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// The Super Duper Party Ponyville Pony 
// Story: It's Something in Her Smile 
// by Midday Giggle 
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For a partying pony, Pinkie Pie was awake quite early in the morning. Actually, she was awake the moment the sun peeked over the hills, like if it was a curious cat, before slowly rising as morning went by. Her morning activities were very varied: one day she would be baking with the Cakes, the other she would be first-thing in the market getting supplies for her newest party, or the next she would be foalsistting the Cake Twins while Mr. and Mrs. Cake worked.

This morning, however, she was just bouncing along the path, waving at any pony she saw at their windows or reading the morning newspaper. The hyperactive cotton candy-maned mare wore a big smile —like always— as she bounced with no real destination.

This catched somepony's attention quickly. Rainbow Dash had learned to wake up early every single day since she joined the Wonderbolts, and though it wasn't her favorite part of the job and she wasn't a morning pony at all, Spitfire would have her head if she arrived late to practice. So too bad, up with the sun, just as Applejack.

It wasn't a surprise she had woken up early today too, even if actually it was the first free day she had in weeks, since winter holidays had been just last month. She planned on sleeping until high noon, but that wouldn't be now.

To burn down some energy, she had gone in an early morning fly. Breathing some fresh air while the breeze flowed through her mane and between her feathers was always relaxing, and sometimes —just sometimes— she would leave speed behind for a while to just do that: relax.

Since her awareness and photographic memory were always working at max, specially when flying, it took little to no time for her to notice her friend in the path. Pinkie Pie usually was very busy with parties, pastries or whatever she had planned for the day, and even though it wasn't a weird thing to see her bouncing in the streets of Ponyville, it got her curiosity anyway.

So she glided to earth, landing softly a few paces from Pinkie, approaching her friend.

"Hey there, Pinkie!" she called.

"Hello, Dashie!" the pink mare squealed inmediately, turning around to face her friend. She was still slightly bouncing in her spot.

"What gotcha so excited?" asked Dash, trying to keep visual contact with her friend as her hopped in place. She ended giving up, since Pinkie wasn't about to stay still.

"What do you mean?" Pinkie squeaked, smiling brightly and tilting her head to the side. She was still bouncing. "You know me! I'm always excited! Though some moments can get more exciting than other, like when Twilight arrived Ponyville, or Flurry Heart's Crystalling, or Canterlot's baking contest!"

Dash chuckled, cracking a small smirk. "So everything's pretty much the same."

"Yup!"

Dash comically rolled her eyes. Good old Pinkie for you, she thought.

"Why up so early, Dashie?" suddenly asked Pinkie, finally stopping with her frequent bouncing. "I thought you said you wanted to rest today."

"Yeah, but Spitfire really drilled waking up early throught our skulls." Dash softly nagged her head with her hoof. "It's kinda an habit now."

"She drilled in your heads?!" Pinkie gasped dramatically, "That's not safe! Even for athletes!"

Dash snorted, snickering.

"She didn't actually drilled in our heads." explained Dash. "You know, I mean she insisted in it and eventually she got what she wanted."

Pinkie Pie swept nonexistent sweat from her brow. "Phew! You got me there! I'm way more relieved now." she duddenly gasped again, stopping with her bounce. "Oh, silly me! Hey, Dashie, I would love to stay and chat and maybe do some stuff together, but I Pinkie promised the Cakes I would look after Pound and Pumpkin while they were off delivering their strawberry pies orders. And they got, like, many pies for today. See ya!"

Dash waved as her friend went away. "See ya later, Pinkie!"

The pink mare trotted happily towards Sugarcube Corner and Dash stayed there a short while before opening her wings to take fly, but a sudden soreness in her cheeks stopped her. She lightly managed the sore spot, and realized she was smiling hard.

She was smiling so hard her cheeks got sore?

Dash looked towards where Pinkie had dissapeared. Ok, Pinkie's special talent was making ponies happy, but really? Could she just make everypony smile so hard so their cheeks got sore?

She wondered how she did it. Pinkie had just said a funny comment, and that got Dash chuckling, since, come on, the mare's silliness was hilarious twenty-four/seven. Their exchange lasted just two or three minutes, and if her cheeks were sore, was she really smiling all along?

"Why am I even thinking about it?" wondered Dash, smacking softly the side of her head, trying to get the thoughts out of her. "It's just Pinkie, she makes everypony smile. No big deal."

But in the back of her mind it was big deal, and she couldn't stop thinking about it, not even flying and taking into everything that was around her.

All this time, it had never occurred her how Pinkie managed to make everypony happy and laugh, even when she didn't quite realized. It seemed like it came naturally to her to be cheerful and silly. She even could get depressed if she didn't felt like she was doing her duty, like at Dash's birthaversary, when the Goof-Off against Cheese Sandwich hadn't really served it's purpose and had only her pressured and getting in the middle of silly displays, sitting in enormous slices of cheese and stuck under giant cake piñatas.

Though, was there more to it? Was there something else that she ignored and Pinkie used to make ponies happy? She managed to brighten up the mood of old Cranky, and that was a lot. What more was in that mare? What else could be Pinkie's secrets?

Realization suddenly slapped Dash in the face, and she smacked her hoof against her forehead, almost hurting herself.

She was starting to sound like Twilight...





Lazily lying in a puffy cloud, Dash rolled from side to side, asking herself what was it, how Pinkie did it, and how was it that she never thought about before.

An excited, cheerful cry made her ears swat her in the sides of her head, and she perked up and peeked over the border of the cloud, looking towards the land.

Pinkie Pie was there, the Cake Twins in her back, holding to her mane and tail. Pinkie seemed unfazed by that, and she wore a fake pig nose over her muzzle. The strap was so tin Dash almost missed it.

"Now who's in for piggyback rides?!" she started hopping slightly and the foals on her back giggled. "Oink, oink, oink!"

A mother and her filly passed near the area, and the little filly noticed Pinkie Pie giving a piggyback ride to Pound and Pumpkin. The filly seemed to be a little bit older than the Twins, and she tugged on her mothers saddlebag, who looked at her. The filly pointed towards Pinkie Pie, busy with the Twins, and looked at her with big, blue puppy eyes.

The mare looked the direction her daughter was pointing and smiled.

Dash leaned her head to the side. She's smiling too.

"I'm sorry, sweetie, but I can't play with you now." her mother told her, and the filly's smile dropped, her ears falling to the sides of her head.

The mother frowned at her daughter, who looked like in the verge of crying. Out of nowhere, Pinkie was next to the filly, crunching down to her

"Hey, hey! I see a frown in here..." she looked to the filly's mother, who looked surprised of the young mare with the fake pig nose. Pinkie's smile widened. "Actually, they are two. There are no sad faces allowed when Pinkie Pie's around!" somehow, she ducked under the filly, successfully placing her in her back, in front of Pound, who giggled at the new filly.

The mother smiled again.

"Please keep your hooves, wings and tails into the buggy the whole ride. Pound, do not try to fly off or you'll fall again, silly. Pumpkin, don't use you magic on auntie Pinkie again. And you," she nuzzled the little filly's belly. "little one, hold on tight and enjoy the ride."

Pinkie started oinking and hopping again, making the three foals in her back giggle. The mother stared at the pink mare, a big, kind smile in her face, as her daughter giggled along with Pound and Pumpkin. Pinkie Pie wore a big smile while she gave the foals the ride, going a step forward with using her tail to tickle the three of them in their sides, making them laugh louder.

Dash found herself smiling too at the sight.

Then it hit her, and she suddenly found herself going back to her previous wondering.

Pinkie Pie's special talent was to make ponies happy. She usually used parties to do this, cheering everypony this way. If not with parties, then with pastries, or lending helping hoofs, however she did it, she managed to do so.

But everything Pinkie walked in the room, you could easily notice something. Her sole presence was enough to cheer everypony, actually, she only needed to be nice and smile to make ponies smile too.

Then again, how did she did it?

There were ponies whose laugh was contagious. That kind of ponies whose laugh made you laugh, not for what caused them to laugh, but because their laugh makes you laugh too.

Could this apply with smiles and joy too?

Earlier, when she encountered Pinkie in the path, she found herself smiling just being near her. The mare down in the earth right now, looking at her filly having fun, also smiled at the simple sight of Pinkie. Hell, the whole Ponyville was down back when Twilight messed up their Cutie Marks and made Pinkie the farmer of the bunch. They cheered up and smiled again when Pinkie finally realized what was her real destiny —again.

That's how crucial was Pinkie in Ponyville's happiness.

But there was something else, something Dash just noticed when she glanced at Pinkie's smile in that very moment.

She was smiling too.

She was happy.

Pinkie wasn't a cheap circus clown, who put on a fake smile when she had to go onstage. No. She was happy. And she was happy making ponies happy. She found joy and purpose in making ponies smile, and that was all the fuel she needed to keep being happy and smiling for them to be happy too. It was an endless cycle of happiness.

How was it that it took Dash so long to realize it?

Pinkie bounced back towards the mare, halting in her place and crouching down to the earth.

"Thank you for riding with us! Please leave your seats by your left. Come back soon!" she exclaimed as the filly got out of her back and back to the floor, running towards her mother. The mare sent her a thankful smile and Pinkie waved at them as they got away, the Twins mimicking her, still in her back.

Dash smiled as Pinkie went back to playing with the Cake Twins.

Pinkie Pie was one of a kind. There would never be somepony like her, somepony so pure and funny, though sometimes annoying, true.

Sometimes, ponies didn't realized how important one pony was to the others' life. Sometimes, ponies like Pinkie Pie weren't rewarded as much as they were worth it. Pinkie was one of those ponies that were worth being friends with.

As Dash took off into the sky and towards her cloud home, she promised herself something: she would never ever take Pinkie for granted. Pinkie was important, for her and for Equestria, even if she didn't realized it. Pinkie was the kind that, even in the gloomiest days, could make you smile like you were just out of the best time of your life.

That's how important was her smile.