//------------------------------//
// Arrival 
// Story: Smile 
// by Purple Tea 
//------------------------------//


I’m tired of working on this monster. But here it is. It’ll be in two parts.
This fiction is inspired by Anon & nukeiffum’s story Bittersweet.
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There was a trail of crumbs weaving back and forth, making sharp turns around corners and even going under a number of vendor carts before finally ceasing at the door of Sugarcube Corner. Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at this trail, usually Pinkie's a little neater with her casual-snacking, but shrugged and didn’t think much of the  abnormality. She raised a hoof and pushed against the door into the well-known bakery. It was typical day outside, the Pegasus ponies had pushed back the scheduled rain and cloudy skies for one last day of warm sunshine. A nice ending, Rainbow had thought with a grin, before they'd have to bring in the brisk winds and sudden flurries of fall.
"Hey Pinkie? You there?"
Surprisingly, she received no response. There was no sudden rush of confetti from her friend's cannon, no cupcakes scattered around the counter waiting to be frosted, not even the usual bob of bubblegum mane, popping up from who-knows-where with a rather loud, Hi there Dashie!
No. It was as silent as death. The tables laid empty, some on their sides with the chairs tipped over. The lights were dim to the point of going out. The whole scene looked as though not a soul had passed through since the beginning of the summer.

"Uh, Pinkie Pie? I'm here to pick up some treats for the coaches’ meeting today," Rainbow tried, raising her voice a little louder so that it echoed around the bakery.
Rainbow Dash had taken a position as an altitude coach for flight camp that summer. Though she missed the constant cries of victory from her fillies and colts, the surprise hugs from the shy ones happy enough to have someone there, that wasn't as loud or angry as the previous coaches had been; she was still happy to be free from foal duty and have those extra bits in her pocket. Besides the money and the sight of seeing foals fly for the very first time, which as much as she hated being sappy, really was reward enough; this meeting really was what got her wings flapping. Rainbow had been counting off the days until she could return to Ponyville for the final, end-of-season flight camp coaches’ meeting. Not one usually for long pointless lectures, meetings were usually out of the question for the cyan pony. But today's was quite special and happened to be why she fought tooth and nail for the position. 

Today, after she recovered the refreshments from Pinkie Pie, she'd fly back on up to Cloudsdale, where she'd been bunking it that summer, and settle down with the other two instructors and Spitfire of the Wonderbolts. For the rest of the night, the three would discuss the foals and fillies for any that had stood out with their flying ability. The meetings were a relatively new occurrence ordered specifically by the Princess. If only they'd had such things when she'd been in flight camp, maybe then she would've already had her seat on the Wonderbolts, no questions asked.
"Rainbow Dash? Is that you?"
Rainbow shook her head, clearing her anxious thoughts of Spitfire and her companions. Instead she focused her attention on the display case, where she could see a number of ready-made cupcakes. But the cupcakes themselves, were not their usual cheery colors nor delectable smells. Spiders along with their webs and other tiny black bugs had made their homes on the surfaces of the desserts. The cupcakes themselves, were a mess, their tops looked deflated. While others leaned to one side, some even  fallen into one another, their frosting inter-melted.  It wasn't like Pinkie to fall short on her pastry duties. Pastries, candies, anything sweet, was practically Pinkie's life. She lived for treats. 
"Rainbow Dash?"
Slowly, bits of Pinkie Pie appeared on the stairs in the far back of the shop. The Cakes lived in a small two-bedroom apartment above their bakery, where they allowed Pinkie to stay as payment for her work. 
Though her hair was still as crazy as ever and she wore her usual grin, there was something about Pinkie that seemed off. "Wow, is it the end of the summer already? The days went super duper fast this year, huh?"
Rainbow nodded, even her voice seemed a bit strange. It cracked with her pitch, as though she hadn't used it in a while. Small bags were gathered beneath the earth pony's eyes. And she seemed a bit paler than usual.

"Pinkie, are you okay?" Rainbow asked. She motioned to the disaster that had once been Sugarcube Corner, "What happened here?"
"Hm?" Pinkie brushed a stray hair from her eyes and swept her head from side to side, as if taking in her surroundings for the first time, "Oh. Huh. Seems Pound got a little behind on his dusting duties again. I'll go get him."
She turned on her hooves and headed back for the stairs. She placed one hoof up, ready to ascend, but stopped. Her body became rigid, her tail drooped. Softly, she whispered, "Oh that's right." 
"This is a little more than dust, Pinkie Pie," Rainbow replied, oblivious to the change in her friend. She pointed to the cupcakes in the display case, "When was the last time, you swapped these out with some fresh ones?"
"Swapped?" Pinkie turned, tilted her head, and scrunched her eyes as if concentrating really hard, "Two? No, no, three?"
"Days? They shouldn't look so-"
"No, months. Three months exactly I think. I sold my last one the day you left, to you."
Rainbow tried not to gape. Three months? Three months? What had happened here, to the shop? To her friend? 
"Pinkie these cupcakes have gone bad. You need to make some new ones. You need to bake."
"Bake? Hmm. Not in a while Dashie. Stopped buying. No more customers, no more cakes or cupcakes, or lollipops, or tarts. No more, Dashie." 
What was she talking about? The words spilled from Pinkie’s mouth in a fast jumble, one right after the other. No more, Dashie.
"And the Cakes?"
"No more, I already told you." This response came quick, as if it should've been obvious.
"No, no," Rainbow shook her head, "The Cakes. As in your employers? Your family?"
Pinkie fell silent. Her eyes moved away from her friend’s waiting expression. She stared at her hooves, the tables, even the showcase. Anywhere, but Rainbow Dash. Her voice was a whisper, barely audible, when she finally replied, but Rainbow was able catch it. A single word, "Gone."

“Gone? Pinkie Pie what are you talking about? Where could they have gone?”
"Las Pegasus, I think." Pinkie's mane flattened at her words, "They left back in the beginning of August. I was going to throw them a really super going away party."
"But why?"
With a grim expression, the earth pony replied, "I'd overheard them talking about it. I knew they were leaving even before they told me. I was sad of course, having to leave my bestest friends and all. But I knew I could visit anytime I wanted. I'd even asked Twilight if she could study up on some transportation spells for me. But, but even that..."
She quivered, her shoulders shook, nothing came from her lips, but that single word over and over, "But...but...”
Rainbow startled at this sudden change in her friend and unconsciously made to nuzzle her, a  calming Pinkie tactic she'd experienced first hoof time and time again, but Pinkie moved away.
"S-sorry Dashie."
"It's okay, you don't have to say anymore if you don't want to."

Pinkie's voice stammered to a stop, but her shaking wouldn’t cease. She raised her eyes to Rainbow and the look there was frightening. Pinkie's expression was so pained, tears raced her eyes and rolled down her raw cheeks. They were both silent for a moment and Rainbow was about to say something, anything really to break the unbearable silence, but Pinkie cut her off, her voice no longer soft, "They left me. How could they?
"I was planning that party. I had everything cupcakes, sugar cookies with little rainbow sprinkles just how Pound liked it. And I was going to be good. I was going to be a really good girl. I wasn't going to eat any of it. I pinkie-promised."
Rainbow felt the hairs along her skin jump, startled at this sudden outburst. This is not the Pinkie she’d known, not even close to the one she'd grown with. This sad little mare, her eyes glassy, lips chapped and straight, depressing hair was not Pinkie Pie.
"They told me outright they were going away. They didn't bother trying to hide it. They never said where, of course, only when. They would be leaving the twenty-third of August. Just a bit before you got back from flight camp. I was sad I wouldn’t be able to say goodbye, but Twilight promised she’d poof you down there, so I could say it face-to-face.
“I was so stupid. I watched them pack up the apartment, put everything in boxes. I packed up my own stuff too. I even told them I'd leave my party cannon behind so they wouldn’t have to worry about paying extra for the storage on the train. I was all ready."
Though she hadn't said it yet, Rainbow Dash could tell where the story was going, "They didn't leave when they say they would? Did they?"
"Two weeks ahead," the pink pony whispered, "They knew I'd be over at Twilight's that night for a sleepover with her and Rarity. We’d been planning for months, I’d even reminded the Cakes a couple of days before they left, incase they needed to push back any of my orders.
“The going-away party was the following day. Twilight was going to do some fireworks for the kids. And I worked my hooves off on those pastries. I didn’t lick the spoon even once. 
“It hurt so much. I’d never felt anything like it when I found the windows boarded up and all of their boxes gone. Rainbow Dash, they didn't even bother to say goodbye."
At that moment, Rainbow didn’t care if she was pushed away again. She leaned into her friend and wrapped her forehooves around the pink pony’s shaking form, "Pinkie. I'm so, so sorry."
Pinkie wiped her eye with a hoof, "Don't be. It's my fault. I deserved it."
"It’s not your fault. You’d didn’t do anything wrong."
“No, no, Dash. It is. There's something wrong with me.”

Pinkie broke their embrace with a sniffle. With a hoof, she motioned towards the nearest table. Together the two rolled it back onto its feet. Using her tail, Pinkie pushed a pair of chairs back to their usual stance and Rainbow, using her wings, scattered the dust. It's wasn’t perfect, but it was close to how the cyan pony remembered it to be. She took one last glance around the shop, and filled the empty tables and chairs in her minds eye. She saw ponies laughing, ponies talking. Some sipping from little ceramic mugs, other nibbling warm, frosted cupcakes fresh from the oven.
Rainbow could just make out her friends, Rarity, Twilight, Applejack and Fluttershy, all standing before the showcase. And then there was Pinkie in her splendor, peeking from behind the glass case with a cupcake and a dozen candles. Aim for the sky Rainbow Dash, they’d chorused.
I'll miss you this much, Pinkie had cried opening her arms as far a they'd go, Make sure you write tons of letters this time.
She heard herself laugh. And then as if from far, far away, came her voice, I will Pinkie Pie. I promise, everyday.

The vision was gone in a blink. The other ponies and her friends, had disappeared, leaving nothing in their wake. The tables were bare once more, the chairs toppled over as if somepony had gotten up in a rush.
Rainbow settled herself into one of the chairs at their table and watched as Pinkie took the other.
"From the beginning," Rainbow sighed,  "I need to know how this happened."
The pink pony gave a quick nod and then swallowed a breath. "It was strange..."