If only I was faster.. She would still be here.. But I couldn’t do it.. I betrayed the most joyful pony in Ponyville. ********* My ears perked up. I had them folded so they wouldn’t catch on the wind. I could have sworn I heard something. Like a scream? Except that was too high pitched to be just anypony. It seemed so familiar, though.. There it is again. I flew down and skid to a stop, ears tuned towards the sound. It sounded like.. Shock filled my body. “Pinkie Pie..” I mumbled under my breath, my wings expanding. I broke into a full out dash towards the sound. But it seemed to be coming from the forest.. “Pinkie Pie!” I called out, hoping for some way for her to respond. But how could she, anyway? I flew lower, getting closer to the next scream, this one seemed to be in a LOT of pain. Dear Celestia, how bad could it be? Then I spotted a pink dot. Next to the ravine. The bridge was broken, and the pink dot just fell as soon as I noticed. “Pinkie!” I dived down, my hooves thumping on the ground. I got there just in time to watch my bleeding, dying best friend slip from consciousness. “Pinkie Pie!” I yelled at her, as if expecting her to sit up and say “Right here!” I gotta move fast, she’s bleeding heavily. But she seemed to be bent on survival.. How could she get out of there with leaves wrapped around her, which I could guess is covering a severe injury, as the leaves turned from green to dark red. I lifted her onto my back, securing her by wrapping my hooves around hers. Is this what a pulse feels like when somepony’s dying? It’s speeding up, then slowing down, taking a longer slow speed than the fast speed. It just tore me up that she’s like this. I took off as fast as I could, feeling stinging hot tears on my face. Not from the wind whipping me in the face. Not from seeing Pinkie messed up so bad. But because I didn’t get there sooner. I blasted off towards Ponyville, I could see the light barrier bending in front of me. So I slowed down, the barrier disappearing. I skid to a stop in front of the local hospital, bursting in, yelling for help. The nurses quickly jumped to action, rolling a gurney to me, helping me ease Pinkie onto it. They hooked some stuff to her, and then they rolled her away. Rolled my best friend away, who’s slipping away from life, who I could possibly never see again, the joy of Ponyville. ********* The doors to the ER opened, a doctor stepping out. My head rose in hope, I’ve been waiting for the past one and a half hours, bent on the hope that she’d be alive. I braced myself for the good or the bad news. But the look on the doctor’s face seemed to tell me. It was bad. My heart sank. What could have happened to her? Did she lose her pink fluffy kinetic energy? Did she have to have her lungs removed, so she would never breathe right, never be the same? Could she have.. Died? “Rainbow Dash, correct?” The doctor asked softly. The softness that’s meant to comfort the loved ones of the lost. “Yes.. Is she okay?” I asked quickly, praying for that yes, praying that he’ll tell me everything’s fine, that she’s alive, that she’s the same Pinkie Pie, that they could fix her with ease. The doctor was silent, obvious hurt in his eyes. This didn’t mean anything good. “I’m sorry.” He said plainly. And just like that, my whole world fell apart with those two words. My best friend, the one who keeps Ponyville out of a riot, the one who I known since childhood, the one that we’ve done so much together with.. Is gone? I don’t care what you say, if this would happen to you with someone that close to you, you would too. I broke down, and burst out sobbing. The doctor sat down next to me, I could tell he was sharing the pain. It’s never easy to tell someone that somepony close to them died under your care. It never is a good thing, it makes the doctor feel just as awful. He sat there, his hoof rubbing my back comfortingly as I let out every ounce of sadness that just washed over me. “Rainbow Dash.” The doctor broke the silence. My ears perked up, not expecting his voice. “I never really got to finish.” The sound of his voice saying those words seemed to wash the darkness and pain away. “What?” My voice cracked, looking up. “Pinkie Pie is.. Alive. But she’s gonna be.. A bit different.” He said. Hope rose through my body, I felt the grin spread across my face. “She’s alive?” I asked with a mixture of depression and joy. “Yes. But you need to do something..” The doctor replied. “I’m counting on you to make sure she doesn’t consume too much sugar when she gets out.” He paused. “Which will be in three days.” He finished. “That’s it?” I asked hopefully. “Not at all.” The doctor replied again, his expression darkening. “She needs to avoid any fast movements. There’s still wood lodged in her lower torso, so if it moves, there’s a large chance it will eventually puncture an important artery.” He said. No fast movements? But that’s what Pinkie Pie loves to do. “How fast?” I asked. “Jerking too hard as in if you were to be in a dark place, scared, and heard something behind you. The reflex to jerk back and look will kick in. That could cause the wood to be misplaced.” He explained. “So.. She’s okay..?” I verified, uneasily. “Not for now, but I can guarantee you she’ll be out of here by the end of the week.” The doctor assured, standing up. I waved back at him as he trotted through the ER doors. Pinkie Pie? Not being able to move fast? That’s bad, it’s real bad. That isn’t her, she can’t stay still her whole life. I guess I’ll have to wait it out on this one. **************

Boring.. I sat upstairs in my room, playing with my dolls. The rock farm sure can be a boring place. All I have is dolls and rocks.. I wonder what other ponies there are out there. But my daddy never lets me go see them, anyway.. I’m private schooled. But I keep hearing there’s an entire world out there. I put down my dolls, very shortly followed by my door opening. “Pinkie!” My sisters Inkie and Blinkie burst into the room, energetic about something. They get excited really rarely. “Yup?” I ask. I had already seen the Sonic Rainboom that lifted me off the depression. But there still an emptiness in it.. “We just seen a cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane out by the Apple orchard!” Blinkie said, excitedly. “A pegasus.. With a rainbow mane.. Talking to the Apple family?” I verified. It seemed strange. I like it. “Yup! You coming?” Inkie asked. “Yep, lemme get ready!” I turned, about to get my stuff together to go. “Hold up.” Everypony turned. My father.. He’s a very grumpy one. My parents are both Amish.. And they’re VERY protective of us. Too protective at times, in fact, to the point where we wear football helmets to use the bathroom.. And I just know he’s gonna try to stop us. “A pegasus with a rainbow mane?” My father asked. “Yeah?” Inkie replied, uneasily. “Well, I’m not gonna let my daughters talk to a.. A.. “FillyFooler.” He demanded, his voice raising. A fillyfooler. It’s what ponies call two girls who like each other. Of course, with a rainbow mane, my father would jump to conclusions and say that whoever that pegasus is is a fillyfooler. “Now go to your rooms.” He ordered. We obediently slumped over to our rooms, the doors closing behind us. And I was alone. I sat in silence on my bed, thinking. ‘A cyan pegasus? With a rainbow mane? Maybe I’m not the weirdest pony around..’ I bounced my mane with my hoof for emphasis. ‘She sounds cool. But I can’t meet her..’ A few hours passed of me passing time with rocks, throwing them around softly, playing with them. Until I heard my door creak open. “Pinkie.” Inkie whispered, poking her head in, quickly followed by Blinkie. I felt a grin spread across my face. “We’re going?” I asked happily. “To my bedroom.” Inkie replied, and opened the door for me. I followed her into the hall, us being careful to be quiet. If my parents found us outside our bedrooms this late at night, who knows what they’d think we’re doing? Sneaking around past our curfew, possibly up to something bad. So we tried to sneak as carefully quiet as we could. We stopped in front of Inkie and Blinkie’s bedroom door. They shared the bedroom, the two being so close. We carefully creaked it open, and slipped in one at a time. I shut the door silently behind us, then turned to see Inkie and Blinkie motioning to their bedroom window. The window leads to the roof, which has a ladder that was left up there for management purposes. “Inkie, how did you think of all this?” I asked, bewildered. “Easy, just a trip to the roof to look out and try to find them, then I noticed the ladder. We can set it up and climb down. Then go down the path, take a left, go straight, and you’ll end up at the Apple farm. I think she’s staying there for a while.” “Inkie, you’re the best!” I squealed happily, wrapping my hooves around her in a tight hug. “I know I am.” Inkie happily replied. “Now get onto the roof, you first, Pinkie.” She commanded. I obediently walked to the window, and lifted it open. The cold air shot at me like a bullet. It must have been a mere 30 degrees. But I didn’t care. I climbed through the window, stepping onto the cold roof. It creaked warningly under my hoof. Eep.. Inkie and Blinkie shortly followed, walking to the ladder. The ladder was leaning against the wall next to the window we climbed through. They lifted it up, and brought it to the edge of the roof. Then carefully lowered it to the ground. They motioned me to go. I obeyed, grasping the wooden rungs of the steps, slowly and carefully lowering myself. I felt my hooves come in contact with the bare grey dirt, all grass taken out for rock farming purposes. I flattened all four hooves on the dirt. It felt relieving to be out of my room. I helped Inkie and Blinkie off the ladder, and we proceeded down the road. I wonder what this cyan pegasus is like.. What would her name be? Blueie? Rainbowie? It sounds funny just thinking of it. But when I think of my name, Pinkie Pie, it starts to seem normal. But what else could she be like? I wonder if she’s friendly.. We turned the last corner, and down in the distance, we saw them. The Apple Family’s youngest daughter, Applejack, was arguing with the trusted blue pegasus. Her mane seemed... So unnatural. But I like it a lot. It was messy, a nice way to look messy, as well. Looked as if it was pushed everywhere, as if by wind. Was she a racer? She seemed athletic enough for it. She seemed angry, though. Yelling at Applejack about something. Inkie and Blinkie approached them, I followed. “Hi.” Inkie started. Applejack and the blue pegasus stopped, and looked at us. Conversation broke out, it started out slightly heated, until everypony broke into laughter, except me. I stayed back, watching. Applejack had this bow, she calls it her hat. It’s really just a bow.. Inkie ran up and grabbed Applejack’s bow, and galloped back, Applejack running at her. “Blinkie!” Inkie called, throwing the bow at her. Blinkie caught it, and galloped around Applejack. Now was my chance. Before the pegasus went to join in the game, I approached her. “Hi.” I shyly started. The pegasus turned to me, us eye to eye. “My name’s Pinkie Pie. I live down the road at the rock farm..” I introduced. I’m not good at this, the only ponies I had to do this with was the Apple family. “Uh, hi.” The pegasus awkwardly replied. “My name’s Rainbow Dash.. A rock farm? How do you.. Farm rocks?” She asked. “Very long process.” I giggled. Rainbow laughed a bit as well. We began talking. We talked like old friends, like we knew each other a long time ago. We talked about our lives. Rainbow lived in Cloudsdale, a pegasus home, a city literally made out of clouds in the sky. She attended flight school, and right now she’s out looking for her friend, Fluttershy, who we quickly forget about as we talk. We talk about our families. Rainbow didn’t know much about her family, they never visited. She lived in the school, her parents were unable to take care of her due to financial issues. Also, as I had guessed, Rainbow was a racer. She came looking for her friend because he accidentally knocked her off the cloud. As we talked, the sun slowly went down. Inkie and Blinkie were still teasing Applejack with her hat, fakely asking themselves if they should keep it. I took notice at the sun went to the point of a sunset. “Oh!” I exclaimed. “It’s sunset, it’s really late! If I don’t get home soon, Daddy’s gonna kill me..” I pranced in place frantically. “You’re right.. My curfew has almost run out as well.” Rainbow agreed, looking up at the cloud city. “I gotta get home now.. But how do I get there fast enough?” I asked myself, panic rising. “Well, need a ride?” Rainbow asked, expanding her wings. I looked at her, puzzled. A pegasus ride? I’ve never rode a pegasus.. Or anything for that matter. I hesitated, but finally agreed. “Alright, I guess. Don’t drop me..” I warned. Rainbow laughed, and leaned down. “Just climb on and hold on tight. Don’t choke me, or I’ll purposely crash us.” Rainbow warned back. I smiled, and climbed onto her back. By choking, I guess she means I gotta wrap my hooves around her neck. Which I do. “Ready?” Rainbow asked behind her, grinning at me. “I guess..” I replied, unsure. Then we took off. The sensation of flight, wind in my face, hooves off the ground, going so fast. It was amazing. It felt free, off the ground, out of the farm, away from the rules. It felt so amazing. Every turn lurched my stomach, which made it even better. I burst out laughing, it was so much fun! We finally landed in front of my house, in the farm. I realized danger, the lights were still on. “Uhh, Rainbow? Can you fly me up to the roof?” I asked, pointing to the open window. “Sure thing, Pinkie Pie.” Rainbow replied, flapping up softly to the roof, and touching down. I climbed off, my knees shaking, mane whipped back slightly. “Why don’t you come in?” I asked hopefully, wanting to spend some more time with the pegasus. “Can’t.. Curfew..” She replied. My heart sank slightly. “But.. You can come back tomorrow.. Right?” I asked. “I’ll try.” She said. I smiled happily. “Alright. Bye, Rainbow.” I called. “See you tomorrow!” Rainbow called back, taking off into the sky, back to the city of clouds. She’ll be back tomorrow.. I hope she will. ************ I waited. All day. From morning. It seemed like she wasn’t coming back. The more I waited, the worse I felt. I was wanting Rainbow to come back so badly.. I wanted to spend lots of more time with her. Hours passed. I was about to give up and exit my room, when I felt a thump on the roof at 8:30. I looked outside, hopefully. And sure enough, she stuck her head through the window, grinning. “Rainbow!” I exclaimed, grabbing her, and pulling her inside with a tight hug. She laughed, hugging me back. “What took you so long?” I asked, letting go of her. “Well, I couldn’t come because of school..” Rainbow answered. “So I waited until after school.. After curfew, I’m supposed to be in bed right now, but I snuck out. I made a promise.” Rainbow added, smiling. “Really? Does this mean you’ll visit often?” I asked. “Every day.” Rainbow replied. So we spent the day together. Talking, laughing, showing her stuff I’ve done. The day passed, and she had to leave at 10:00. But she came back at exactly 8:30. Right on the dot, every day. From then until she had to leave, leave school. But eventually, we met again. That’s when Friendship is Magic was made. We met again in Ponyville. And since that day, we’ve been best friends forever. END

Run

by cjledford

A True True Friend