Party Pooper

It was as if the whole population of Ponyville seemed to know what Pinkie did wrong. Anytime she passed a group of ponies buzzing about a certain topic, they'd immediately shut their traps and watch Pinkie sulk on by, their eyes never leaving the depressed pony. Whenever a fake smile plastered over Pinkie's face met the eyes of a nearby passerby, they'd just look at her as if she exploded twice. Twice! By the time the cheerful bakery came into view, Pinkie no longer felt its inviting and comforting arms she usually felt whenever inside or out.

Once inside, a chorus of high-pitched squeals echoed throughout Pinkie's eardrums, followed by a couple of soft thuds and a ton of laughter. Looks like the twins woke up, Pinkie thought grimly, grimacing at the tiny shadows that danced along the walls of the twins' room once she reached the top of the staircase. She practically suffocated her poor innocent bed when she belly flopped atop of the sheets. A lonely sigh darted out of Pinkie's mouth as her eyes automatically closed. A vivid dream slowly began to seep through her skull, and no matter how much energy Pinkie conjured up, it was no use against the forceful dream.

Night. Only one noun could describe Pinkie's current dream. The leaves seemed to want to get Pinkie exposed to whatever she was about to encounter. Around her, shadowy thin trees waved slightly in the wind, baring their sharp old claws down toward the lost pony. Even though it would've seemed like the Pinkie Pie thing to do, now seemed like a bad time to "Giggle at the Ghosties." Especially since different sized shadows kept leaping out in front of Pinkie's hooves, which were scraped up from the rickety leaves.

"You should go..." There. It was. AGAIN. That same unidentified silky voice had returned, though there seemed to be five of them this time. Whoever "them" was.

"L-leave me alone!" a terrified Pinkie stammered. "I don't know who you are, but you got your wish! My life seems to be over now!" Silence. Dead silence. The whole forest seemed to be holding its breath, waiting and daring for the mysterious five voices to talk again.

"I'm helping you..." the voices replied. "Leave...Leave now...! Forever.....!"

"NO!"

"N-NO!" Pinkie repeated, jolting back into reality. She awoke with a blurry, sweaty start. Apparently (and obviously) the voice had given Pinkie such a scare that instead of lying on comfy sheets and a blanket, she was sitting upright on her pale cream mattress.

Gummy was right below her, chewing on her blanket and managing to get half down his puny throat. But Pinkie couldn't care less if Gummy started choking it back up. She couldn't care less if the Cakes suddenly appeared through the bakery's front door, questioning why the twins were making such loud commotion. And she couldn't care less if all of her friends piled high into her room, apologizing their brains out. Oh no. Now wasn't the time to waste a single nanosecond; now was the time to act. Sliding off her itchy mattress, Pinkie shuffled around in her nearby dresser, her hoof brushing against one of her emergency party supplies hidden under a scarf.

"Junk," she muttered, tossing the package of balloons and streamers over her shoulder, which Gummy happily wolfed down. Digging her hoof deeper into her drawer, she fished out a single piece of paper and a nubby pencil. As her neck straightened up, Pinkie's eyes met with her reflection. Her appearance seemed pretty normal; a saggy frown, puffy eyes, and a tousled pink mane. Yep, pretty normal there if you considered normal to be a new code word for depressed.

Without warning, Pinkie's hooves suddenly transported into the dim hallway, out of the small bakery, and in a matter of minutes, toward a prickly dark forest. Then a sudden thought burst through her mind: Was it worth it? Was running away into a bleak never-ending forest really going to solve any of Pinkie's problems?

"Honestly, I have no idea what I'm doing," Pinkie whispered deep in her throat, hot tears threatening to jump out of her eyes. Slowly, one hoof was set in front of the other, and her back legs dragged behind her.

Is this really what it's come to? Pinkie's inner conscious questioned her warily. Escaping my once cheerful hometown into a depressing nightmare?

"Pinkie, what are you doing?" Pinkie's head twisted around.

"T-Twilight? What are you doing here?"

"I came to relieve some stress by walking. What in Equestria are you doing here?" The tears finally broke free in Pinkie's eyes as she turned to face the dirt beneath her.

"Today wasn't just a Wednesday Twilight," she growled. "Today was the end of my life." Without another word, Pinkie began making her way deeper into the forest, and ignoring Twilight's warnings, she let the forest consume her whole. But before she began to blend in with her dark surroundings, she let two finale words escape her mouth.

"Goodbye Ponyville."

THE END