Chapters Party Pooper 2: No Friend Left Behind
One year. Only seven letters could describe how long Pinkie Pie had been away from her original hometown. The disconcerting theme of the forest seemed to match the earth pony's mood to a T; depressed, hopeless, and lost. And even though she kept walking in a straight angle, her hooves never leaving the direction they were headed, Pinkie knew she could change her fate and head back to Ponyville just like that. Yet even if she stopped, rotated at a 360 degrees angle, and retraced her steps, her way-too-cheerful destination would make her turn right back around. No amount of persuasion would ever get this mare's lips to stretch back into her infamous smile, or get her cotton-candied pink mane to replace the long and dreary mane that Pinkie now resembled.
The monstrous hairstyle had stomped it's curly rival dead just a week ago, but it felt like it had already been there in disguise once Pinkie had looked at her reflection in her bedroom mirror back at Sugarcube Corner. Sugarcube Corner , Pinkie repeated in her mind, her hooves doing something unthinkable: stopping smack dab in the middle of the black forest. Sugarcube Corner , Pinkie's mind said for the third time. The same place where this whole nightmare was born... To her surprise, her vision began blurring as stinging tears leaped out from her eyes and practically surrounded her hooves in a warm pool.
"It really wasn't just a Wednesday," Pinkie hissed in a screechy voice. "It was my last day in Ponyville." Feeling an unknown amount of drowsiness, Pinkie slowly inched her body toward the numb grass and dead leaves. Using her silky yet rough long mane as a pillow and her matching tail as a baby blanket, she immediately drifted off into a dreamless dream. Though where there's sugar-coated dreams in Pinkie's subconscious, horrid nightmares never seemed to rest as they preyed upon their enemy.
The light never seemed to end, no matter how fast or slow Pinkie trotted under its arc. It was as if it didn't want the curious pink pony to unearth whatever lied ahead. And frankly, Pinkie didn't want to know, but she had no other choice but to force herself to just roll with the punches.
"This is ridiculous," she whispered bitterly, slowing her pace. "I'm just going to keep going on forever and ever, and once I think I've reached somewhere, I'll be falling off some cliff or into a ditch or—"
"My, my, my, somepony's a talkative little one, huh?" This time Pinkie didn't stop to let her fear pour out of her; she angrily whipped around, her anti-curly mane and tail hardly moving an inch.
She swallowed the urge to dare this mysterious pony to show itself and, with an incredible burst of energy, continued her race down to the end of the light. Pinkie wasn't about to let some creepy ghost taunt her by not finishing what it had to say; she was smarter than that! And just thinking of how she could outsmart this voice by not satisfying it with her fear made her hair rise up in a little puff ball.
"Puffy, frizzy, curly, and viola! I'll be good as new!" Pinkie exclaimed with enough cheerfulness to make her old curly hair defeat its straight nemesis. It was as if the depressed part of her had now died, and her happiness had been born quadruple times better! Never before had Pinkie been this happy—and that was saying something since she used to be happy 24/7.
"Before Wednesday came and ruined your life..." Pinkie froze again, which was a mistake for both her and her mane. All at once, the straightness returned, as well had the voice and the ugly frown that had kicked Pinkie's smile out of business.
"Aww, what's the matter Pinkamena?" the voice questioned snottily, putting extra emphasis on the party pony's full first name. "I thought you liked surprises. Considering that you used to throw amazing surprise parties that nearly surprised yourself, my dear. Oh, and why so quiet? I guess your chattiness is rubbing off on me, huh?"
Silence. Dead silence. Pinkie didn't know whether she should make a run for it, challenge this thorny voice, or keep her trap shut. She couldn't do all three at the same time, so she had to narrow it down to one option: withdrawal her entire energy. Such force on her body and head caused Pinkie to see tiny squiggles of stars swim around her. Daring her to do something about this voice like anypony would. But Pinkie wasn't anypony; she was just plain Pinkie Pie. A Pinkie Pie who was now slipping into the dark realms of unconsciousness.
"I...I can't believe we found her...!"
"I, I can't either. Somepony please pinch me—OW! What was that for?"
"You told me to pinch you."
"I didn't mean literally! Oh, shhh! I think she's coming to!"
Pinkie practically popped blood vessels just to keep from slipping back into another nightmare. Prying her eyes open, she came across two blurry little figures. Once her sense of touch came back, she could identify something soft below her body and behind her head—and it wasn't just her mane.
"Oh...thank....Celestia!" One of the figures suddenly lurched its whole body toward Pinkie and wrapped its arms around her neck, shaking like an earthquake as it let out multiple sobs and little chunks of words that could hardly be made out. It sounded like gibberish to Pinkie's ears, and her head was already throbbing from using her stored energy to wake up.
Seeming to burst more blood vessels, Pinkie willed her vision to work again. The blurriness got worse for a second, but then it seemed to brighten into focus. What Pinkie saw made her lungs plunge downwards toward her stomach. She couldn't believe it!
Party Pooper 2: No Friend Left Behind
"T-Twilight? Fl-Fluttershy? Wh...what am I doing here? Where am I? How did I—?"
"Oh, poor thing!" Fluttershy interrupted, her sobs coming to an abrupt stop. "She's so scared she can hardly speak!"
"Well I'd be scared too if I were in the middle of nowhere surrounded by darkness and the only person to communicate with was myself," Twilight spoke all in a rush. "But enough with that. Pinkie, what in Equestria were you thinking, are you insane? You've been gone for a year!"
"It's been that long?" Pinkie responded flatly, not eying either of her friends. "Gosh, it seems like it's been longer than that. What's longer than a year?"
"Forever! " Fluttershy blurted out, breaking out into sobs again. This time she squeezed Twilight in a death hug. "You've...been gone f-forever! And we've missed you so much!" A look of shock washed over Pinkie's face.
"You...you two missed me?" she asked in a voice barely above a whisper. "But I thought you girls hated me." Silence enveloped around the room as Pinkie's last sentenced echoed in her own ears. The word hate really punched her in the gut. Twilight finally broke the silence first by saying:
"Pinkie, why would we ever have such nerve to hate somepony like you?" Pinkie didn't take long to come up with a response.
"Because I missed Princess Celestia's birthday after I'd Pinkie Promised to help set up, and I said it was no big deal before I knew she was listening to what I was saying. And one of Fluttershy's birds died when I Pinkie Promised I'd help take care of him during his last few minutes of life! Why else would I have left?" Twilight and Fluttershy sure didn't have an answer stored in their brains after Pinkie's sentence was said.
Pinkie lowered her head toward her chest, letting her mane curtain her face completely.
"You girls don't understand," she muttered, her voice cracking from the depression seeping through her bones. "Pinkie Promises are like contracts to me; someone signs it, then I approve it, and it's set. Breaking two in a row, and losing two of my best friends in one day...how could anypony live like that?" More silence seemed to spread for about three minutes before getting interrupted by Fluttershy this time.
"Pinkie, I never told you this...but, after you left, I—I found out my little bird friend was actually napping. I was so relieved I could hardly breathe." Fluttershy's yellow cheeks quickly turned to a hue of raspberry. It vaporized when the Pegasus added:
"Unfortunately, after a week, he did pass away. But I found another baby bird that was like an exact replica of him, and he turned out to be almost better than my late bird friend."
"Yeah, and when Princess Celestia took off, she sent me a letter saying she was called to a meeting, and it turned out to be a surprise party. And it was way better than her first party!" Twilight chimed in hurriedly, as if she were afraid Pinkie would object Fluttershy's bird story.
"I was going to apologize for yelling at you the next day, but when I couldn't find you anywhere, I got really nervous," Fluttershy explained, her wings sagging toward the library floor. "I told Twilight about this, and when three days passed, everypony was putting up flyers from Manehattan to Saddle Arabia! Trust us Pinkie, it was that bad."
Geez, my disappearance was that nerve wrecking! Pinkie thought in astonishment. She hadn't realized how terrible the effect would be from running away from Ponyville, but apparently getting asked "Have You Seen This Pony?" in Manehattan and Saddle Arabia was pretty extreme.
"How, how did you guys even find me?" The one burning question dancing around in Pinkie's mind had finally been asked, and it seemed to have thrown her two friends off track for a few mere seconds.
"How did we find you?" Fluttershy repeated. "Well...it took a lot of work and a lot of Twilight's magic to keep her horn glowing for enough light. But when we found you, we thought you were dead! Then we saw you breathing, so Twilight used her magic to bring you to the library. We just couldn't bear to see you all alone in that forest!" To prove her point, Fluttershy gave Pinkie another tight squeeze.
"Plus, what kind of friends would we be if we let somepony—especially one of our friends—starve to death in some abandoned forest?" At the word starve, Pinkie's belly proudly expressed it's emptiness with a subtle growl. Twilight let out a slight giggle.
"Maybe we ought to fetch some breakfast from Sugarcube Corner, huh?"
Party Pooper 2: No Friend Left Behind
The Return of an Old Friend's Senses
I'd like to thank LuckyBlitz for thinking of this chapter title for me!
A purple aura seeped around the hinges of the library's front door and opened automatically on Twilight's command. With her unicorn and Pegasus friend guarding her side, Pinkie practically felt like a five star celebrity—such as Photo Finish or Sapphire Shores. The celebrity feeling increased when the three were a block or so away from the sturdy library, and a relieved yet earsplitting scream echoed in the air. After the sound of a thousand hooves stomping the innocent earth passed, Pinkie was suddenly clobbered by tons of ponies blurting out millions of questions; and they all sounded unintelligible to Pinkie's ears.
"Sweet Celestia Pinkie, when'd you get back?"
"You poor thing! I bet you were scared to death! Not to mention lonely!"
"This might sound like a compliment, but believe me when I say you've lost a lot of weight!"
The same aura that was used on the library door was suddenly forming around Pinkie's frozen hooves, lifting her seven inches above the soil. In a flash, her hooves reconnected with the ground, but it felt smoother. Looking down, Pinkie realized she was finally back where she belonged. Literally—Twilight had cast a spell on Pinkie in order to rescue her from being drowned in the many questions thousands of ponies seeked answers for.
A tiny pitter-patter pattern got close enough for Pinkie's ears to hear, and one of her hooves were suddenly drenched in drool. Alarmed, Pinkie kicked her left hoof as a reflex and watched Gummy whip across the air, smacking the door as a result of being kicked. Simultaneously, a lavender flash took place in front of the door, and both Twilight and Fluttershy appeared from behind it.
"That was a close call, huh?" Twilight asked, obviously trying—and failing—to lighten up the dreary mood that took place in the room. "You were almost crushed to death by all those ponies. That would've sucked, right?" It sure beats another endless adventure in that forest , Pinkie's mind replied to no one in particular.
"Well now, enough chit-chat," Fluttershy spoke up. "How about we all get something delicious inside our stomachs and do something fun afterwards? Like—ooh! We could go on a nature walk. Or we could play with my new bird friend! You'll love him, Pinkie. I named him Charlie. Isn't that sweet?"
Fluttershy continued her endless chain of fun ideas—with Twilight adding in on some of them—and soon Pinkie was left alone in her airy bedroom. For some reason, she felt as though the walls were slowly closing in on her; as if they wanted Pinkie to remember her torturous life spent in that disconcerting forest.
"Ignore it, just ignore it Pinkie," she silently coached herself, quickly putting on hoof in front of the other. She continued this pattern but stopped abruptly once she reached the staircase.
Gazing over at Gummy, who was now successfully managing to swallow one of Pinkie's pillows, Pinkie's mind began having a simple debate: apologize for owning him against the door, or just go ahead and not leave Twilight and Fluttershy waiting. She wanted to help apologize to Gummy, but a half of her brain just kept telling her that he'd be fine. Listening to that half, Pinkie trudged down the remaining flight of stairs and nearly bumped right into Fluttershy.
"Oh, there you are Pinkie," she said with enough sunniness to make Pinkie's head ache. "I'm not sure the Cakes are back from their break yet." Fluttershy extended her light yellow hoof to a sign that read Out On Break. Be Back In Ten.
"It's just like the Cakes to slack off on their work." It took Pinkie exactly two minutes to realize the one who had snapped those harsh words was indeed her—and she knew her solitude in that forest was slowly killing her happiness.
"No, I-I'm sure they'll be back soon," Twilight sputtered, clearly shocked by Pinkie's grumpiness. "But I'm sure there's something edible out here." Leisurely making her way toward one of the miniature tables by the windows, Pinkie actually let the wheels in her mind to turn thoughtfully.
Different questions seemed to be born by doing this; like, Why did I run away? Do Twilight and Fluttershy secretly still hate me? Why couldn't I have memorized that one Wednesday? Then, as if the wheels were controlled by a PAUSE button, they slowed to a halt.
"Girls," Pinkie hissed, her silky mane curtaining her face once more, "I lied to you."
"What do you mean you 'lied to us'?" Fluttershy questioned carefully, hovering over to her pink friend.
"Remember that question I asked you two earlier? Back in the library?" Pinkie continued. "I lied. I never wanted to know how you found. I wanted to know...why you found me." Silence.
"I, I know it's a silly question. But—that one Wednesday was like we all changed our personalities from happy to cold. After what you two said to me, it made me wonder why you went out of your way to find me." Twilight joined Fluttershy's side, the two producing a deafening silence.
Before the silence could damage Pinkie's ears any more, the unicorn and Pegasus did the unthinkable: they both simultaneously planted a gentle kiss on either of Pinkie's cheeks, and the pink glow that Pinkie owned before the whole runaway thing happened returned.
"Pinkie, I think only you know why we rescued you," Fluttershy crooned, pulling away from Pinkie's face. "It's like what Twilight said: what kind of friends would we be if we left one of our friends to starve in some scary forest?"
"And the fact that Fluttershy and I both overreacted about our problems made the situation worse," Twilight chimed in. "I guess we were so wrapped up in our disadvantages that we didn't realize we were hurting you."
"Plus, I think Twilight and I were pretty dumb for not doing this from the moment we found you, but—" Twilight and Fluttershy leaned closer to Pinkie once again, and even though the two weren't prone to violence, Pinkie still braced herself for whatever was about to happen.
The lavender and yellow mares both wrapped their arms around Pinkie, pulling her into a compassionate hug and uttering six little syllables:
"We're so sorry, Pinkie!" Those four simple words had a great impact on Pinkie's mane and tail. They slowly reformed back into its original poofy-ness, and the pink glow that had returned to Pinkie's face after that unexpected kiss turned to a brighter hue of pink. A greater miracle than birth—for Pinkie's sake, anyway—occurred moments later: Pinkie's five star smile stretched across her lips, a permanent treasure that Pinkie would wear for the rest of her life!
"This is great!" Fluttershy exclaimed, her wings fluttering violently. They stopped as quickly as they started vibrating. "But...just promise us that you'll never run off like that!" Pinkie's smile stretched even wider as she criss-crossed her chest with her left hoof and settled it on her left eye.
"I Pinkie Promise!"
And that was a promise Pinkie would always keep—and never break.
THE END
