It was a normal day.
The town of Ponyville was getting ready to start a beautiful summer day. Ponies filled the cobblestone streets as they exited their homes to begin their daily routine of work and play. Various assortments of shops were lined up along the marketplace as the owners prepared their good to be sold to friendly customers. Birds chirped and flowers bloomed in the light of Celestia's sun. Children played in the fields while the mothers and fathers watched with glee.
In one particular sugar-coated building near the heart of Ponyville, business hit an all time high. A long line of ponies stretched around the block of Sugarcube Corner. The line moved at steady pace and never got shorter, being replaced by newer arrivals at the back of the line.
Inside the sweet shop, on the far end of the pastry decorated, colorful lobby, three ponies frantically carried out orders of clients that reserved a batch of delicious treats for Ponyville's Annual Cupcake Day. Founded by none other than the Element of Laughter, Pinkie Pie herself, as a campaign to enlighten smiles and joy between the townsfolk, as well as a fundraiser to earn enough money to support the new renovation of the schoolhouse. Several waiting tables were scattered throughout the room and outside for those who pre-ordered a dozen cupcakes or more. Even with all the ponies in line for their share of the one-and-only Chocolate Caramel Swirl Deluxe cupcakes, there was always an empty table. It was going to be a busy day.
Mr. and Mrs. Cake attended several ovens in the kitchen in an effort to keep up with flood of requests from each and every client while Pinkie Pie ran the front counter. She was really good at making each pony smile as she greeted them to Sugarcube Corner. She had asked for assistance from her five good friends to help her out. They all agreed, but needed to take care of some responsibilities before spending the day volunteering at the shop.
It took no more than a few seconds for each customer to place their orders and make way for the next pony in line. After many purchases of the 'Chocolate Caramel Swirl Deluxe Special Package' served that day and that day only, the next pony in line was a familiar face.
“Happy Cupcake Day Cheerilee!” Pinkie squeaked. “Are here to taste the yummy tummy desserts we are making today?”
“Happy Cupcake Day to you too Pinkie Pie!” Cheerilee replied. “I've come to pick up my batch of Caramel Swirls.” She placed ten bits on the counter.
“Sure thing!” Pinkie slid the bits out of sight and gave the purple Earth pony a slip of paper with a number on it and her name. “It should be no more than five minutes.”
“Thank you, Pinkie. And thank you for supporting my little ponies at the elementary school. You're an angel my students.” Cheerilee smiled.
“No problem!” Pinkie smiled back widely. “I'm very happy I could help.”
Cheerliee strolled to take a spot at an empty table. Right on time, Twilight Sparkle entered through the front door and trotted up to Pinkie Pie, passing several patiently waiting ponies in single file line behind the counter.
“I'm so sorry I'm late, Pinkie,” she said. “I had a few books to sort through at the library.”
“It's okay, Twilight. Happy Cupcake Day!”
“Oh yeah, Happy Cupcake Day.”
Spike waddled up behind the two mares, panting from a lack of oxygen.
“You alright, Spike?” Twilight asked her draconian assistant.
“Y-yeah. Whew!” He slowly inhaled a breath the rid himself of the consequential exhaustion. “Did we really have to run here?”
“I'm sorry, Spike. I was in a hurry, but we're here now.” The unicorn turned to her pink friend. “Where are the others?”
“Not here yet.”
And I thought I was late, Twilight thought. Sheesh.
“So what can I do to help?” she asked.
“I was about to take a break. Do you think you can fill in for me at the counter?”
“Sure!” Twilight smiled. “I've read all about retail. It shouldn't be that hard.” She walked over to the wooden counter where a built-in glass case displayed a number of different baked treats and frosted cakes. She got straight to work. Spike positioned himself by her side to help with ringing the bell and writing each pony's name after they made their purchase.
Pinkie grinned and bounced to the entrance. She learned to be a little more respectful and resisted the urge to do a cartwheel on her way out. She simply hopped outside.
After aimless wandering through the middle of Ponyville for a minute, Pinkie stopped bouncing and stood in a random street. She wondered where she going in the first place. Maybe all the stress and excitement of selling hundreds of cupcakes was getting to her head. She stood beside herself in contemplation.
Ponies around her waved at her, but she seemed to oblivious to all the hoof gestures. They saw the pink pony staring off into the distance to nowhere in specific.
The summer air warmed Pinkie's coat, but was no match for her puffy pink mane. A blank expression replaced the happy smile on her face just seconds earlier. Time seemed to move in slow-motion for the pink mare.
*whoosh*
A sudden gust of wind blew sideways making her mane and tail blow wildly. Pinkie didn't seem fazed. She continued to stare ahead.
Passing across her line of sight, a lone yellow balloon floated gracefully through the air. A white string attached to the bottom fluttered in the breeze. Pinkie Pie eye's followed the balloon in a trance as it moved from one side to the other, perpendicular to her own body. Without an owner running after it, it began to rush away from Pinkie.
She finally took a few steps and advanced forward in the direction of the balloon, but as she got closer, the balloon appeared to accelerate and travel further away. Then, before it collided with the wall of a house, it changed direction, traveling down another street.
Pinkie picked up the pace as the balloon increased velocity, racing along a non-existent wind current. Air speed was nearly zero. She kept her eyes on the balloon as her pace turned into a her usual bounce, then into a trot.
The balloon fluttered down the street as the party pony's stalking motion shifted into a chase. Some ponies in Pinkie's path quickly got out of the way as she came bouncing down the road. Her concentration was focused on the yellow balloon that tried to outrun her. Her up and down hopping and traveling focal point caused her to be unmindful of her route through town. Her eyes did nothing but watch the flying balloon.
*thump*
Pinkie Pie came to a stop as she bumped into a white unicorn.
“Ouch,” Rarity cried. “Careful there, darling.”
Pinkie shook off the impact and frantically searched the sky for the balloon. She found it floating in the same direction as before. She ignored her eloquent friend and zipped ahead in her ongoing chase. Rarity was slapped with a confused look.
“Huh?”
Pinkie left Rarity to fend for herself on the ground and caught up to the floating culprit.
The balloon kept a steady and alternating pace. When she slowed, it slowed. When she sped up, it did the same. This was no ordinary balloon.
It turned another corner and Pinkie corrected her course to follow the balloon down a different street entirely. The balloon banked again into Ponyville Square and approached the fountain at the center. It hovered above the large streams of water straying vertically in to the air and paused directly above the stone statue of a pony. As Pinkie leaped into the air to grab the waving string, it evaded her attack and she tumbled directly into the fountain.
*splash*
Pinkie rose out of the cold water to find the balloon. Her mood did not change one bit. She did not get angry. She did not get irritated. She was not curious. She did not even feel a hint of excitement from swimming-pool-like dive into the fountain. Not one emotion could be detected from her blank facial expression. She was merely on a strive to catch that yellow balloon, which she lost track of the moment she fell.
She whirled her head around as her mane dripped with water. A few seconds later, she found the single party decoration heading westward. Pinkie popped out of the fountain and gave chase to the helium filled sphere.
With her body soaking wet, she was unaware of the added drag from the weight of the water hanging on to her mane and tail. The water began to sizzle off her coat and hair from the heat, giving Pinkie the ability to pick up the pace.
As the balloon neared the edge of town, the gap between it and Pinkie got larger. It began floating higher, motivating Pinkie to run faster. Several meters ahead was a white fence that separated the dirt road from Sweet Apple Acres.
The balloon flew over the fence and over the top of the rows of apple trees. Pinkie tried to skid to a stop when a white fence fast approached. At the last second, she pushed her hooves of the ground to throw herself over the meter-high fence. Unfortunately, a hind leg clipped the very top of the wooden fence and she tripped into a somersault. She tumbled like a wheel across the orchard before running into another pony.
“Oof!”
Applejack was knocked off her hooves and landed next to the pink pony.
“Pinkie Pie! What in the hay are ya doin'?” the farm pony exclaimed.
Pinkie said nothing. Her head was off in a different direction where the balloon supposedly flew. Both mares got to their hooves. As Applejack brushed herself off and put her hat back on, Pinkie dashed out of sight.
“What in tarnation?”
Applejack stood by a basket of harvested apples wondering what just happened.
Pinkie Pie weaved in and out of the treeline, but still could not find the balloon. She climbed an apple tree and stood on top of the highest branch. In the distance, she finally caught sight of the lone balloon floating a different direction. She began to treehop closer to her target, knocking off a few apples in the process.
The balloon then exited the Apple plantation and headed for the north end of town. Pinkie's frantic efforts to catch the balloon was pulling her further away from her place of origin. As she neared the end of the farm, she skipped the last tree to land on the ground, but consequently, she slammed her head on the dirt.
With that little diversion, Pinkie shook away the throbbing pain she didn't know she had and ran to catch up with the balloon. She paralleled the white fence. The balloon then began to drift away from her. With houses in the way by her side, she jump up onto the roof of the nearest structure and continued her chase.
The balloon began rising higher and higher into the air. Too high as it entered pegasus airspace.
Pinkie's kept a fixed stare on the balloon as it gradually rose into the clouds. In an attempt follow it upwards, she took one giant leap onto a cloud above her head. It end in failure. The white cloud in her hooves slipped right through her body and she tumbled into a free fall.
A second or two later, right before she hit the ground, a lightning fast blur cut through the air like butter and grabbed Pinkie just in time. The light-blue pegusus that saved her from an unpleasant impact gently lowered the pony to the ground.
“What's gotten into you, Pinkie Pie?” uttered Rainbow Dash.
Ignoring the speedster pony, Pinkie wandered her eyes on the sky, looking for the floating ball of hot air that escaped her sight.
“Pinkie!?” Rainbow grew slightly annoyed.
The pink pony finally spotted a small yellow dot up above. She was about to use her flying machine she somehow manifested from within the leaves of a nearby tree, when the balloon began to descend to ground level and proceed down the street. Rainbow watched in awe. Pinkie just pulled a doohickey out of a tree.
Pinkie then tossed the contraption aside and ran after the balloon. The wooden helicopter thingamajig smashed to pieces when it impacted the ground. Rainbow cocked head in stupefying confusion. Applejack trotted up to her awestruck rival.
“Rainbow Dash! Have ya seen Pinkie Pie?” she asked.
The rainbow-maned pegasus didn't need to answer as Applejack found a pink blur run down the street in front of them.
“Follow her!”
Pinkie heard muffled voices coming up fast behind her, but that didn't do much good in grabbing her attention. Her attention was on the lone balloon that glazed through the humid air. It traveled slow enough for her to begin bouncing again. Her face remained expressionless.
The balloon crossed over a few streets before making its way to another corner of town. Ponyville Station came to view. Pinkie watched the balloon as it suddenly changed direction yet again, but instead of doing so calmly, it was sent wobbling and twisting in the air as a gust of wind blew it away. That gust of wind was caused by a train that rushed through the station without stopping.
Pinkie ran after it. She jumped onto the train as the turbulence took the balloon with it.
The train rapidly rolled down the tracks faster than a galloping stallion, powered by steam. A new invention that innovated railroad transportation. However, the pink party pony on the roof of the caboose stepped forward without fear as the world around her raced by.
Before Pinkie Pie reached the zigzagging balloon, it veered off to one side and regained a more controlled flight. It lowered to ground level and floated in a different direction. Just in time, before the train turned away from the Everfree Forest in the opposite direction, Pinkie was able to leap off the speeding cars and slam all four of her hooves to the ground. Unable to hold on to her balance, she fell and slid across the grass.
The balloon streaked dangerously close to the treeline of the supernatural forest until it changed course towards a lone cottage. With Pinkie back on her hooves, she galloped after the evading party balloon.
Several animals in the vicinity witnessed a pink blur speed past them. The density of animals became more concentrated, but Pinkie Pie wasn't aware of any of her immediate surroundings. The critters in her path quickly got out of the way to let the vigorous pony pass.
Approaching a small stream, the balloon slowed and slipped beneath an arced wooden bridge. With Pinkie so close behind, she dove after it, but ended up being swallowed by the shallow water, startling a demure yellow pegasus.
“Eeep!”
Fluttershy squealed and hid behind the tree at the foot of the bridge. The birds she tended to flew away. Once again, the balloon had evaded Pinkie, gently floating away and back into town. Fluttershy heard the sound of sloshing water in the creak below. She managed to get over her fright with the sight of a familiar pony.
“Pinkie Pie?”
Pinkie swam out of the narrow river and continued her trek parallel to the river. Shortly after watching her haphazard friend trot in the distance, Rainbow Dash landed next to her.
“Where did she go?”
Waving up and down, the yellow balloon oscillated like a wave as in finally made it into town. Seconds behind it was a fast moving pony that chased after it. It turned corners, cleared houses, and it slipped under food carts filled with a diversity of fruit. It even bounced on the ground as if teasing its follower. Pinkie managed to keep the balloon within ten feet in front of her. The rushing wind hugging her body was enough to dry her off completely.
The balloon took her in a circle around Ponyville. They were back at the center of town. It did not slow down. It approached an enormous tree at the end of the avenue. It circled the trunk and branches and then shot through an open window. Pinkie threw herself after it through the same hole.
As a neatly organized and well maintained room of Ponyville Library came into view, the balloon was nowhere to be found. Pinkie sat quietly where she landed, scanning every nook and cranny of the lobby.
For the first few seconds by herself, it was quiet. Then she heard a faint whoosh sound echo from another nearby window. Pinkie stared at the light emanating from the window, then the tint of yellow flashed outside the window. She threw her body forward and out the circular hole. Out on the street, she found the balloon swishing and swashing through the non-existent breeze.
It began to slow its speed as it came around the final bend. Following close behind it, the decorated structure of Sugarcube Corner came into view.
The long line of ponies found Pinkie Pie in a full gallop down the middle of the street. She did not show any signs of letting up. In fact, she was picking up speed. She didn't seem to acknowledge the obstacle directly ahead. So, they prepared to step out of the way when she got close enough, hoping she'd slow down at the last second.
“There she is, Twilight!” yelled the white unicorn standing next to a purple one.
Twilight Sparkle instantly teleported away and reappeared mere feet in front of Pinkie Pie before she could hurt anypony else. At full speed, the galloping pony slammed into Twilight and they went tumbling together across the uneven cobblestone terrain. They came to a stop at the base Sugarcube Corner, right next Rarity.
“What it the matter with you, Pinkie?” Twilight said.
Pinkie Pie did nothing but stare blankly at her lavender friend. Twilight waved a hoof in Pinkie's line of sight.
“Twilight!?” yelled a voice with a distinct accent.
“Applejack.”
Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash flew over and landed next to Applejack.
“I think something's wrong with Pinkie Pie,” Rainbow stated.
“What has she done?” Twilight asked.
“She ran into me at the farm,” said Applejack.
“Me as well,” Rarity nodded.
“I saved her from a nasty free fall.” Rainbow explained. “She jumped off the roof of a house. Then she just ran off on me.”
“She, um, came over to my place,” cooed Fluttershy. “But she left in a hurry.”
“Does anypony know why she was running?” Twilight let the question lingering before elaborating. “Was she chasing anypony?”
“I didn't see anypony else but her,” Rainbow answered. “She didn't say anything either.”
“Ah suppose it was an accident when she knock me on mah flank like that. Ah was jus' finishin' up the last apple tree at the farm before headin' ova' here.”
“Yeah. I was on my way here, too, when I saw Pinkie falling and swooped in at the last second before she hit the ground.” Rainbow looked at Pinkie Pie, whose blue eyes were searching the sky for something.
“I was done giving my birds their lunch when she dove into the river,” Fluttershy recalled.
Twilight corralled her thoughts and her friends' encounter with Pinkie Pie. She was short of a full explanation that could tell her where and why Pinkie ran around Ponyville in the last ten minutes.
“Twilight?” said a high-pitched voice from behind.
“Pinkie!?” shouted each mare in unison.
“Whoa! How did everypony get here so fast?” Pinkie asked, tilting her head.
“What happened to you?” Twilight questioned.
“What do you mean?”
“Why did you go running around Ponyville?”
“What?” Pinkie made a silly face. “I didn't go anywhere. I was enjoying this happy day, and then I find you all standing in front of me.”
“Where were you five minutes ago?”
“Working the front counter, silly.” Pinkie giggled.
“That was fifteen minutes ago.”
“Are you sure?” Pinkie narrowed her eyes at her bestest friend.
“Yes, you-” Twilight paused. “Never mind.”
“Come on girls,” Pinkie bounced in the air. “There's cupcakes waiting inside,” she sang.
Without a protest, each mare followed Pinkie inside Sugarcube Corner, except for Twilight. The line of ponies gave her a stare. Those at the door gave the Elements some space to fit through the the narrow entrance.
Twilight looked off into the distance towards nothing specific, then looked up. She caught sight of a yellow balloon floating carefree into the blue sky until it vanished out of sight and out of mind. She shrugged it off and joined her friends inside.
