//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: 365 days and counting // Story: Invisible Walls // by Harmony Charmer //------------------------------// One year. One year had gone by so fast. So many things had happened within that time period, it would be hard for anyone to remember it all. But I remember everything so vividly. After Pinkie's party, sadness and anger were a thing of the past for the Pies'. The change in Pinkie and her sisters behavior had earned them a hoofful of friends that were begging to be acknowledged by them. And if that weren't enough, Pinkie wasn't the only one to find her talent that made her special. Inkie turned out to be an amazing writer with handwriting(I mean, mouthwriting) I envy greatly. She found her talent when she signed up for the newspaper club at school and was asked to cover an article about Sugar Cube Corner(I tried not to squeal). Then, she was asked to write a story about "anything that comes to mind" by Miss Joy Lee. When Inkie wrote her story, Miss Joy Lee called down Clyde and Sue(I had gotten used to calling them that after about two months) to the school. She was so impressed by Inkie's work, she wanted it to be published as a short story. And believe it or not, it was. The story was so amazing, you wouldn't believe how many ponies bought it. Inkie proudly wears her scroll and fountain pen cutie mark. And Blinkie helped bring those stories to life with her amazing directing skills. Blinkie had seen an old video camera at somepony's yard sale and began filming anything that moved. After weeks of filming her short film, she presented it with pride. The film was so classicly detailed, with beautiful music set at the right moment every time. And with each scene unfolding, the audience laughed at the jokes, cried at the sad scenes and gasped when the twist occurred. After the end credits came up, and the show gained a standing ovation, an old film reel took its place on Blinkie's flank. Clyde and Sue seemed to take the biggest change in their behavior. Apparently, the purpose of their rock farming was to place the rocks in an area where the sun will shine(and are placed in the south when winter arrives). When the rocks are in the sun long enough, gold begins to grow out of it. (Equestria would be the victim of forty-niners in ten seconds flat.) After about two weeks, we go to harvest the rocks. And after Pinkie's party, when we went to get the rocks, Clyde claimed this to be the best year he'd seen for a long time. The rocks were growing so much gold, they were almost becoming it. After we had cashed the gold in, we had a celebreatory feast in honor of the good year. After we stuffed ourselves with sweets, Clyde pulled out his old guitar and started playing. Apparently, Clyde had been in a jazz band as a side job, but quit to focus on rock farming and his family. You learn a new thing everyday. We danced and laughed until we couldn't move a muscle. And if that weren't enough good news, Sue made Pinkie and me each a cooking apron. On the small aprons were Pinkie's cutie mark embroidered into it. "Because Pinkie's cutie mark is just as much yours as it is hers," is what she had said. In the time I spent with Pinkie, I taught her how to make apple fritters, brownies, homemade lollipops, muffins and, best of all, cupcakes. I spent about two months teaching her all the cupcake recipes I knew from memory and came up with all kinds of different recipes. After several hours of taste testing, we had gotten it down. And during that time, Pinkie had started reciting her own songs, to which I gladly sang along and added lyrics to. The one year had gone by so fast. Each day held an adventure and smiles that never ceased. Only one bad thing had occurred during my stay. It was after one of Blinkie's premieres at the Community Arts Center For Ponies. Her movie, unsurprisingly, earned a standing ovation. I was asleep on the couch again. I know it's not an ideal choice for people, but nonetheless, it was comfortable. I had grown attached to the old thing. I had just closed my eyes when I heard a scream. I instantly jumped off the couch. It only took me a moment to realize it was the girls who screamed. I ran down the hall to where they were asleep and flung the door open. Pinkie's hair was straight, just like the day we met, when she was depressed and was too sad to ahve a personality, which scared me more than anything. "Pinkie! Wake up!" I began shaking her until she woke up, breathing hard and shaking. "What happened?" I was genuinely scared of what could have happened; these girls meant the world to me and I wasn't afraid to admit it. Pinkie broke into tears the instant she stopped gasping. "I h-had a n-nightmare!" She began sobbing uncontrollably, and pulled her pillow over her small body. I looked over and saw her sisters had been awakened by her screaming. I picked the small filly up and held her in my arms. It wasn't uncommon for me to hold her when she was upset; it had become a ritual for us. When Pinkie was upset, she would come to me and I would hold her till she felt it was alright again. But she never burst into tears like this; her hair usually just flattened, like a deflated balloon. I began shushing her and cradling her in my arms. I put her back on the bed and looked into her blue eyes. "Pinkie, hiding from something that scares you isn't going to make it go away!" I was one to talk; that was all I did. Pinkie cocked her head to side, confused. I took a deep breath and began singing the song that had caused my love for the show to blossom. Pinkie, you gotta stand up tall! Learn to face your fears! You'll see that they can't hurt you! Just laugh and make them disapeeeeeeeeear! The three fillies looked at me crazily. I gave them a wide smile as reassurance. Ha. Ha. Ha. The girls hopped on the bed to get a full view on the situation while Pinkie slowly began to smile. SOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Giggle at the ghosties! Guffaw at the grossly! Over the course of my stay, Pinkie had grown accustomed to my random spurts of song. In fact, she had just began to sing her own. There were those moments where we could tell what the other was going to sing before they even sang it. This was one of those moments. Crack up at the creepy! Whoof it up with the weepy! Then, in that odd way of ours, we began to sing together. Chortle at the kooky! Snortle at the spooky! I began dancing around, making Inkie and Blinkie laugh hysterically. Inkie stood up and began singing along too. And you tell big dumb scary face to take a hike and leave you alone! Blinkie joined in. And if he thinks her can scare you, then he's got another thing coming! Pinkie's hair inflated to it's original craziness as she began to sing. And the very idea of such a thing just makes you wanna- And they all started laughing so hard they couldn't breathe, so I finished it for them. Laaaaaaaaaaaaugh! After we stopped laughing(which, believe me, was a lot harder than you think), I tucked Pinkie, Inkie and Blinkie back into bed, and then I followed suit. It was right when I was about to fall asleep I realized I never asked Pinkie what her nightmare was about. I sighed and turned onto my side. I figured I would ask her in the morning. But I hadn't. I didn't have the courage to. I didn't feel as if I had the right to. Whenever I looked at Pinkie, she had some sort of unconscious way of telling me, Don't ask me what happened.