Twilight Sparkle burst through the tall palace doors, followed by Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash. Pinkie Pie followed behind her friends. There, pacing in the hall, stood the princess herself.
“Princess Celestia!” said Twilight. “We came as fast as we could.”
“Thank you, Twilight,” replied the princess. “Thank you all.”
“Is this about the weather?” asked Twilight. “And the animals’ weird behavior? What’s happening out there? Why isn’t my magic working? Is there—”
Princess Celestia cut her off and led the ponies to a long chamber in Canterlot Tower. The walls were adorned with great stained glass windows, filling the chamber with brilliant colors in what sunlight managed to break through the clouds. Some of the windows portrayed an ugly chimera. The floor and ceiling were set with blue, pink, and purple tiles, and great pillars lined the chamber on either side. Hanging from the pillars were beautiful white flowers. At the far end of the room stood gilded iron doors sealed with Princess Celestia’s emblem and flanked by two fierce stone unicorns.
Pinkie Pie gaped in wonder at the magnificent colors, and she found it hard to focus on the princess’s exposition. The longer Princess Celestia talked, the more distracted Pinkie Pie became. She heard about Princess Celestia’s old foe, somepony named Discord, how Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had turned him into stone, and something about the Elements of Harmony. Suddenly, her eyes fixed on a picture of herself in a stained glass window. In fact, the window depicted Nightmare Moon’s downfall.
“Hey look! We’re famous!” said Pinkie Pie, not noticing how rudely she had interrupted the princess.
“You six showed the full potential of the elements by harnessing the magic of your friendship to beat a mighty foe,” said Princess Celestia. “Although Luna and I once wielded the elements, it is you who now control their power, and it is you who must defeat Discord.” The princess meant to capture Pinkie Pie’s attention, and she succeeded. But Pinkie Pie knew that defeating Discord meant rejecting all of his fun pranks, so she hesitated.
“Hold on a second!” she shouted. “Eternal chaos comes with chocolate rain, you guys. Chocolate rain!” Of course, the other mares didn’t take her seriously, and Twilight was the first to brush her off.
“Don't listen to her, Princess,” she said. “We'd be honored to use the Elements of Harmony again.”
With her horn, the princess undid the magical seal that had been placed on the great iron doors. They opened, revealing a heavy, jeweled chest wherein the princess kept the Elements of Harmony.
“Have no fear, ponies.” said the princess, removing the chest from its hiding place. “I have total confidence that you will be able to defeat Discord with these!” She opened the chest, and they all gasped in shock. It was empty! Nopony was as surprised as Princess Celestia, who drew back in disbelief, letting the chest fall with a thud. Her most secure vault had been burgled, and her most powerful magic had been overcome.
The moment of silence that followed seemed to last a year. The same gaping expression was fixed on everypony’s face as they stared at the empty chest and wondered what would happen next and how they were to defeat Discord without the Elements of Harmony. Pinkie Pie recovered first. Actually, she was amused by Princess Celestia’s reaction and a little relieved that she no longer had to choose whether or not to use her element to defeat Discord. Also, though she wouldn’t admit it to herself, it was a little gratifying to see the other mares dumbfounded after they had so smugly ignored her all day.
“Oh, well,” she said wearing a cheery grin. “If anyone needs me, I'll be outside in the chocolate puddles with a giant swizzle straw.” She trotted out of the chamber and left the palace, ready to enjoy this wonderful day.
As she pranced out of the palace and into the garden, Pinkie Pie decided to look for her helium-filled friends. She searched behind every tree and every bush, but the colorful balloons were nowhere to be found. She had just given up hope when she stumbled upon a huge, frosted cake. The cake stood a head taller than Pinkie, and its three round layers each held a hundred tiny candles. The top layer was covered in yellow frosting, the middle layer was teal, and the bottom layer was cyan.
Pinkie giggled and pulled out a pogo stick. She bounced as high as she could in order to see the top of the cake, and to her surprise, it read: HAPPY MIRTHDAY, PINKIE PIE! Once again, Pinkie rolled on the ground in laughter, tears running down her face. She managed to control herself and stood up to take a bite of cake, but as she approached it, somepony—no, something—burst from the top layer, its arms spread out in joy and a goofy smile on its ugly face. “Surprise!” it said. Cake and candles splattered the lawn and Pinkie, but she was so astonished, she didn’t even bother to lick the frosting out of her coat.
The thing that had burst out of Pinkie’s mirthday cake looked like a pony, but its right foreleg was a lion paw, its left foreleg was an eagle or griffon talon, and it had a horn and an antler, a scaly tail and right back leg, a buffalo left back leg, a pegasus wing, and a bat wing. There was no doubt that this creature was the very same chimera that Pinkie had seen in Canterlot Tower.
“Dis…cord?” asked Pinkie. She wasn’t afraid, but she hesitated to trust this creature, whom Princess Celestia had trapped away in stone for so many years.
“The one and only,” said Discord dramatically, striking a Shakespearean pose. Pinkie Pie recognized his voice. Discord was, in fact, the teal balloon. Probably all three balloons. “So,” he continued, “how should we celebrate your mirthday, Pinkie Pie? You’re particularly fond of tricks, and I’m particularly good at them, so I’m sure you’ll agree that there’s only one thing to do today.”
“Weren’t you gonna stop your tricks?” said Pinkie. “I see more clouds over Canterlot than ever! You should keep them in the garden so we can have a party without bothering Princess Celestia.”
“You’re right, Pinkie Pie, I have taken these harmless pranks a little far, haven’t I?” Discord snapped his fingers, and in a flash of white light, all the clouds disappeared but one. A single pink raincloud loomed over Pinkie’s head and showered her with chocolate rain. Delighted, Pinkie threw herself on the ground and allowed the rain to fall directly into her open mouth.
When she had had her fill, Pinkie Pie stood up, and the pink cloud disappeared. She was surprised to find that she felt guilty for enjoying herself when all her friends could think of was defeating Discord.
“Sorry,” she said, “but I really should get back to my friends.”
“So soon?” pouted Discord, looking genuinely disappointed. “Well, if you must, you must. Promise you’ll play with me another time?”
After a moment, Pinkie smiled and said, “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” With a light heart, she turned and made her way to Canterlot Tower, where her friends sat in doubt, waiting silently.