“Pinkie, you’ve done some outlandish things in the three years I’ve known you, but this…is…CRAZY! You can’t just fly into a whole other dimension!”
Ponyville’s librarian and newest alicorn princess Twilight Sparkle didn’t look quite so dignified as she latched on to Pinkie Pie’s tail and attempted to keep the zany pink pony from proceeding with her plan. Twilight coughed and sputtered as the dust and grit kicked up from Pinkie’s back legs filled her mouth.
“Oh Twilight! I know it’s going to work out great…I’ve been planning this for exactly six…make that seven whole minutes! Besides, it worked out okay for the Wizard of Oz.”
Twilight didn’t have an opportunity to ponder who, what, or where Oz was before Pinkie’s tail shook violently, roughly dislodging Twilight and propelling her into the air. As Twilight’s wings unfurled and the mare glided gently back to the ground, she knew that there was only one course of action left. One ace left up her sleeve. The nuclear option.
“PINKAMENA…DIANE…PIE!”
Those three words. Three words that Pinkie’s mother used sparingly, but with great effect.
Pinkie Pie’s full name.
Unable to resist Twilight further, Pinkie stopped, turning to face the mare who used her full name in vain.
Twilight saw the fierce determination raging, burning just below the placid exterior of Pinkie’s persona.
It was the grin that ultimately stopped Twilight dead in her tracks. That grin. The one she used when fighting Chrysalis last year. The one that said, “Don’t fuck with me.”
The one that could deflect The Stare.
Jaw open and eyes wide, Twilight stepped back, one hoof behind the other. A slight breeze rustled Twilight’s tail; in an hour, maybe less, Ponyville was going to be ground zero for a major thunderstorm.
“The weather team has already begun to make the storm, Pinkie! Feel the breeze? That’s going to be a hundred times more powerful after Cloudsdale’s finest have their way.”
Pinkie continued her solemn trot forward, her gaze locked on to the hot air balloon that Twilight kept behind the Golden Oaks Library. Saying nothing, she began to loosen the ropes and anchors that securely tethered the balloon to the ground. With uncanny skill, expertly tied knots gave way to Pinkie Pie’s precise pulls. Yanking on the release valve, Pinkie vented the hot gases into the balloon’s chamber, and soon the fully inflated lighter-than-air craft stood ready for its passenger to initiate liftoff.
Pinkie Pie finally addressed her friend, a solitary tear rolling down her right cheek. “I have to find Dashie. She could be anywhere out in the human world and I can’t wait twenty something moons for the portal. It’s now, or never, Twilight.”
Stepping toward the hot air balloon, she understood now why Twilight tried so hard to dissuade her from her course of action.
Twilight already lost one friend, and couldn’t bear to lose another.
Pinkie glanced one final time at Twilight; the princess's sobs were breaking her heart, but she knew the path ahead of her. She knew, all her life, this was her destiny. But one last hug couldn’t hurt, at least. She galloped back to Twilight, throwing her forelegs around the purple princess's neck.
Embracing Twilight with every ounce of love she could muster, Pinkie Pie gently stroked her best friend’s mane. The sweet scent of Twilight’s lavender shampoo clung to Pinkie, and she breathed it in as though it were the most wonderful frangrance known to pony or beast.
“Twilight….shh. I’ll be perfectly, one hundred and sixty two percent okay! After all, there’s a reason balloons are my cutie mark, and it’s not because I’m an airhead!”
Through Twilight’s soft sobbing, Pinkie Pie clearly understood her soft plea in sotto voce. Twilight’s words forged Pinkie’s resolve from a soft, rubbery mass into hardened steel. If it meant never having to see Twilight cry again, Pinkie Pie would do anything.
Anything.
“You can count on me.”
Latching the basket’s gate behind her, Pinkie released the final tether holding the hot air balloon, and it steadily rose above the library and Ponyville’s clock tower. One final wave to Twilight was all Pinkie could muster before turbulence engulfed the balloon, rocking it back and forth as it slowly but surely floated toward the darkened skies just beyond the small town’s borders.
Three words.
Pinkie wouldn’t stop regardless of the heartache.
Regardless of the pain.
Regardless of the fact that the human world probably didn’t have cupcakes anywhere near as good as the ones they made at Sugarcube Corner with real sugar and not any of the artificial sweeteners like high fructose corn syrup or aspartame.
Pinkie braced herself against the gale force winds, holding the strong and sturdy ropes of the balloon for balance as it drew closer to the storm brewing just ahead. The dark and cylindrical cloud wall was a dead giveaway for the tornado she needed; she only hoped that the balloon would hold against the tempests just beyond the cloud wall.
Piercing through the clouds, the wind escalated in speed further, and the sound was as if the Ponyville Express had decided to take a detour through Pinkie’s eardrums. She pressed on, stinging rain and hail pelting her from every direction. The sights and scents of an unfamiliar world assailed Pinkie in casual snippets as the balloon was battered, tossed, and flipped relentlessly. While the raging storm continued, Pinkie remained suprisingly calm, taking solace in the three words that echoed in her head…three words from her friend that she took more seriously than even a Pinkie Promise. On her life, she would do what Twilight asked.
“Bring Dashie home.”