragon and raspberried her lips. "But Lotus and Aloe are really talented; they got my mane just how I wanted it."
"So you wanted your mane like this?" Spike inquired.
"Like what?" Pinkie asked, blinking inquisitively and leaning towards the dragon.
"Flat," he said flatly, tilting his head he continued. "Is something wrong Pinkie? I've never seen you like this, except when you thought nopony wanted to be friends with you anymore."
"Nope! Absolutely, positively, no-chance-in-Tartarus is anything wrong! In fact, if anything, I've been feeling better the more time I spend with all of my friends." Pinkie wrapped herself in her forehooves. "I'm lucky to have such great friends."
"But why change your mane, Pinkie?"
"Why not?" the party pony replied.
"I uh..." Spike raised a claw before letting it slump back down. "Because you don't usually change your mane?"
"But what does changing my mane have to do with me being unhappy?" Pinkie unraveled herself from her hooves and stood up. "My happiness is in my head. My mane is on my head. Two totally different things, except for the head part."
"So you're genuinely happy?" Pinkie nodded to Spike's question. "Not the teeniest bit of despair?" Again, Pinkie nodded.
"Spike, my mane doesn't determine what makes me, me. Remember how I acted when Zecora came to town? I sure felt silly after that!" The pink mare bounced in place as she hummed 'Evil Enchantress'.
"I didn't really think of it that way," Spike admitted, placing a claw to his chin.
"Anyways, come on! Let's find Dashie. I heard she got a jar of rainbow from Cloudsdale, that stuff is sooo spicy!" With that she turned and walked to the door with a characteristic bounce in her step.
"Good old Pinkie, still as random as the day I met her." Spike walked after the exuberant young mare, feeling a little more confident that a change on the outside didn't mean there was a change on the inside.
*****
Spike and Pinkie Pie walked down Mane Street towards Sugarcube Corner. Well, Spike walked, Pinkie hopped, and skipped, and sort of floated down the road. The sun had reached its midday zenith, and lit up the busy market stalls on the side of the road. Ponies all around tended to their business. Some bought groceries, or furniture and crafts, while others sold produce, old books, or various hats. In one stall, a particularly large, blue clydesdale was wearing a propeller hat and happily declaring his intentions to eat a "sandvich." There was even a pegasus mime who kept flying upwards, only to hit an invisible ceiling.
"Silly, he should just fly around that!" Pinkie declared exuberantly as she and her reptilian follower passed him by.
"So, Pinkie, what were you thinking of having for lunch today?" Spike asked earnestly.
"Well, let's see, today is the third Tuesday after the Summer Sun Celebration, but the hydra from Foggy Bottom Bog hasn't begun calling during sunset, soooo... I have no idea!" The mare bounced along happily. Her mane flared outward with each bounce and settled back on her neck at a speed slower than her bouncing. When the party pony stopped bouncing, her mane remained aloft for several seconds as she lifted a hoof to her chin.
"I suppose I have a hankering for cupcakes. Feel like helping me make some Spike?" Pinkie inquired, smiling down at her friend.
"Cupcakes? Sure!" Spike exclaimed happily as he threw his arms out. "Do you have the ingredients for topaz tangerine toppers?"
"Sure do! I always keep some gems at Sugarcube Corner for 'Spike-Wants-Super-Special-Shiny-Gemstone-Cupcakes' emergencies!" Pinkie declared resolutely, lowering her hoof and trotting off to Sugarcube Corner with Spike in tow.
*****
"Hi Mr. and Mrs. Cake! I'm here with Spike to make cupcakes! Is it okay if I borrow the downstairs oven for a bit?" Pinkie Pie asked as she entered the confectionery establishment with Spike.
"The downstairs oven?" Mr. Cake asked as he lifted his head from setting a tray in the display case. "Of course! Go right ahead! We'll leave you and Spike to it. Be sure and have fun!"
"Thanks!" Pinkie answered as she cantered past her lanky employer and down the stairs.
At the bottom of the stairs Pinkie spoke. "Now, I'll just find the gems for your cupcakes Spike. Could you help out and find the flour? Spike?" The mare turned about and saw Spike standing at the top of the stairs. "Helloooooo, Spike? The oven we can use is down here, are you coming or what?"
"I uh..." the dragon muttered, eyeing the basement incredulously. "Is there really an oven down there?"
"Yep!" Pinkie nodded.
"In the basement? What about the smoke?"
"It's electric!" the party pony replied. "The Cakes bought it a few years ago to use for cooking their own meals, but then they figured it was easier to use the bakery ovens. So they let me move it down here for my special projects."
Spike looked at Pinkie's flaccid mane and swallowed a small wad of spit. "Okay, just one moment." With that, the purple dragon began descending to the bottom of the stairs carefully. When he finally reached the bottom of the stairs Pinkie had turned on several lights and had a basket of topazes in her mouth.
The pink mare set the basket down beside the small, black, electric stove and trotted off to a small cupboard. She pulled out of it a brick of butter, a jar of sugar and a bag of tangerines.
"So, where is the flour Pinkie?" Spike asked as his left foot drew circles in the somewhat dusty floor.
"Just over there in the corner." Pinkie gestured to her left as she sorted through the constitutive culinary components surrounding her.
"Right," the purple dragon affirmed before waddling over to the corner. In it was a ten pound bag of flour set apart from the pile of other bags. One corner of it was cut open but folded over to keep it fresh. Spike reached over to the bag and grasped it in his claws, careful not to pierce the paper.
Just then, all the lights in the basement shut off and Spike flinched, piercing the sides of the bag.
"Oh no! What happened!?" the purple dragon yelled as he felt the powdery substance flow around his claws.
"Oh, just a minute, a breaker must have flipped." Spike turned in the direction the voice came from but only saw a flat stream of pink fly past the light cast from upstairs.
"Pinkie?" the baby dragon called out hesitantly. "Where are you-- AH!" Spike could swear he had felt something brush against his arm.
"Sorry Spike, just looking for the circuit!" Pinkie called, now from the corner opposite where Spike was standing. Following a few clanking sounds, the silence resumed.
A few moments later, the flour stopped flowing around Spike's claws and he let the bag go. It floated to the ground and caressed his leg as he turned around. The purple dragon tried focusing his eyes to make out something in the darkness. In the middle of the room, a light flickered to life over the oven. Pinkie was standing there with a smile on her face.
"There!" she announced. "Guess we'll have to bake with just the one light!"
Spike gave a sigh of relief before turning back to the pile of flour. "Oooohhh!" he moaned.
Pinkie Pie was soon beside Spike and pressing her cheek to his. "It's okay! I'll get another bag of flour, you just get the broom and dustpan."
"Alright Pinkie," Spike said. He headed to a wall with a broom leaned up against it, picked it up, and returned to the mess and set about cleaning up all the flour.
"All you have to do is take a cup of flour,
add it to the mix!
Now just take a little something sweet not sour,
a bit of salt, just a pinch!
Baking these treats is such a cinch, add a teaspoon of vanilla!
Add a little more and you count to four and you never get your fill up!
Cupcakes!--"
"Pinkie?" Spike interrupted, causing the mare to halt in midair and look at the dragon before drifting back to the ground. "Why are you singing?"
Pinkie tilted her head at Spike. "Why wouldn't I be singing? I'm with a friend doing something I love to do. Are you okay Spike?"
The purple dragon leaned back slightly. "Yeah, I'm fine, it’s just you're acting... normally."
"Thanks!" the mare bubbled before returning to her singing and cooking.
Pinkie completed the first batch of cupcakes with topaz and gave them to Spike. The purple dragon coiled his tongue around a half dozen of them, looping the lengthy muscle around each and drawing them all into his mouth. While Pinkie pulled out her own batch of chocolate cupcakes, covered in pink and purple frosting. She pulled them from oven and set them aside to cool. She sat down beside Spike and started humming to herself contently.
"Uh, Pinkie, you going to eat those cupcakes soon?" Spike asked.
"Five," she replied.
"Five? What do you--"
"Four, three, two, one."
An instant later Pinkie grabbed the nearby tray with her hooves, opened her mouth, and emptied the contents into her awaiting gullet.
"Oh," Spike said. "Countdown, gotcha."
"Mmmm!" Pinkie said, rubbing her belly. "Now that we're all filled up with goodies, wanna help me and Dashie play some pranks?"
"Sure!" Spike exclaimed as he stood up. With a light burp from Pinkie, the two were off to find their multichromatic-maned, flying ace of a friend for fun of a more joking manner.
*****
Pinkie and Spike were in the park. The sparkling waters of the nearby pond reflected the afternoon sun in a brilliance that shimmered with every ripple in the water. On occasion, a wide-mouth bass would leap into the air, grasp at its throat with its fins, and plummet back into the water, resolving to never again leave the safety of its wonderful scaly world of Fishyville. Such excursions sent out ripples in the water that caught the sunlight and shone into Spike's eye.
"Aye!" the purple dragon exclaimed as he clasped a claw over his face. Withdrawing his claw he looked at Pinkie. "So, see any sign of Rainbow Dash?"
As if in response, a loud snoring became audible as the two walked down the path. Looking upwards, Spike saw a small tuft of rainbow-colored tail poking over the side of a cloud.
"Hey Rainbow!" Spike called out, "Me and Pinkie wanted to go play some pranks with our time off! Wanna join in?"
In response, a cyan hoof kicked out and withdrew, and a snort emanated from the cloud. "No way Flitter, not interested in that."
The purple dragon turned to his pink companion and shrugged. "Got any ideas?"
Nodding, Pinkie Pie shouted up at the cloud. "Ooooohhh Dashie! Soarin is visiting town!"
"SNUGH!" Rainbow's head poked over the side but her eyes remained tightly shut. "Yes, my mane is naturally awesome."
Spike shook his head and sighed. "Okay, so she's still asleep, and now she's bragging. How are we going to-- Hey!" Spike yelled as another flash of light hit his eye. He looked venomously at the lake before Pinkie Pie started giggling. Turning to the mare, the baby dragon saw that Pinkie was holding a mirror in her hoof. Continuing to giggle, the party pony aimed the mirror right into Rainbow Dash's eyes and moved the light across them.
"They found us Daring! Run!" Rainbow yelled as she leaned forward. The cyan pegasus shook her head and looked around. When her gaze settled below her she let her face don a mock scowl as she flew down.
"Alright you two, what is it you..." Rainbow's eyes finally scanned Pinkie's mane, and then Pinkie's warm smile. Rainbow's brain filed a complaint to her eyes, claiming that they were liars. Her eyes, in turn, decided at that moment that they were tired of being yelled at for telling the truth and shut tight. As Rainbow winced she shook her head.
"Me and Pinkie Pie wanted to play some pranks, and we thought you'd want to join in on the fun!" Spike answered happily.
Rainbow opened her eyes and looked at the two of them incredulously. "Pranks?" she asked. "What kind?"
"The pranking, fun kind silly!" Pinkie Pie bubbled, her mane drawing Rainbow's focus away from her answer.
"Uh yeah, about that," Rainbow explained nervously as she entered into a hover. "I was kinda hoping to check up on Fluttershy after her spa appointment with Rarity and Twilight. Figured she would want some help taking care of her animals after she treated herself this morning."
"Oh! Well, okay Dashie. If you change your mind, just follow the sounds of laughter!" With that, Pinkie reared up on her hind hooves and embraced the lower half of the cyan mare.
Rainbow squirmed slightly at the intimacy. "Uh, yeah, well, gotta go!" She slipped out of Pinkie's grasp and was off towards Ponyville.
"Is it just me, or did Dash seem to be acting a little strangely?" Spike asked as he turned to Pinkie Pie.
"I dunno, come on, I have an idea for our first prank!"
*****
Filthy Rich was walking by his lonesome in the park, whistling a small ditty as he worked out some accounting numbers in his head.
Carry the four, that means I need four hundred shelving units and twenty-eight light fixtures--
The mustachioed merchant's train of thought was broken when he noticed a golden-hued glimmer shine in his eye. As he went down the trail he saw a bit on the ground. The stallion looked around and, seeing nobody, talked to himself.
"Perfectly good bit put to waste, might as well just stow it away." Filthy Rich reached down to the bit with a hoof. Before he could make contact with the coin however, it moved off the pavement and onto the grass. Looking from side to side to ensure nopony saw him, Filthy braced himself to leap at the bit. When he launched himself into the air, the coin once again moved out of the way. Rich gasped and reached out with his forehooves. He immediately regretted the decision as his chin was introduced to ground.
Giggling sounded from a bush and Rich stood up quickly. "Blasted foals, always wasting time with fun when they could be making a real name for themselves!" With that the stallion walked off.
In a bush, Pinkie Pie and Spike giggled furiously.
"That was awesome!" Spike whispered excitedly.
"I know!" the party pony replied. "Though he did only go for it twice."
"I'm sure somepony else will come along soon," Spike responded as he wiped a tear of glee from his face.
A few minutes later, Pinkie and Spike were staring out of their bush when Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy trotted around a tree in the distance.
"Oooh! Perfect, I have just the thing to prank Twilight with!" Pinkie exclaimed as she reached into her mane. A moment later, she pulled out a large tome entitled 'The Complete Life and Times of Clover the Clever'.
Spike looked confusedly between the flaccid mane and the large text, wondering how it had been tucked away so securely. Spike shrugged a moment later as Pinkie Pie began looping a small piece of string around the veritable brick of knowledge. Tying the string off, Pinkie grasped the book in her mouth, and launched it onto the path. The mare and the dragon waited excitedly as their friends drew closer. Twilight and the other drifted out of sight for a few moments before appearing again.
"So you say her mane was flat? What about her eyes, were they pinpricks? Did she keep saying 'fun'?" Twilight asked of Rainbow Dash.
"No she just had the flat mane like when she--"
"Hang on," Twilight interrupted as she brought a hoof up to halt Rainbow Dash. The purple mare looked over at the large tome that was set on the ground before her. Her eyes widened as she took in the cover. "A biography of Clover the Clever!" Twilight yelled as she jumped towards the book excitedly. She landed beside the book and began prancing about on her hooves. "Yes yes yes yes!"
With a glowing horn, Twilight lifted up the book and tried to place it in her saddlebags. Twilight winced as a tugging sensation kept her from retrieving her desired book. "That's strange," she commented as she put a little more force behind her spell. The tugging redoubled and Twilight pulled with all the might she could bring.
Under the purple and pink wills, the string snapped and sent the book flying. "AAGH!" Twilight screamed as she caught the book in her magical aura again just before it landed in the pond. "Whew!" Twilight expressed as she lifted the book back to her saddlebag.
At this point, Pinkie and Spike could contain their mirth no longer and burst out laughing. Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity and Rainbow went to the bush and parted the plant. Revealed to them were the party mare and number one assistant rolling on their backs jubilantly.
Twilight rolled her eyes and lifted Spike to his feet as Pinkie gave a final snort and stood up. All the others except Spike stared at Pinkie and her mane as silence reigned.
"What?" Pinkie asked as she shrugged.
"Oh dear!" Fluttershy expressed, floating over to her friend. "Are you okay Pinkie? Did something happen? You aren't hurt are you? I didn't mean to neglect you honest!"
"Flutters," Pinkie said as she hugged her butter-pegasus friend. "I'm feeling wonderful, and now that even more of my friends are here we can have even more fun!"
"But darling," Rarity piped up, "why ever did you decide to change your mane? Not that it doesn't make you look wonderful, it's just..."
"The last time you had your mane like that you thought we were abandoning you," Twilight completed. "So tell us, what's wrong? Did something happen at the Crystal Fair? Did you hit your head during the float crash? HUH!" Twilight bit her lip and started moving her hooves like she was on hot coals. "What if you aren't the real Pinkie Pie? What if I sent the real Pinkie Pie into the Mirror Pool? Oh, Celestia, I knew I should have just asked a question only the real Pinkie Pie could have answered. HAH!" Twilight pressed her head against Pinkie's, her horn disturbing some of the party pony's locks.
"Okay, Pinkie, tell me, what animal did I accidentally turn into an orange the morning before you used the Mirror Pool?" Twilight looked into Pinkie's eyes expectantly, her eyes showing regret.
"A blue jay!" Pinkie responded happily.
Twilight pulled her head back and sighed. "Okay, so you are the real Pinkie, unless..." Twilight's horn sparked as a flicker of green light shone over Pinkie.
"Oooooh pretty!" the party mare bubbled as the light passed over her.
"Okay, not a changeling either," Twilight said as she began pacing. "Oooh, this doesn't make any sense, Pinkie says she's happy, but her mane is flat! Something must be wrong and she doesn't know about it!"
"Twilight," Spike groaned. "I've been with Pinkie for the last few hours and she's been acting the way she usually does--"
The purple dragon's lips were sealed as a purple aura surrounded them and formed a zipper.
"I'm sorry Spike, but you're too young to make an accurate psychological analysis in less than a day without proper training or equipment." Twilight lifted her chin up and walked back to the path with Pinkie in tow.
Spike reached up to his lips and unzipped them. "But I'm thirteen! And you're only twenty! How are you supposed to figure out if something is wrong with Pinkie Pie?" The reptilian assistant groaned as he saw the others surround Pinkie and guide her towards the library, pressing her with questions to make absolute certain that she was fine. The purple dragon waddled after the group, shaking his head and rolling his eyes.
*****
Pinkie Pie was strapped into a large chrome helmet covered in red lights and wires. Surrounding her in the library basement was Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Twilight, Fluttershy, Twilight, Rarity, and Twilight.
"Twilight," Pinkie pouted, "Can you stop teleporting around? It's hard for me to keep track of you when you keep moving about like that!"
"Sorry Pinkie, but I have to make sure all the machinery is operating properly for this test." Twilight walked over to one final machine, a small tape recorder. She flicked the switch with a hoof and cleared her throat. "Ahem, Twilight Sparkle recording on..." Twilight glanced at a calendar. "Oxtober twenty fifth, 7802 after Discord. Subject name, Pinkamena Diane Pie--"
"Just Pinkie Pie is fine Twilight," Pinkie interrupted with a smile.
"AKA Pinkie Pie. Species: Earth Pony. Coat color: pink, mane color..." Twilight glanced at Pinkie's mane and gave a worried frown. "Slightly darker pink."
Rainbow Dash exasperatedly sighed. "I'm pretty sure we all know who Pinkie Pie is Twilight," the cyan mare stated. "Why are we bothering with all this?"
"Because this is science Rainbow," Twilight answered, "and I always take science seriously, especially when it comes to my friends. Moving on. Subject displays characteristic personality traits, but mane indicates deep seated emotional issues."
Twilight walked up to the Pinkie Pie and looked at her. "Pinkie, I'm going to ask you a series of questions. I'd like you to answer them all honestly. I'll be able to tell if you're attempting to keep something a secret so don't bother. I have you rigged up to a heart rate monitor, dermal temperature readers, and a real-time MRI and thaumic stress detector."
"Twilight," Pinkie began, "I'd never lie to you or any of my friends. I mean, remember how bad things went when I didn't talk to you when I thought you didn't want to be my friend anymore? Or when Dashie thought we'd make fun of her when she started reading Daring Doo? Or when Rarity kept the fact that she was going to that party Fancy Pants was throwing a secret from us? Or when Applejack tried to run away after she didn't get first place at the Canterlot Rodeo? Or that time when you strapped me to this big helmet thing and I didn't tell you that I was worried it was going to mess up my mane?"
Twilight tilted her head at the last comment and looked at her bound up friend.
"Oops! That's right now, silly me!" Pinkie bubbled.
Shaking her head, Twilight responded. "Yes, but I also remember what happened when my friends didn't take a problem I had seriously, remember when I was late for that letter to Celestia?"
A collective shudder ran down everyone's backs.
"Most certainly darling, that doll had a positive eye sore of a fashion sense," Rarity stated. When Rainbow Dash and Twilight each raised an eyebrow towards the fashionista, she chuckled. "Well it was wearing polka dots!"
"Anyway," Twilight said with a roll of her eyes as she turned back to Pinkie. "First question, name?"
"Name what?" the party mare responded.
Twilight smacked herself in the face with a hoof. "What is your name?"
"Pinkie Pie!"
"What is your favorite color?"
"Pink!"
"What is your quest?" Twilight pressed, walking over to a printer that was spewing out a graph.
"To make ponies laugh!" Pinkie Pie shouted.
"Are you presently upset, sad, disappointed, dejected, unhappy, worried, depressed, concerned, or otherwise dissatisfied with your life in any manner?" Twilight asked as her eyes ran along the sheet of paper, her frown deepening.
"No, no, no, no, no, only about you, no, only about all those blinking lights, and I'm fine. Honest!" Pinkie replied.
Twilight scanned the paper before her. The purple mare's left eye twitched as the data failed to meet her expectations. "No, no, no, no!" she yelled.
"That's exactly what I said," Pinkie piped up, "along with no, only about--!"
"This doesn't make any sense! Nothing on this graph shows that something is wrong with Pinkie Pie!" Twilight levitated the graph up to Rainbow Dash. "See?" the purple unicorn asked of her cyan friend. "All the data maintains perfect consistency with her base-line answers. Do you know what this means?"
"Uh, non-egghead please?" Rainbow requested.
"It means that whatever is causing Pinkie's mane to be flat isn't being detected by this machine. This infernal pile of junk isn't working!" Twilight answered. "There doesn't seem to be an explanation for why she would want her mane like this!"
Twilight ran over to some controls and began fiddling with them. "Maybe if I just increase the power, and disable the coolant system, I can get a clearer--"
"It's Pinkie Pie!" a voice from the basement stairs yelled. "She doesn't need a reason for having her mane done up that WAH!" A crashing sound came from the stairs and down rolled Spike. Rolling in a near perfect sphere he smacked into Twilight's machine. "Ow."
"Spike!" Twilight exclaimed as she stepped away from the machine. "I told you, I'll handle this. I've read dozens of books on psychoanalysis, including Karen Horney the Unicorn, Hairy Mane Stack Sullivan, and Zigmind Freud the Zebra! If there is anyone who can help Pinkie, it's me!"
"Twilight..." Pinkie whined.
"It's okay Pinkie, I'll help you. Just let me get Spike out of here so I can--"
"Oh dear, Twilight, um! Your machine is acting all funny!" Fluttershy interjected as she stepped back.
"Huh?" the purple mare expressed as she turned around. The machine was flashing with a series of red and yellow lights and shuddering violently. "It's picking something up!" she yelled excitedly as she ran to the printer again. "Yes! According to this reading Pinkie is experiencing high amounts of fear right now. But how would that cause her mane to go flat? Some sort of hormonal response increasing the amount of skin oils in the scalp? Hang on, new reading. Oh my mistake, these aren't readings, they're just indicating that the machine is short circuiting."
The Element of Magic sighed before realizing what she had said. "AH!" Twilight yelled as she teleported over to her machine. It was causing quite the racket and tilting to one side and then the other. "I can fix this!" Twilight assured her friends and herself. "I just have to... Oh horseapples."
An emergency breaker on the machine flipped and an arc of electricity shot down to Pinkie. The party pony shook violently before the helmet flew off and embedded itself in the ceiling.
As the smoke cleared Rainbow Dash flew to Pinkie Pie. "Whew! Pinkie are you okay? Oh, thank Celestia, your mane is normal!"
"What did you say?" Twilight asked as she trotted over to the pair.
"I said her mane is back to normal, all fluffy and poofy," the cyan mare responded as Rarity and Fluttershy walked up to the others tentatively.
Pinkie Pie reached over to her head with her hooves and felt at her mane. True to Loyalty's word, her mane was once more puffed up more than a marshmallow.
"Fascinating," Twilight said. "It must have acted as some sort of electro-shock therapy, thank goodness it didn't cause any permanent damage, right Pinkie? Pinkie?"
All attention was focused on the mare who continued prodding her mane as her lips quivered. Pinkie looked back at her tail to see that it too was regrettably chaotically arranged. Her eyes watered as Rarity hugged her.
"Oh darling! It's so good to see you back to your happy self!" the fashionista exclaimed as she felt warm moisture on her shoulder. Rarity withdrew and saw that tears had welled up in Pinkie's eyes. "Pinkie, what's the matter?"
"I-I wanted my mane to b-be l-like that!" the pink mare cried. "Now it's all undone!" Pinkie started sobbing as Fluttershy came up to comfort her friend.
"Shhhh, it's okay, you're all better, Twilight fixed your mane. Everything will be all better, you just have to give it time."
"WAAAAHHH!!" Pinkie bawled as the butter pegasus wrapped her hooves around her neck.
"Pinkie, what's wrong?" Twilight asked concernedly. "Your mane is back to its normal self! Aren't you happy?"
"NO!" Spike yelled, dusting himself off. "That's what I was trying to tell you, Pinkie told me this morning that she wanted a change of style, so she went to Lotus and Aloe for a mane-cut. No depression! No psycho-thingamajigger! No crisis you needed to avert!"
"So..." Twilight lifted a hoof to her chin as her ears drooped. "She wanted her mane like that just for a change of pace?"
"Yes," Spike answered as Pinkie continued to sob.
"But why? It's a little sudden, don't you think?" Twilight smiled hopefully.
Spike folded his arms and tapped a foot to the ground that brought memories of Angel Bunny to Fluttershy's mind. "It's a little random you mean?"
"Oh." Twilight lowered her head and turned back to Pinkie Pie who was wiping at her eyes with a hoof.
"Pinkie Pie, I'm sorry I didn't listen to you. I should have believed you when you told us you really were fine."
"Yeah," Rainbow Dash added, "and I shouldn't have just assumed you were going crazy cuz' your mane was."
"I'm sorry that I didn't realize you were already happy Pinkie," Fluttershy commented, burying herself in a combined curtain of her mane and Pinkie's.
"And I for one apologize for having played a part in all of this." Rarity floated out a hair straightener from her saddle bag. "If you'd let me Pinkie, I'd like to help you get your mane just how you want it.”
Once Pinkie saw the grooming tool, she smiled softly before turning to her friends. "So you really are okay with me having my mane straight?" she asked.
"Yes Pinkie," Twilight responded. "We were just worried that your mane was showing some deep seated issue that was gnawing at you."
With that, Pinkie jumped up as her mane fell down, straightening and once more assuming a flaccid state.
Twilight looked around at all the others and chuckled. "I'm not going to touch that one." She turned to Spike and instructed, "Take down a letter, Spike."
Spike pulled out a paper and quill out of a corner shelf and then stood at attention. "Ready," he announced
Clearing her throat, Twilight began.
Dear Princess Celestia,
Today I learned that sometimes a friend will do something different for reasons you might not understand. While it's always important to make sure a friend is always feeling their very best, it's also important to realize that sometimes a change on the outside doesn't mean that everything about them should be called into question. As worried as you might be for them, sometimes you have to take what they say with an ounce of faith, and in time they'll prove to you that they truly are fine.
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle
Twilight smiled before she saw Spike look at her expectantly. "Oh! And uh, P.S. Spike was really helpful in getting me to learn this lesson."
"Ahem," Spike said as he pointed to Pinkie Pie, who was sitting as Rarity began working her mane with the straightener.
"Oh, and Pinkie Pie as well, hehe!"
*****
As Princess Celestia sat on her throne she smiled at her pupil's most recent letter.
"Ahem, excuse us dear sister," Luna asked as she entered the throne room from a side hall. "Wouldst thou deign to inform us wherefore thy coat has been dyed pink?"
Celestia looked over her newly colored coat before grinning at her sister. "Oh, just feeling a little nostalgic."
