Chapters The vast land seemed to swallow Pinkie as she trotted alongside the lush green grass. The wind seemed to beckon her to quicken her pace and accomplished its request. The pink party pony went from trotting to bouncing until she seemed to be tickling the clouds with her poufy hair.
"Pinkie...!" Pinkie skidded to an abrupt stop and whipped her head in all directions. There was no clue on who could've called her. Shrugging it off, Pinkie continued her merry way, passing tall trees and prickly bushes.
"Pinkie...!" There it was again!
"Hello? Anyone there?" The silence seemed to tease her as Pinkie's eyes wandered in every possible direction. Teeny tiny beads of sweat trickled down her forehead, making her shiver like crazy even though you needed a microscope to prove the sweat was there.
Against her own will, Pinkie shuffled through leaves and looked behind stumps for the mysterious voice. But the more she searched, the softer the voice called her name. After a rough ten minutes, the voice seemed to vanish, leaving a confused yet satisfied Pinkie to continue her walk. Yet the certain cliche was born once more as the same voice called Pinkie's name for the twelfth time. Though it wasn't soft and sweet like it had been earlier. Oh no. This time the voice sounded upset and demanding, as if Pinkie herself had done something offensive.
"Pinkie, get out here! I know you're in there!" the voice screamed angrily. "Don't make me come up there!"
"Wait, what...?" Pinkie didn't even have time to complete her sentence. Her eyelids grew heavy as the land before her dissolved into dust. Watching it dance away, Pinkie settled her hooves to her temples as the world grew dimmer. Before she blacked out, a silhouette that resembled a sturdy figure stalked over to her, uttering three simple syllables:
"How could you?"
Pinkie's body lurched forward at the sound of a hoof pounding on a wooden door. It took her exactly two seconds to realize she wasn't in Dream Land anymore. And the pony screaming her name over and over again wasn't a mysterious stranger like the one in her dream. It was Twilight. And by the sound of her voice and the volume of her hoof banging against the bakery door, Pinkie definitely knew her friend meant all business and no play.
Sighing and groaning, Pinkie slithered out from under her comforters, gently pushed Gummy out of the way, and trudged down the stairs. The dry sunlight wasn't the real disadvantage, Pinkie realized, once she opened the door; it was seeing her unicorn friend's expression when her eyes adjusted to the light.
Twilight's face was drenched in sweat, and her face was tomato red in anger. Or she could be really tired , Pinkie thought as she gently pulled her friend inside.
"Twilight, what's wrong?" Pinkie questioned carefully. "And how come you came so early in the morning? It must be eight or something."
"Eight? Eight in the morning?" Twilight screamed. "Pinkie, do you even own an alarm clock? It's five o'clock in the afternoon! " Pinkie stepped back in alarm at the shrillness of her friend's voice, but what really threw her off was how late it was.
"But I've never overslept in my whole life!" Pinkie objected.
"Well you sure picked today to do just that, didn't you?" Twilight snapped. "On this day!"
"What's the big deal?" Pinkie argued. "It's just a Wednesday!"
"Just a Wednesday? Just a—" Twilight paused, a long groan escaping from her lips. But really, what was the big deal about a Wednesday? It's not like there was some special occasion. Pinkie sure would've remembered that.
"Pinkie, today was Princess Celestia's birthday!" Or...maybe not.
"W-what?" Pinkie sputtered. "N-no! It can't be!" A puff of pink smoke took her place as she zoomed back upstairs to her room. Rummaging through her dresser full of emergency party supplies, she fished out her calendar and flipped to the correct date.
"Wednesday...Wednesday...aha! Twilight was—" Instantly, the pink smoke from downstairs vanished as Pinkie ran back downstairs, filling its place.
"Twilight, you were wrong! See? It's not the princess's birthday!" Pinkie smiled triumphantly as she handed her friend the mini calendar. Twilight snatched the calendar out of Pinkie's hoof with her magic. Pinkie's smile stretched further across. She could just visualize the calendar flopping onto the floor as Twilight got down on her hooves, begging for forgiveness. Pinkie would then feign anger, but only for a split second once she gave her friend a forgiving hug and tell her everything would be alr—
"Pinkie, you were on the wrong month," Twilight stated flatly, tearing off the expired page to a fresh one. "See? Right there! You even circled it in marker and wrote 'Princess Celestia's birthday; MUST NOT FORGET!'"
Pinkie's heart dropped. "Oops."
"That's all you can say? Oops?" Twilight asked. "A mandatory apology is better than a little oops!" An unknown amount of anger toppled to the brink of Pinkie's calm meter. It wasn't her fault she overslept! Due to the Cakes' unexpected vacation, having to take care of the twins and Gummy, and trying to schedule some quality time with her friends, Pinkie hardly ever slept a wink at night!
"So I missed one lousy—no offense princess!—birthday party. I'm sure she had lots of presents and cake there. I mean really, what's the big deal?" Without thinking, Pinkie erupted into her contagious laughter, nearly striking Twilight in the face as she rolled around on the polished bakery floor.
"Yes, very funny indeed." Pinkie's eyes widened in horror as the laughter that had just escaped her mouth got lodged in the back of her throat. Just like the figure in her dream before she woke up, Princess Celestia herself stood before the pink pony, her facial expression holding enough strictness.
"Um...I, uh..." It wasn't like Pinkie to sputter, but the princess had caught her off guard so badly that she couldn't hide her sudden embarrassment. She gazed at Twilight for help, but the look on the unicorn's face dared Pinkie to say something else.
"Princess Celestia, I...I'm so sorry! I didn't mean any of those things you heard me say! I didn't think you were listening and..." Pinkie's voice trailed off when she noticed the princess's strict expression change into a frown.
Well, a frown's better than a glare, so at least I'm getting somewhere , Pinkie thought happily. Argh, this is no time for rhymes Pinkie! Focus!
"Sooo...just to be clear, you're not upset that I completely forgot the one day of the year where you celebrate the miracle of you coming to life in Equestria and saying it was no big deal eight seconds ago?" The princess blinked at the wordy question, and Pinkie silently prayed to herself that her gift of speed talking made the princess forget why she was at Sugarcube Corners in the first place. For five minutes, at least.
"No, I'm not upset dear," Celestia spoke at once. "Being upset would be irrational. I'm actually quite disappointed because, as I recall a few days ago, you personally made one of your Pinkie Promises that you'd show up a little bit early to set up preparations for the party. Is this or is this not true?"
Pinkie's insides went dead cold as if she'd swallowed a ten gallons of water shipped from Antarctica. Never, ever, ever in her life had she broken a Pinkie Promise, and she could not (with a capital NOT) believe her ears.
"Well, I think I've made my point clearer than it needs to be," Princess Celestia finished. "I should go now. I have a lot of work to do. That's a promise I can make. And keep." Pinkie could hardly reply as the alicorn goddess spread her wings and took off towards the sky. After that, Twilight began retracing her path back to the library, but not before leaving three single syllables that stung Pinkie's ears:
"How could you?"
"I just don't understand Gummy; I just don't! "
The thick wooden floors of Pinkie's bedroom groaned beneath her hooves as she paced frantically back and forth in front of her messy bed. She sidestepped a layer of sky blue sheets and whirled around, her hair lightly smacking the tip of her nose.
"How, no why, in Equestria would I ever break a Pinkie Promise? And for the princess, too! Oh, and saying it was no big deal was a big mistake Gummy! I dunno what's wrong with me! I'm not sick...and Opposite Day was a month ago."
Pinkie's sad baby blue eyes swam over to her only toothless companion. Yet Gummy's emotionless blue eyes didn't do Pinkie any good. One of his eyelids slowly sunk down to cover his pupil while his other eye gazed down at the floor. Sometimes Pinkie wondered late at night if she was ever raising a zombie alligator or just a plain alligator.
"Y-you don't think I broke my promise on purpose, do you Gummy?" Pinkie's small face scrunched up into the most adorable, eye-melting pout in Ponyville. As an added effect, her bottom lip quivered nonchalantly and a few "tears" inched their way toward the exit of Pinkie's pupils. Gummy, of course, stared back at her with no emotion. Occasionally his mouth sagged open, producing a hollow dry croak.
"Gee, I can always count on my only pet to cheer me up," Pinkie stated flatly, her depressed face snapping into annoyance. Not wanting to waste any time, Pinkie padded down the stairs, being extra cautious not to disturb the twin Cakes' afternoon nap, and slipped out the bakery door.
The evening sky acted like painting settled on a canvas; hints of gold and red seeped through the crystal blue sky, making what was once a pleasant and sunny afternoon a warm and inviting evening. Yet the ever-growing night wasn't what Pinkie was concerned with. It was the well known fact that her shy and animal-loving Pegasus friend wasn't replying to her frantic yells and screams. And the more the silence caused Pinkie's heart to beat three times faster, the faster and louder Pinkie pounded on light wooded door.
"Fluttershy, this is super-duper horrifyingly important, and you have to come out! It involves one of my Pinkie Promises, and Princess Celestia! Oh, and Twilight too!" Nothing. Not even a single breath.
"Fluttershy, please! You have to come out here right—" Creeaaak...
"Wh-what is it? Can't you see I'm...busy?" Pinkie's head cocked to one side, her eyes trying to adjust to Fluttershy's appearance. Normally, the yellow Pegasus would open the door to show her full body—or her face. A dull subtle darkness cloaked itself around Fluttershy, making her look dark and cold rather than shy and graceful. Her light pink hair, which always looked marshmallow soft, seemed to look like an owl and a snake wrestled over a mouse inside. And her eyes .
"Fl-Fluttershy, what happened to you?" Pinkie's question barely escaped her throat. "Your, your eyes... "
"So I've been crying my eyes out, what's it to you?" The same expression Pinkie had had earlier with Twilight's snarkiness about it just being a Wednesday returned a millisecond later. Now what had she done?
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry for whatever I did or didn't do, and I hope we can still be friends," Pinkie said exasperatedly, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. "Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?"
"No, I don't think you can! Unless you can bring a certain mocking bird back to life—" At the word life , Fluttershy instantly hunched over, her shoulder blades shaking as a stream of tears trickled from her eyes, creating a tiny pool of water. Now, Pinkie, and any other pony in Ponyville was used to seeing Fluttershy shed a tear or two, but to see her sob her eyes out was far too much for Pinkie to bare. Shooting into Crisis Mode, she immediately knelt down on her knees, wrapping her friend in a comforting hug.
"Fluttershy...what happened today?" It took the Pegasus a great amount of time to utter a few heartbreaking words to Pinkie's ears:
"One of my bird friends...passed away this afternoon." Pinkie could feel her own tears of sadness sliding toward the brink of her eyes. But she didn't realize her mourning friend hadn't finished speaking yet.
"And...and you Pinkie Promised you'd be there to help me aid for him!" Her arms turning into noodles, Pinkie practically flopped toward the concrete ground. Hearing these words in a simple sentence make her stomach churn and her lungs shrivel up into raisins.
"I know he was getting too old to fly or even care for himself, but you...you said you'd be by my side to help him raise his needs," Fluttershy sobbed on. "I was too busy because of my other animal friends that I forgot to feed him! Just before I was going to feed Angel Bunny, I found him lying near a potted plant—but he wasn't...breathing...!" Pinkie could tell it hurt Fluttershy more to say those words than having her earth pony friend hear them escape her mouth.
"But...I'm not mad." Pinkie's ears perked up slightly. Her back slowly arched into a comfortable position until she was standing on all four hooves.
"You're, you're not?" Pinkie hissed, the corners of her mouth stretching into a satisfied smile as Fluttershy shook her head no.
"I'm just really disappointed because I expected better from you, Pinkie. How...could you?" Bam! Those words hit Pinkie like a stone. But those three dreaded words how could you nearly made her topple over. As the small door squeezed between the hinges, Pinkie herself felt like she was being squished in an uncomfortable space. The world around her just didn't seem like Ponyville anymore. The once jolly and colorful home seemed like....a nightmare.
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
