Heaven is on the way
You can feel the hate
But I guess you never will

There was no laughter.

She understood now. Really, she thought, she hadn’t truly needed Spike’s confirmation; on some level, deep inside, she’d suspected all along. They didn’t love her; they just put up with her because they had no other option. Yes, that was it. They were all false friends, using her. She didn’t need them; she had real friends, who understood her.

She didn’t need those pretenders anymore. So why did not having them hurt so bad?

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on her door. “Who could that be?” she wondered aloud.

-----SCENE BREAK-----

Preparations for the pink pony’s party were performed. The inside of the barn at Sweet Apple Acres had been turned into a party palace for Pinkie’s 18th birthday. It had been tough work keeping Pinkie from finding out, and there had been a few close calls. But now, everything was ready, and Rainbow Dash had been sent out to retrieve Pinkie and bring her to the barn, where the rest of the Mane Group was waiting.

“Oh, I can’t wait!” Twilight said giddily. “Pinkie Pie’s gonna be so surprised and happy!”

“Hey, I hear ‘em coming” Applejack said. Everyone got ready.

The barn door opened, and a pink-hued figure was tossed in. Some of the attendees shouted “Surprise!”, but to those more observant it was immediately apparent that something was wrong. Pinkie’s colors were darkened and faded, and her mane & tail were limp and straight. But most concerning was her expression: Pinkie looked furious. Her teeth were bared slightly, and her eyes were fixed in a truly frightening enraged and contemptuous glare. The happy grins on the faces of some of the partygoers rapidly faded as Pinkie’s hateful gaze focused on them.

“Yeah, I found her like this” Rainbow Dash said as she walked in.

“I figured she’d be more excited…” Applejack said quietly to Twilight.

Applejack then flinched as Pinkie’s glare focused on her, eyes burning into her soul.

“Excited?” Pinkie snapped. “You thought I’d be excited about an anti-Pinkie party?!”

“W… What are you talking about?” Twilight asked, sounding confused and distressed. “This isn’t an-”

“Don’t you play dumb with me, you insensitive, obsessive-compulsive bitch!” Pinkie shouted. “You all have been making excuses and ignoring me all day! Avoiding me, lying to me, running away from me! I finally figured it out, and interrogating Spike gave me proof! That you don’t want to be my friends anymore!”

Several of the would-be partygoers let out shocked gasps, unable to believe just what they were hearing.

“A-And you know what?” Pinkie continued, tears starting to come to her rage-filled eyes, as the gold of corruption slowly spread inward across the irises. “I’ll bet you were never my friends to begin with! You just kept me around to laugh at or out of convenience! None of you could ever really stand me! I was just an annoyance to you! That’s how it’s always been! No-one ever tries to understand me! No-one takes me seriously unless they have to! I’m just a pain in the ass and a big joke to all of you!!”

“Pinkie…” Rarity slowly walked toward her from the side, reaching out. “Sweetheart, that is all utter nonsense. We would never-”

“Touch me and I will snap your horn off!” Pinkie screeched at her. Rarity, eyes going wide with genuine fear, backed away quickly.

The group in attendance was now very, very worried. Not only were they scared for Pinkie, they were actually scared of her as well. To plan a big surprise party for their close friend’s 18th birthday, only to have this kind of thing happen…

“P… Pinkie…” Rainbow Dash’s tone was almost pleading as it fully sank in just how bad things were. “Please, I…”

“No!” Pinkie shouted. “You don’t get to lie! Not anymore! I trusted you all…” Pinkie’s voice was trembling with sadness and fury. “I gave you girls my love… and this is how you repay me?!”

“Pinkie, please calm down and listen to us!” Twilight begged as she walked up. “If you would just give us a chance to expl-”

Twilight was cut off as Pinkie hit her with an uppercut to the torso that knocked the breath out of her, followed by a full-power Earth-Pony-strength hoof-punch to the face that sent her flying back into the table that had been set up to hold the cake and other snacks. Paper plates and bags of chips went flying, though miraculously the cake was unharmed and remained in place. Everyone was in horrified shock at what they’d just witnessed, disbelieving their eyes, praying that this was all some horrible dream.

Pinkie walked up, letting out a low, feral snarl under her breath. She stood over the cowering unicorn, who was trembling in terror as she shielded her bleeding face with her forehooves. Pinkie raised a hoof to strike down… when the cake slowly began to slide off of the table. Twilight caught it with her magic, holding it between her and Pinkie, and the aggressor’s eyes widened in deep shock as she saw the pink-frosting caricature of her ‘normal’ self, along with the icing words “Happy 18th Birthday, Pinkie Pie.”

“W… What…?” she mouthed.

There was a sob from Twilight. “This is what we’ve been t-trying to tell you” she whimpered. “What all this is about. W-We wanted to t-throw you a surprise party for your birthday…” The cake was lowered just enough for Pinkie to see Twilight’s face – blood from her nose, a quickly-forming black eye, and tears streaming down her face. “This was all for you” she sobbed out as the cake was shakily levitated to the side and placed gingerly on the ground. “We h-had to make excuses to protect the surprise. B-But we didn’t notice how h-hard you were taking it, and… and… Oh Pinkie, I’m so sorry! I c-could never hate you! None of us could! You… You’re one of m-my best friends! I… I never meant to hurt you! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry, Pinkie! I never wanted to… to…”

As Twilight lost the ability to speak coherently, Pinkie took a few shaky steps back, her eyes returning to their normal blue. As she looked around, seeing the scared, remorseful, teary faces of the others, all while hearing Twilight’s crying, her breathing became faster and more shallow as it sank in just what she’d done. She could feel a terrible ache in her heart and a lump in her throat. She held her head between her forehooves as tears started falling from her eyes, which were wide as can be.

“No…” she whispered/whimpered. “W-What’ve I… How could I have… I thought you had all…”

Pinkie fell back on her butt, still in horrified shock at what she’d done. As this was happening, the other four cautiously came closer.

“H-How could you ever, ever believe we thought that way about you?” Rainbow Dash asked, choking up just a little. “We love you, Pinkie! We did this all for you! And… And we screwed up badly in doing it…”

Fluttershy had reached Twilight, carefully helping the girl up off the ground and gently tending to her face, holding her close all the while. “W-We’re your friends” the yellow pegasus said to Pinkie. “And we always will be.”

“We’re sorry, Pinkie” Applejack said, her voice thick with shame. “W-We had no idea you were takin’ it this hard. If we’d known…”

“I… I’m sorry…” Pinkie squeaked out at a barely-audible level more common to Fluttershy, but the pain and regret in her voice was as loud as a crack of thunder to the five other ponies. “I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”

Twilight did her best to wipe away her own tears as she scooted toward Pinkie, laying a hoof on her shoulder. Pinkie looked up, and the sight of Twilight’s bruised eye was enough to cause Pinkie to start sobbing as guilt all but overcame her. Twilight pulled her close, hugging her as she cried tears of regret. The other four quickly joined the hug.

It was a while before Pinkie had recovered enough to properly start the party, and even then it was several hours before her mane & tail had very gradually returned to their normal state. That night, Celestia got a doozy of a group-written Friendship Report, explaining what had happened, and how one shouldn’t automatically expect the worst of others, as well as how a nearly-broken friendship had been mended stronger than before.

Author's Note

This breakdown was solved quickly and easily in comparison with the two to come; they will be worse, longer, and require much more effort to 'fix'. Be ready...