The prompt (Presented by Applejack): Pinkie Pie shows Applejack a good time.
“Ooh! Applejack, look at that! Isn’t that like the bestest thing ever?!”
AJ sighed quietly to herself. This was what the last 20 minutes had been like for her. There she was, working on her farm, when Pinkie Pie had shown up out of nowhere, going on about how they hadn’t spent a whole lot of time together recently and how she had a whole bunch of things she really really REALLY needed to show her. AJ wasn’t even quite sure why she’d let Pinkie drag her off. Pinkie was one of her closest friends, but she still had to admit that the mare could sometimes be nuttier than the apple nut clusters that Granny Smith made every Hearth’s Warming. She figured it was the sense of urgency that convinced her to leave her work, but even that was questionable. Just because Pinkie said something was important didn’t necessarily mean it was, a point that was made obvious by what AJ had been going through with her. Maybe an apple-shaped balloon and an orange-and-pink streamer were things that Pinkie found to be “super-important,” but she didn’t quite share the sentiment. Still, she did her best to feign interest. After all, she didn’t want to hurt Pinkie’s feelings.
“Uh…yeh, that’s pretty great,” AJ said, giving a little smile. “Ah sure do love…uh…whatever those are.”
“Noisemakers!” Pinkie said excitedly, taking one in her mouth. “Yrr jrrsth drr dssth!” Pinkie began spinning the noisemaker wildly. AJ rolled her eyes slightly, her ears folding back at the odd noise that it emitted.
“That sure is a racket,” AJ said, giving a weak smile.
“I know, right?!” Pinkie said, spitting it back onto the table. “Doesn’t it sound EXACTLY like that dinner bell that you rang that one day a few months ago when I was hanging out at your house all day and telling you all about the party plans I had for your birthday and I wanted you to come over and play Pin The Tail On The Pony and have dinner with me but then that bell rang and you said that was Granny Smith calling you in for a really important dinner even though it sounded kinda like the big bell you were standing right next to might have sounded if a pony with big strong leg muscles like yours bucked it?” AJ blinked a few times.
“Uh…yeh,” she said. “Now that ya mention it, it does.” Pinkie had the weirdest memory sometimes.
“Aren’t we having the greatest time??” Pinkie asked, bouncing happily into the next room. “C’mon, I’ve got one more thing to show you! And I promise it’ll be even better than everything else I showed you! Even though everything else was really great, but this is even BETTER! It’s gonna knock your socks off! Although you aren’t wearing any socks…do you want socks? I can get you a pair of really cute socks! You’ll look so cuuuuuuuuuu-I mean awesome in them! And then I can knock you out of them! But that can wait! C’moooooon!” Pinkie grabbed AJ and started pulling her. AJ sighed lightly and went along. She really needed to get home and finish her work, but she wanted to humor Pinkie just a little longer. Even though this whole thing was a bit irritating, she felt obligated to do this for her. Pinkie always made everypony smile; she’d feel awful if she didn’t do the same thing for her.
“And heeeeere we are!” Pinkie said cheerfully as they entered her bedroom. AJ looked where Pinkie was pointing and saw a large white sheet hanging on the wall. She tilted her head, staring at the sheet. There was absolutely nothing on it. She had expected at least a drawing or a note or something…anything, really. Pinkie had made such a big deal about whatever this last thing was; she’d expected just a little bit more than a blank white sheet. But then again, this was Pinkie Pie. Very little of what she did made sense. AJ sighed.
“Pinkie, s’jus’ a sheet,” AJ said. “Ah’m sorry. Ah’ve been tryin’ ta be real excited ‘bout these things ya’ve been showin’ me, but this is…Ah cain’t even find a way ta pretend. This is jus’ a sheet, Pinkie.” AJ cursed her honest nature as she looked at Pinkie, whose smile had faded. The pink pony drooped, and AJ felt even worse. AJ tried to say something to Pinkie, but Pinkie turned away from her. She reached forward and stepped on a small button she’d placed on the ground. The sheet fell, revealing a large note written in pink and orange crayons on the wall, with little apples and balloons drawn around it.
“PP <3 AJ”
AJ couldn’t even find words. She looked over to Pinkie, who had slumped down next to the button. She sighed, and trotted over to sit down next to her. Pinkie looked up at AJ, and her big, sad blue eyes nearly crushed AJ’s heart. AJ pulled her into a hug, which Pinkie immediately returned.
“Ah’m a dang fool, Pinkie Pie,” AJ said, sighing.
“No you’re not,” Pinkie said, pulling back. “You’re nice and pretty and honest, and you were just being honest with me when you said that you were only pretending to be interested in what I was showing you.” AJ tried to respond, but Pinkie quieted her. “And that’s still really sweet of you, because you were pretending to be interested so you wouldn’t make me upset, right?”
“Right,” AJ said, nodding.
“Well, you can go back home if you want,” Pinkie said, smiling weakly. “I won’t keep you from your work any longer.” AJ thought a moment, then shook her head.
“Work can wait fer a spell,” AJ said, smiling. “How ‘bout ya show me s’more’f the stuff ya got ‘round here?” Pinkie beamed at AJ, then got up and pulled at her hoof. AJ chuckled and got up to join her.