Water fell from the skies, unrelenting, as a lone car drove down Oak Avenue. The dim glow of the setting sun long gone, its headlights barely peirced the downpour to illuminate the driveway of a quaint, welcoming house. The garage long since full of junk and supplies, it parked as close to the front door as possible and allowed a single man the means to get inside. The figure fumbeld with his keys in the pouring rain, an air of melancholy seeming to flow from his very being. With one final push, he opened the door, and dripping wet, forced his way inside.
Joseph wasn't having a good day. He had invited his friends and family over to celebrate his birthday, but the torrential downpour and howling winds outside meant there was no way anyone would be going out tonight without very good reason. Resigning himself to his fate, he opened a plastic case containing a cupcake he had purchased at the baker's, put a single candle in it, and put it on a plate, heading upstairs. Maybe some My Little Pony would cheer him up.
Setting the confection down on his end table, Joseph clicked the television on with the remote. He was greeted with a black screen, and the text 'Satellite image unavailable. Retrying...' This was to be expected, of course. Heavy rain such as the storm outside always messed with his connection. Thankfully, he had some of the older seasons on DVD, so he could easily-
BOOM
A sickening crack rumbled through the air as lightning struck not too far away. Not a moment later, the lights cut out, leaving Joseph in total darkness. He cursed his luck as the storm thundered on outside. Thankfully, he had a lighter, so he was able to light the small birthday candle and carried it to the window, setting the plate gently down on the windowsill so he could watch the rain slowly slide across the glass in the dim light of the flickering flame.
"Why didn't today turn out well? It felt like world was against me, and I don't even get to enjoy my favorite show tonight. I... I don't know what to think." He hung his head in defeat.
"You know what I think, Joey? You don't realize how special you are."
"Pinkie?" Joseph raised his head back up. It was hard to believe, but reflected in the soft candlelight, a ghostly figure of Pinkie Pie stared back at him. She looked like she did in the show, albeit more realistic, and was unaffected by the rain or the fact that she was looking in a two story high window. She seemed inconsistent, both there and not there. yet he heard her as clear as day.
"The one and only! And I came to celebrate your birthday with you, and make you happy. I'm sorry I can't come over there and hug you, but this is the best I can do," she lamented, her mane deflating ever so slightly. "I hope that's okay..."
"No, no, this is fine. How are you even here... and why? I'm not that special."
"Are you kidding?!" The party pony all but slammed her face into the window. "You're YOU! And there's nopony, or nobody like you at all! Just look, look over there! What do you see?" She pointed a hoof deeper into the room, and Joseph turned to look.
"Uh... It's a little too dark to see anything, Pinkie. But that's where my computer is. What's your point?"
"My point is that that machine, those connections... do you have any idea how many lives you've made better just by being yourself? Real world friends, friends over the internet... You are a very special person, Joey, and don't you dare forget it!"
Joseph chuckled to himself. It was a half-hearted chuckle, the kind one emits when they humor someone else. "Pinkie, I feel like you're right, but what does it matter? Besides, I'm pretty sure this is all just a dream, and I'm imagining you right now. My family couldn't make it today, who's here to celebrate?"
"I am, Joey." Pinkie raised a hoof to the window, and Joseph was compelled by some unseen force to do the same. "Real or imaginary, the love, friendship, and kindness that you've found through the show I'm on makes it real. You, and everyone who's watched us, have become better people because of it, and that's why as much as you care about us, we care about you. I'm here. So happy birthday, Joey."
It started quiet, but in the distance, a faint music started to play. It grew stronger, and the rain grew quieter, the haunting melody bringing words to the lips of human and pony alike. Joseph, who couldn't sing for the life of him, opened the song with the musical prowess of a world-class singer, letting the magic of the dream and harmony guide him.
"Reflections..."
"Reflections..."
"On the window pane...
It looks like you... But I know it's not the same."
"Remember, the love that's in our hearts..."
"And we will never, ever, be apart."
"Do you remember... Not so very long ago...
At my lowest point in life,
I found a children's show.
The lessons there... they saved me, from the dark...
And on my soul, you've left a healing mark."
"Reflections..."
"Reflections..."
"Bring forth thoughts of you.
Search your heart, I'm there. You know it to be true."
"Real or fake, the lessons you impart..."
"They will always be there with you, taking part."
"You fail to realize... Just what you can really do...
You've got so many friends,
And they all believe in you.
Remember this, we're all cheering for you...
Because you have will to see it through."
"And the reflections!"
"They stay on the window pane!"
"They help to soothe the pain!"
"Alone here, in the rain!"
"So, remember... remember!"
"The love that's in our hearts!"
"And we will never, ever..."
"Be apart." Joseph's last line of the song blew out the candle, darkening the room once more. The storm raged on full force outside, and he heard no more of Pinkie's voice. But then, the lights flickered back on, and where a small, mediocre cupcake once stood alone with a tiny candle...
Standing next to it was a tiny figurine of Pinkie, smiling up at him.