Pinkie was exhausted.
Mr. and Mrs. Cake were on vacation, and Pinkie had insisted on watching Sugarcube Corner in their absence. Now, she was wondering whether she should have taken a vacation too.
"My order was a CARROT muffin, not a BLUEBERRY muffin!" one particularly grumpy construction worker roared at her. Pinkie flinched and plastered a fake smile onto her face.
"Oh, I'm so sorry! Here, let me-"
"THERE'S NO POINT NOW!" the worker roared at her. "I'll just get my muffin somewhere else!"
As her stormed out, most of the customers looked at her sympathetically, but virtually no one asked her if she was okay. Twilight would, Pinkie thought to herself, discreetly tuning into the conversation.
". . . don't you think we should make sure she's fine?"
"Puh-lease. Pinkie's always fine. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen her not-happy!"
Pinkie gritted her teeth and continued her day.
Heaving a sigh, Pinkie flipped the sign from 'Open' to 'Closed' and let her face rid itself of the disgusting fake smile she had every day.
Sure, she loved being happy and making other ponies happy, but she was drained. She was so tired of always thinking of others and never thinking for herself. She couldn't even seem to plan a good party anymore.
I thought this day would never happen, she thought to herself glumly, but it seems you've partied and smiled yourself out, Pinkamena. You should have limited it to one party a week. Flopping onto her bed, she stared at the roof so the tears wouldn't leak out.
A knock sounded.
Pinkie opened the door to see a sheepish purple alicorn there. "Twilight?" Pinkie asked. "What're you doing here at this time of night?"
"I wanted to see how you were doing, Pinkie," Twi told her. "I heard what happened today. You wanna talk about it?"
Pinkie's façade cracked. "Everyone thinks I'm happy all the time, Twi! No one in the entire bakery asked if I was okay, and I'm not! I'm . . . I'm drained. I don't know if I can even throw a party anymore, or smile."
Twilight draped a wing around her shockingly pink friend. "Pinkie, I think you should focus on planning a party."
Pinkie's smile fell.
Twilight put a hoof to Pinkie's chest. "There's nothing wrong with being pooped, Pinkie. You should try to be nice to other people, but you don't need to be happy all the time or pretend to. The party you should focus on first is right in here."
Pinkie smiled. Even if Twilight had never been through what Pinkie was feeling, she always seemed to know the right thing to say. Her mane poofed a little. "Thanks, Twilight," she said softly. "I'll focus on the party in here for a while."
Twilight hugged her. "Good."
Twilight was a true hero.