//------------------------------//
// Party Pooped 
// Story: Flash Sentry, Defender of the Peace S5 
// by Banshee531 
//------------------------------//

Yakyakistan, a northern kingdom that exists beyond the Crystal Empire. As the name implies, its a country entirely populated by Yaks, a proud, powerful race that was very simplistic in their life choices. Equestria and Yakyakistan once had friendly...ish relations, but unknown factors had brought that friendship to an end.

Until now.

In the Castle of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle and the rest of the Friendship Council were waiting for the arrival of their new allies, or at least hoping they would become friends. But the look on Twilight's face showed she was currently at a Level Two state of Twilighting, now getting closer to hitting Level Three.

Pinkie went over to the alicorn and patted her chest as Twilight muttered to herself, "There's no reason to be nervous Twi. Everything's gonna be fine!"

Pinkie then tapped the alicorn's stomach, "Twilight...tell those butterflies in your tummy to beat it! Don't worry so much! Making new friends is always fun."

In response, a new fresh wave of sweat began flowing down the princess's face, "Ohhhh...I don't know about that Pinkie."

Fluttershy came up next, patting her wing on Twilight's back, "It'll be okay Twilight. They're probably just as nervous as you are."

Applejack nodded in agreement, "Ya'll been plannin' this shindig for weeks. Yah know everything about these fellers, so it's gonna be dandy."

Flash leaned back in his chair with a shrug, "No kidding. I mean, what's the worse that could happen? So they don't like us. It's not the end of the world."

Twilight began to perform the breathing trick Cadance had taught her, the mare replying as she rubbed the sides of her head, "You're right. Remember, Equestria and Yakyakistan haven't opened their borders for hundreds of moons. In fact, Yakyakistan is so far north of the Crystal Mountains, nopony's even been there!"

Flash stopped leaning as he blinked at that statement, "Wait...if nopony's been there, how do you have research on their food, dwellings and culture?"

"Imagine the look on Princess Celestia's face when she finds out we made friends with a yak prince!" Twilight exclaimed as her eyes shrunk in fear, her breathing increasing in pace. Seeing this, Flash continued to talk as Twilight put her hoof on her chest, "I'm calm! I'm calm..."

"And I can transform into a hydra that breathes sunshine and daisies," Flash said before Twilight gave him a deadpan stare. Flash shrugged at this, "We can all say things Twilight. Doesn't mean it's true."

Twilight started to growl, only for attention to be taken as Spike blew into a trumpet. They all turned to the now opening door, which was right in Spike's face, before a red carpet unfurled. Once done, three large hairy yaks trotted into the castle, stopping halfway as the two at the front stepped aside to show a yak wearing gold jewelry and ornaments. It was the ambassador of Yakyakistan, the honorable Prince Rutherford.

"Ponies!" The yak called out in a near yell, "Greetings, ponies!"

Twilight quickly teleported, bowing as she appeared. "Prince Rutherford, your Majesty." Rutherford nodded as she stood up. "On behalf of all of us, I welcome you to Equestria."

"Me honored. Yaks hope for great friendship between ponies and yaks." He then got right up in her face, "FRIENDS FOR A THOUSAND MOONS!" The force of his yell was on par with the Royal Canterlot Voice, only with an extra layer of spit.

Twilight, after rubbing her ears, gave a small smile, "You must be hungry after a long journey." She singled for Spike, who pushed a table of strange-looking food in front of the yaks. "We've prepared a banquet of traditional yak food."

Everypony watched as Rutherford began to inspect the cart, growling at the sight, "If things not perfect, yaks get mad. Yaks always get mad when things not perfect!"

Twilight did a large gulp, Flash walking up in front of her, "A fine standard, but we in Equestria prefer to think that it's the thought that counts." He suddenly felt Twilight elbow him in the gut, "What? I'm just explaining how our culture work. Best way to build relations is to understand what makes us different and what makes us alike." Flash shined a grin at this, hoping that quoting a diplomacy book Twilight had gotten him after the Royal Pony Summit would help keep her stress down.

But those happy thoughts were all but destroyed as Rutherford spat out the food he had just tried. "This no taste like yak food! Fake pony food make yaks mad!"

"Uh oh..." Flash commented as Twilight instantly hit Level Three. Before they could say or do anything, Rutherford tipped the table over as he and his yaks began rampaging through the castle. They slammed into pillars, ripping down the decorations Rarity had put up, which made her faint as they rest began to destroying anything they could get their hooves on. Everypony simply stared as the three wrecked the place, knowing they couldn't do anything due to the yak's diplomatic immunity.

Pinkie then stepped up to Twilight, "Is it okay to be nervous now?"

Flash shook his head, "Nervous? Feel free to be terrified."





About an hour later...

Iron, Lightning and Springer were now heading back to the castle after finishing their morning patrol. They had wanted to see how things were going with the yaks visit, only to meet Wild on the way, the stallion now carrying several bags. "Hey bud," Lightning said as he took some of the bags in his magic, noticing their contents, "Pinkie got ya running errands?"

"Yup," Wild replied with his puppets repeating his words. "She asked me to pick up a few things for the friendship party later."

"A few?" Springer replied as he looked the bags over, "Seems more like a lot." But as he said that, they walked up to the castle's doors, opening them to see quite a sight. The place was a total wreck, not one unbroken object in sight. "What happened in here?"

Flash and the girls were busy cleaning up as Springer asked this, his partner responding, "Our guests got a little...overexcited."

Twilight nodded in agreement. "After we calmed them down, Flash was able to distract them with the training room's battle simulator. Hopefully, that'll hold their attention long enough for us to fix all this."

"If we can..." Flash held up a broken part of a bannister while Applejack hammered it into place.

Once the farm pony was done, she wiped her brow, "Them yaks sure have a funny way of sayin' "howdy."

Rarity, who was currently gluing a broken vase back together, looked up at her. "They're different, that's all." She put the fixed vase back on the table, "Very...different."

Rainbow sighed as she flew up to Twilight, broom in hoof. "I think they broke my record for most stuff broken in under a minute. I mean-" she pulled out a busted ornament, "They even broke the trophy."

Flash raised an eyebrow at this. "I can't tell if that's ironic or not."

Wild and Lightning put the bags on the floor before the entertainer turned to his girlfriend. "So I'm guessing the first impressions weren't...perfect."

As Pinkie shrugged, Flash flew down. "Perfect seems to be the issue with them. If it's not perfect, they hate it. I get the feeling they'd probably jump off a cliff if somepony said they weren't perfect."

Seeing worry on everypony's face, Twilight gestured them into a group, "All we have to do is show them how great it can be to have friends before Princess Celestia arrives for the friendship party tonight. Now, who read the seven-volume cross-indexed history of Yakyakistan I recommended?" She then stared at each face, only finding one nod.

"I did, I did!" Pinkie exclaimed before hopping over to Fluttershy. "Did you know they live so far north of the Crystal Empire that it's cold all the time?" She wrapped herself up in Fluttershy's mane. "Yaks have yak fur to keep them warm."

Applejack giggle from up on the balcony. "Pretty sure that's what fur's always for, Pinkie Pie."

"I know! Yaks are so cool!" Pinkie screamed as she suddenly materialised from under Applejack's hat, shocking her into dropping a hammer. Flash managed to catch the hammer before it smashed Rarity's vase, the unicorn giving him a thankful nod as Twilight looked up at Pinkie.

"Pinkie Pie, can you show them around town? I know you have to plan the friendship party too, but it would really help to make them feel welcome."

Pinkie shined a huge grin as she and Applejack arrived at the ground floor, "Don't worry. They'll be in good hooves with me."

Twilight let out a sigh of relief, "Good. Remember, we want to make sure Equestria feels like home. That means doing everything we can to make this place feel like Yakyakistan."

"No problem!" Pinkie chimed in with a salute.

Flash shook his head at this, "You say that now, but I get the feeling these guys aren't gonna be so easily swayed."

"We still have to try." Twilight replied before turning around, "Let's get out there and make some new friends!" Everypony gave their own cries of agreement, Pinkie heading to the training room with Flash and Wild going with her to make sure the training room wasn't trashed.

Luckily, the yaks managed to keep the place clean, happy fighting some random generated goons. After this, Pinkie and Wild took them out for a tour of Ponyville while Flash cleaned up. After a lengthy town montage, Pinkie brought them to Sweetapple Acres, Applejack suggesting they visit as she said, "We know y'all are noble warriors who avoid the so-called finer things, so me and mah family would be honored if ya'll rested here in the barn during yer visit."

Pinkie bounced over to some large hay bales with pillows. "Applejack and I made hay beds like you're used to back in Yakyakistan."

Prince Rutherford stepped up to the bed, snorting as Wild took a deep gulp that his puppets mimicked. "Hmm...This perfect."

Wild sighed in relief as Pinkie pointed to the beds. "You can snooze here all afternoon, 'cause you're gonna need a lot of energy for my party tonight!"

Applejack then whispered, "That wasn't so hard."

Wild was about to agree, only for Rutherford to yell, "Wait!" They turned to see him licking the hay before yelling, "This not yak hay!"

"Of course..." Wild sighed.

"Well..." Pinkie tried to explain as Applejack began pulling her back, "We didn't have actual hay from Yakyakistan." Wild followed after the two, spotting Big Mac and Applebloom already running off, "But we tried our best to make it just like yours."

"Not perfect! Yaks destroy!" With that, he and his entourage began stomping on the hay beds. The ground shook, the three running out of the barn while avoiding flying pillows.

"Flash weren't kidding about them being picky."

Applejack turned to her fellow earth pony. "Pinkie Pie, what do we do?!"

Pinkie looked back at the half-destroyed barn, a quick bulb appearing over her head, "I have an idea. I need to go talk to Fluttershy. When the yaks are done...you know, bring them to the park." With that, she ran off as Applejack and Wild just stared at the barn.

"I hope Pinkie's next idea works way better," Wild added while gulping. "If not, these guys are gonna destroy half of Ponyville before this visit's over."





"Me hope ponies next surprise is better the last ones," Rutherford growled as they headed through the park.

"You and me both brother." Wild muttered as he spotted his girlfriend in the distance. She was standing next to a tree that had a bunch of sheets hanging from it, Fluttershy and Iron also there as the two were putting a picnic blacket down with cups of tea.

"And now, for your entertainment pleasure. Presenting animals, Yakyakistan style!" Pinkie cheered as she lifted the sheet to reveal Angel and a bunch of other animals scuttering out all wearing horned helmets.

Everypony stared at Rutherford, all gulping before he responded, "Animals cute."

Fluttershy let out a soft sigh, "Oh thank goodness."

Iron also seemed to relax, taking his hoof off his Celestic Gear. However, he would soon regret this as one of the ducklings, whose head was stuck in a horn hat, tripped over a pebble and fell headfirst into the ground. The horn became stuck in the dirt, the duckling managing to pull itself free by taking off the hat. Prince Rutherford saw this and growled, "These antlers lie! These not Yakyakistan animals! YAKS DESTROY!"

Fluttershy gasped and grabbed the animals, getting them up a tree as the yaks smashed the picnic table. The mare watched in horror, Wild now pulling Iron away before he did something that might make things worse. Pinkie was also up in the tree, gulping as she mumbled to herself, "Okay, well...there's still other things we can do...I think."





Once the yaks calmed down again, Pinkie and Wild took them over to Rarity's house. There, the unicorn showed them a few rolls of fabric. "Yes! These are some of my favorite materials. Very rare, imported from the Crystal Empire to match your northern sensibilities. I hope you'll find them-" She didn't get to finish as she now saw the yaks were eating her fabric. "Delicious?"

"Seriously?" Wild yelped with a raised eyebrow.

The yaks then spat out the fabric as Rutherford growled, "This no taste like yak fabric!"

"We never said it was," Wild added.

"YAKS DESTROY!" Once again, the three giant creatures began stomping around, Rarity screaming in fear.

As they tried to calm the creatures down, Pinkie muttered to herself, "Everything's gonna be fine...you'll just...make it up to them. Somehow."

"Maybe trying to replicate Yak stuff is a bad idea. Face it-" Wild then dodged a flying mannequin head, "These guys aren't gonna be satisfied with anything we do."

Those words went into Pinkie's ears before she exclaimed, "That's it!"





Pinkie's plan involved them returning to the park, the party pony confident as she announced, "Listen up! Tell your faces to hold onto their frowns, 'cause they're about to get turned upside-down!"

Rutherford, who Wild was starting to think wasn't the brightest bulb in Equestria, shook the bangs out of his eyes before staring down at his mouth. "Hold your frown, face!"

Pinkie smirked before looking up at the sky. "Hit it, Rainbow Dash!" Wild looked up and saw the pegasus push a large cloud, kicking it before the cloud covered them in four feet of snow. "Just like Yakyakistan snow, right? Because snow is snow, no matter where it comes from."

"Alright, I'll give you this one." Wild grabbed a trio of snowballs and playfully tossed it at the yaks.

But as Rutherford felt the snow and slurped it up, "This not yak snow!"

"Oh no..." Wild deflated with his puppets repeating as they both shrunk back. The yaks started smashing the snow now, the puppeteer turning to Pinkie as she slumped over in utter defeat.

"SERIOUSLY?!" She whimpered as she face planted the snow, honestly feeling like doing the exact same thing.

"This isn't good. We need help...fast. Maybe the snow they have back home is different."





Turns out, it wasn't. That's what Wild learned when he and the others met up in the Friendship Map Room. Once everypony was there, Twilight asked for a report, only for Applejack to mutter out, "Y'know, it's goin...uh..."

Rarity looked away, "satisfactory..."

"It could definitely be better..." Rainbow added.

Fluttershy hid behind her mane before whispering, "It's not very good."

"IT'S A DISASTER!" Pinkie screamed, faceplanting the map.

"Yeah! These guys don't like anything we do!" Wild finished as he mimicked Pinkie, his puppets all giving frowns.

Iron shook his head at this, "Honestly, I'm starting to wonder why we're even bothering to try and become friends with these things. All they do is yell, destroy things and almost harm any living thing around them. Do we really want to become allies with a species like that?"

Twilight turned to him with a soft glare, "We can't judge an entire kingdom on the actions of a few select individuals. Imagine if the yaks invited Equestria to Yakyakistan and we sent Big Score and his cronies."

Everypony shivered at this, but Iron just crossed his hooves, "Fair enough. But that doesn't solve our problem."

Lightning nodded in agreement, "No kidding. These yaks don't seem to be very advanced. Sure, they have a lot to gain from becoming our allies, but what does Equestria stem to gain from them? I'm not seeing anything."

Twilight shook her head now, "Making friends with the yaks isn't a matter of gains or losses. We're not doing it to try and get some strategic advantage."

Flash tapped his hoof on the map at this, "She's right. Judging a pony squarely on what they can offer is the exact opposite of friendship."

Twilight shined a big smile at his statement, "I'm the Princess of Friendship and Flash is the Knight of Friendship. Holding those titles gives us the responsibility to try and spread the magic of friendship to all living things. Because every...er, creature, has a right to be our friend. Rainbow and Pinkie have already made great strides in building relations with Griffonstone, helping slowly spread friendship there. We also helped the town get along Zecora, who was a zebra. If we can get the yaks on our side, that'll be another culture that we've helped teach. Then, who knows? Maybe the dragons, or..."

"Maybe even the changelings," Flash spoke up, only to get nothing but stares, most asking 'are you serious.' "What?! They're not all bad. Remember Thorax?"

The others didn't reply, Twilight chiming in as she turned to a certain pony. "Pinkie Pie, tonight's Yakyakistan theme party is more important than ever!" She nervously tapped her hooves together. "You'll make them forget about all of this afternoon, right?" Pinkie said nothing, her eye twitching as everypony else turned to her expectantly. But before she could reply, Twilight kept talking, "Because if it's not perfect, they're gonna smash everything! And I'm not sure how much more smashing this visit can take!"

Wild watched as his girlfriend began sweating as she stood up in her throne. "I definitely will...I think," she shrank into the chair. "Maybe?"

"You're the best gosh-darn party planner in Equestria!" Applejack told her, Rainbow rapidly nodding in agreement.

"You'll show 'em a good time!"

"You can do it!" Fluttershy added.

Rarity chimed in next, "We have absolute confidence in your abilities, Pinkie Pie."

Unfortunately, the many friends didn't notice Pinkie now fighting back a Level four Twilighting attack. Trying to hide a gulp, she replied, "It's going to be my most happy-tacular party ever! I hope!"

Her eyes started moving like they were watching a very fast game of ping-pong, Rainbow now asking, "Why are your eyes darting around like that?"

Pinkie forced her eyes to stay in one place, her face now cracking one of the most deranged smiles Equestria had ever seen. "It's what I do when I'm not nervous!" She let out a hysterical laugh before leaning on the table with her psycho smile in full view.

As she did this, Twilight pulled her into a hug, "Pinkie Pie, I don't know what we'd do without you-"

"Me either!" The earth pony screamed right in her face. "Gotta go!" With that, she leapt out of her throne and galloped out of the room at top speed.

The others all shared a glance, unsure about the reality they were looking at. Only Wild chose to go after her, heading off to Sugarcube Corner as Flash and Twilight took over giving the yaks the Ponyvillle tour. As he walked into the shop, he spoke up, "Pinkie?"

"Wild!" His attention turned to the kitchen, where he spotted Mrs. Cake working on a special dessert. "Glad you're here." She quickly cut a slice of the large cake, "Taste this!" The unicorn took a bite, only to freeze in place, "Well? Good, bad, too much vanilla?"

"Are you kidding?" He replied as his puppets flew around him dressed like angels. "I feel like I died and went to dessert heaven."

"I'm glad you like it. I just hope the yaks find it up to standard."

"They'd be idiots to hate this thing," Wild replied while licking his lips, only to frown at his own statement, "So yeah, they'll probably hate it. Anyways, you seen Pinkie around?"

"She ran up into her room a few minutes ago. Didn't even have time to ask if she wanted to try it."

Wild nodded and went upstairs, arriving to see Pinkie talking to Gummy. "They're just too sensitive! Even Fluttershy made them mad! FLUTTERSHY!"

"Truly, they are a species on the brink of madness."

"Wild!" She gasped as she turned and ran up to hug his chest, "What am I gonna do?! I told Twilight I could handle it, but I know the yaks are gonna hate all the ideas I had for this party!" Wild just patted her on the back, unable to say anything as she continued, "Oh...I need a new idea, and I need it now." She turned to Gummy as she ended the hug, "How am I supposed to make this party feel like Yakyakistan without actually going there and bringing something back?!"

Gummy said nothing, instead shooting out a tongue that hit her face. This caused Pinkie to gasp before hugging the baby alligator. "Gummy, you're a genius." She gave him a quick kiss before turning to Wild, who raised an eyebrow.

"Pinkie...what are you planning? Is it something so insanely brilliant that it can't fail?"

The earth pony gave him a sudden deep kiss, making him blush as she pulled away, "You know me too well."





"And this is Sugarcube Corner," Twilight announced as she pointed to the building. "They're working hard to make your traditional Yakyakistan cake."

Rutherford hummed while rubbing his chin, "Vanilla extract balance very tricky."

"Uh-huh," the other two added.

"Well, I'm sure they'll get it right," Flash nervously finished. "They're the best bakers in Equestria. Next time you come, you should try a taste of their MMMM." The yaks glared back at him, Twilight tapping his shoulder.

"Do you mind...um...waiting here for one moment?" She didn't give them time to answer as her horn sparked, teleporting her and Flash to Pinkie's room, "Pinkie, how's tonight's party coming? I'm doing what I can, but it's really up to you at this point!" There was no answer, making them look around, "Pinkie?"

"Calling all party ponies!"

"Pinkie's not here." They both cried out in shock as they spun around, seeing Wild and his puppets standing behind them with party supplies in their grasp. 

"Where'd you come from?" 

"Nowhere important," Wild smirked.  

Flash frowned at that answer, while Twilight stepped up. "What do you mean she's not here?! Where is she?!"

"Yakyakistan."

Flash and Twilight blinked at this, the information slowly sinking in. Then, the entire building shook as they exclaimed in unison, "WHAT?!"

One explanation later...

"So, let me get this straight." Flash grumbled while rubbing his forehead, "Pinkie, knowing the yaks would hate anything she tried for the party, decided to go to Yakyakestan and bring something back something that the yaks would like?"

"Pretty much," Wild replied, nodding.

Twilight stood completely frozen, the two not surprised if they saw smoke come out of her ears. "But...but...but that's impossible! How does she expect to get all the way to Yakyakistan and back before the party is meant to start?! Just getting there will take days."

"Don't worry so much, this is Pinkie," Wild responded as he was now rummaging through one of the mare's trunks. "She'll pull it off. We just have to keep the yaks distracted until she gets back." He turned while wearing a pair of Pinkie's googly-eyed glasses. "Piece of cake."

Twilight sighed, using Cadance's breathing technique before suddenly gasping. "CAKE!" She disappeared in a flash of light, leaving Flash and Wild to glance at each other.

The Pegasus groaned as he went over and opened a window, "I'll tell the others Pinkie's plan...you just do whatever you can to keep those yaks from getting too angry." With that, he shot out into the sky, Wild grinning as he also left the room.

"And so, the valiant showpony's quest began." He took off his glasses to show a serious expression, his puppets now humming some background music, "His mission, to keep the yaks entertained until the fair maiden Pinkamina returns with the answers to all their problems. The fate of two great kingdoms resting on his shoulders." He arrived at the bottom of the stairs, "Will he be able to achieve his destiny?" He pushed the door open, only to duck as he a cake flew over his head. The unicorn now saw that the yaks were making a mess of the place, causing him to a long gulp, "That's a good question."

He looked over at Twilight, pure panic on her face. Wild then leapt in front of Rutherford, "Your majesty! Why don't the princess and I show you some of Ponyville's best attractions? You know, to help you see just what you could gain from an alliance between our two kingdoms."

This got the yaks to stop, Twilight leaning over and whispering, "What are you doing?"

"Trying to mimic yak stuff is not gonna work. So until Pinkie gets back, the best way to try and distract them is with all the Equestrian things they've probably never seen before."

Twilight was about to reply, only to get interrupted by Rutherford. "Yaks looking forward to seeing what ponies have to show us. Lead us, funny horned pony with floaty toys."

Wild guessed that was him. "Right....out we go then." he gestured to the door, the group soon heading into town. They all then saw many of the townsponies leap out of the yaks' way, the details of their visit now obvious to the village. The unicorn's brain was running a mile a minute, trying to come up with something for them to do. But as he did this, they now heard the yaks' stomachs growl. Grinning at this, Wild pointed a certain new restaurant, "Your majesty! Might I suggest trying a new delicacy that's growing in popularity?"

Twilight quickly caught on, warping over to the stand. "Hey you two, can you give our new friends three servings of the special order? I'll pay." Wasabi and Shichimi nodded while eyeing the yaks, quickly working on the broth. It wasn't long till they were done, levitating the bowls over to the yaks.

The three looked down at the meal before taking a sip of the soup, the ponies all shaking in fear as the prince spoke up, "YAKS-" They flinched, ready to cover their ears, "Find this very tasty!" The other two nodded as they dug into the ramen, the ponies all sighing in relief.

"Can't believe that worked," Wild added.

Twilight nodded in agreement, "I hope Pinkie gets back soon. I don't think this'll last much longer."

"Don't worry. Pinkie's probably already arrived at Yakyakistan and finding something interesting to bring back. She won't stop for anything."





Meanwhile...

"STOOOOOOP!" Pinkie screamed as the cart she was riding in with a sleeping Cherry Jubilee got closer to an oncoming ravine. She was currently pulling on the reins connected to Jubilee's cart pullers, all waking up from their sleeping gallop.

Digging their hooves into the dirt, managing to pull themselves to a stop right over the edge. "Huh?!" Jubilee gasped as she woke up, "Whoa...ah was dreamin' about a ravine." She then looked down, only to go wide-eyed, "RAVINE!"

"That's what I said," Pinkie watched Jubilee leap to the back of the cart. But before she could say anything else, a cracking sound made her freeze as the edge of the ravine started to break off. "AAAAHHH-"





Back in Ponyville, Wild was still entertaining the yaks. He had spent several hours doing whatever came to mind, but even now he was at his last straw. Now at his very last idea, he was doing a recent history lesson portrayed through puppetry. The yaks were sitting in front of a large stage, watching a reenactment of the Royal Knight's battle against Doom Raizer.

"It's over Doom!" He mimicked Flash's voice as a Flash puppet slammed into a large horse pony. It then crumbled over, the Flash puppet doing a pose. The yaks all clapped as Wild did a long sigh of relief, "And so, Flash and the rest of the knights retrieved the orb from Doom and broke it apart once more. The pieces were scattered by them so that nopony could use it to endanger the land again. The end."

The yaks continued to clap as Wild came out from behind the stage. "Floaty toy pony very entertaining. Make history come alive." Rutherford then picked himself up. "Yaks ready for party now."

This made Wild's eyes shrink, gulping as he saw them all get up. That is, till Twilight appeared in a flash of light, "My apologies," she told the yaks. "We're just putting the finishing touches on the party preparations. In the mean time," she sparked her horn, making Wild's puppet theatre disappear. In its place, Spike and Springer appeared alongside a grand piano and violin. "Please enjoy the musical stylings of Spike the Dragon!" She then flew off stage as Spike jumped up onto the piano chair and Springer grabbed the violin. The dragon cracked his claws as the jakhowl made sure the instrument was tuned before they began to play together.

As for Twilight, she landed next to Wild, who leaned over to whisper into her ear. "So...is Pinkie back?"

"Not yet," she muttered back. This should buy us another thirty minutes. If Pinkie's not back by then, we're done for."

Wild nodded in agreement. "She can put a party together in under a minute. Don't ask me how. I just hope she's back soon. I'm completely out of ideas."

"I just hope the yaks enjoy the music." They turned to see their guests listening to the music, all drifting their heads back in forth with smiles.

"They're pretty good. I know Springer can play violin, but when did Spike learn to play the piano?" He looked over at Twilight, who in turn looked away.

For the next thirty minutes, Spike and Springer played their pieces, the yaks now even crying as Rutherford said through his tears, "Music beautiful. Much soul."

Twilight wiped her brow with her wing, "Phew!" Wild was just as relieved, only to gulp as he noticed Spike and Springer reaching the end of the song.

The dragon sighed as he jumped off his chair. "When Twilight told us to stall-I-I mean, entertain you, I thought there's no way we could-" He didn't finish, as in that moment the piano began making music without even being played.

"Huh?" The yaks gasped as they watched Springer kick the piano, trying to switch it off. However, it was too late as the yaks went up and spun the piano around, showing it was actually a self-playing piano.

"Spike!" Twilight screamed, signaling him to cut it.

"Piano play itself?!" Rutherford screamed. "Music a lie!"

"Not all of it," Springer held up his violin again, only for Rutherford to let out a roar and body-slam the piano, smashing it into pieces.

Rutherford growled as his yaks stepped onstage beside him. "We demand party! Party now or yaks no friends!" They then hopped off the stage, Twilight flying after them.

"No! Just give us a little longer!"

"No more longer!" Rutherford yelled as he got up in Twilight's face. "We leave now! Yak go to train, return with more yaks! We declare WAR!"

This caused Twilight and Spike to gasp, only for the group to cut into a sprint, leaving the princess. Once they were out of sight, Twilight began flying to Sugarcube Corner, only to find the place was clumsily decorated in a manner that certainly wasn't a Pinkie Pie creation. "No Pinkie Pie? What is this?!"

Applejack let out a nervous laugh, "W-we panicked and tried to plan our own party."

Rainbow then fell down, tied up in a bunch of streamers. "It's sort of panic-themed."

"The yaks are going home!" Twilight cried as Flash and Iron tried to free Rainbow. "This is awful! I wanted to surprise Princess Celestia, and now the only surprise is that I may have just started a war."

"Come again?" Flash asked as he cut Rainbow free.

"The yaks said they're gonna bring back a whole army and declare war on Equestria." The ponies all looked went wide-eyed at this, Fluttershy even looking terrified. But then, Iron and Lightning suddenly burst out laughing. "This isn't funny!"

"It kind of is," Iron said through his laughter.

Lightning nodded in agreement. "I mean, come on. Look at what they'd be up against if they declared war on us. We have the Royal Knights, four alicorns, Discord and Flash's Sacred Light. They wouldn't stand a chance."

"It's still nothing to laugh about," Twilight almost yelled before Flash flew up to her.

"Calm down. We'll think of something. We just need...um-"

"Pinkie," Twilight interrupted. "But who knows where in Equestria she is right now."





Meanwhile...again.

The snowy peaks of the mountains around the Crystal Empire were at temperatures one could only call...freezing. Despite this, Pinkie had no qualms at walking through the frigid winds biting into her body. She was too focused on her task.

"There we were, face-to-face with Falling Pony Ravine. Down, down, down! And then, suddenly...Pow! We were rescued mid-air by the Wonderbolts! And then they gave me a ride to Manehattan, I joined a travelling band, we played some shows here and there, got popular, almost made it big until creative differences tore us apart. And that's when I knew I had to get back on with my journey to the Crystal Empire, the gateway to Yakyakistan! And so here I am. It was a major adventure that took most of the afternoon." She turned to Ruby and Cadance, who had been escorting her up the mountains. "You know what I mean?"

Cadance just blinked at this, Ruby muttering to herself as she checked to make sure she wasn't asleep or hit by a spell, before Cadance pointed up at the mountains, "This is it. The northern boundary of the Crystal Empire. Beyond lies Yakyakistan."

Ruby nodded as she continued to explain. "It's a frozen wasteland, with many dangers that could take you by surprise. Nopony who's attempted this climb has ever returned."

Cadance gave a small frown, "Are you sure you have to do this?"

Pinkie nodded, "I do."

"Then at least let me come with you," Ruby suggested. "I've never been this far, but I know these mountains can be perilous for those who don't have any knowledge of them."

Pinkie shook her head, "No, this is my quest. I must do this alone, for the sake of Equestria."

"Why?"

"It's more dramatic that way." With that, Pinkie headed up the path, the two horned ponies watching her leave.

"Good luck, Pinkie Pie." As she disappeared over the mountains, the two turned to one another.

"Maybe we should send a few ponies from the project to keep an eye on her."

Cadance shook her head. "No. If there's one thing I've learned about Pinkie, it's to not underestimate her. She'll be fine." She turned away as she gestured Ruby to follow, "Speaking of the project, we should probably schedule an inspection before the transfer."

"Understood."





Back in Ponyville, our heroes were all in Pinkie's room waiting for her return. "How could she be so late to the party?" Twilight asked, looking out of Pinkie's window before turning to the others. "This isn't like her."

"I'm sure she's trying her best," Fluttershy replied.

Rainbow nodded in agreement, "Yeah. Pinkie Pie's tougher than she looks."

"No kidding. you can't stop that mare when she wants something." Iron added before shivering, "It's almost...terrifying."

Twilight sighed as she trotted past them. "I know you're right, but...I wish she was here. I put too much pressure on her. I...I let everypony down because I did that."

Flash shook his head at this, "You haven't let anypony down Twilight. You've been an amazing host. I doubt even Celestia herself would have been able to not make the yaks blow their tops."

"Maybe...but she'll be here any minute and see that I haven't made new friends. Instead, she'll see I've made new enemies." She let out a sigh as her head moved to lean against one of Pinkie's cupcake shaped bannister holds. This caused Wild's eyes to go wide.

"Twilight, don't-" A clicking sound interrupted him as the cupcake started to fold in on itself, everypony watching in confusion as the sound of gears clicking beneath them echoed. Then, before anypony could ask what was going on, the floor beneath them was gone. Flash and Wild watched as everypony else sank into the floor, Wild hopping out of the way while Flash's instincts had him spread his wings, stopping his fall. "What the heck?" He looked over at Wild, raising an eyebrow. "What is this?"

Wild shined a small grin, "Come see for yourself." With that, he leapt into the hole and disappeared into the darkness. Flash gulped but stopped his wings as he let gravity take hold, falling into the tunnel and going blind into the shadows. He felt like he was flying down a foal's slide, eventually coming to a stop as he felt the floor smack his face. "Blaugh!"

"Ugh..." Flash heard Twilight moan in the darkness, "Is everypony alright?"

"I can't tell if my eyes are open or closed," Fluttershy whispered.

"Where the heck are we?" Lightning asked next.

"I think I can see a little bit," they heard Rainbow say before the sound of clattering and her crying out in pain filled the room. "Nope."

"I got it," Flash's hoof ignited with his Sacred Light, filling the place with enough light to at least see. There, they saw balloons, streamers and party hats in every direction, making Flash gasp, "I knew it! Pinkie's an interdimensional visitor from a universe made up of party supplies and we've finally found the wormhole connecting our two worlds!" He turned to Twilight, "HA! I was right!"

"Not exactly," they heard Wild say before the sound of a switch flicked. The next thing they knew, they were all inside a large cave with party supplies and filing cabinets scattered all around the place. Not only that, they then turned to see a swivel chair...swivel around, revealing Wild stroking Gummy like he was a cat. "Welcome, to the party cave."

Everypony continued to stare at the place in wonder before Flash turned to Wild, "You knew about this place?"

"Oh yeah," Wild got off the chair and put Gummy on it before trotting over, "Pinkie showed me it when we first got together. She has hidden entrances to it all over Sugarcube Corner."

Flash whistled at this, "Wow. Love to know how she got the Cakes to agree to that remodel."

"Look at these!" They turned to Applejack, who was looking inside one of the filing cabinets. "Pinkie Pie's made files for everypony in town!"

Fluttershy took a few in her hooves, "And they show exactly what kind of parties we like." She then opened one and read aloud, "Twilight Sparkle likes vanilla ice cream, red balloons, dancing..."

"That's right!" Twilight gasped over Fluttershy's shoulder, "She knows all of those?!"

"But she's afraid of quesadillas." The princess's eyes went wide, now seeing everypony smirk at her.

"No, I'm not!"

"Yes, you are!" They all replied in unison.

"Well, they're just so..." she shuddered, "cheesy."

Flash chuckled at the sight, only to see another file. "Hey, its mine! Let's see here...I like spongecake, video games and orange fizzy juice. Nice. That's a perfect party right there." He closed the folder, "Pinkie, you never stop surprising."





Back outside, the ponies of the town were all going about their normal day to day lives. With the yaks gone and the party apparently cancelled, it looked to be just another normal day in the town of Ponyville. That is, till-

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Everypony turned to the sound, now seeing Pinkie sliding backwards along the ground on some kind of sled. They watched as she slid into view, only to disappear in the distance. Yup, just another normal day in Ponyville.

Pinkie continued to scream as she flew into Sugarcube Corner, up the stairs and eventually back into her room. "No!" She screamed, "I'm all the way back where I started!" She turned to her pet alligator that had somehow gotten back up to the bedroom, "Gummy, I was this close to helping Twilight befriend the yaks! Now I've just let everypony down!" She laid down on her bed, tears going down her face, "Waaaahhhh!!!"

That is, till she heard a bunch of voices under her, "Huh?" she then looked down, now noticing it was in her party cave, "What is-"

One transition to Pinkie sneaking into the party cave...

"Looky here," she heard Applejack say before leaping behind some balloons. "It's notes for the party she wants to throw for her folks' fiftieth anniversary...but they ain't nearly that old!" She then blinked at this file, "Huh? She's already plannin' their one-hundredth too. And their five-hundredth?"

Twilight glanced around, putting a hoof over her mouth, "I had no idea she worked so hard on her parties."

This made Rainbow laugh, "HA! She may be more organized than you, Twilight."

"Let's not get carried away."

"Of course Pinkie works hard," Wild took the file off of Applejack and stored it away. "This is Pinkie's passion. It's no different from how hard you work on your farm or to make a new dress or to keep Equestria safe. Throwing parties ain't some hobby she does to pass the time."

"Nope, nope, nope."

"They're what gives her life meaning." Wild finished as everypony else realized he was right. Pinkie didn't plan parties just for something to do, they were her very reason for living. Asking her not to plan a party would be like asking Rainbow not to try and beat her fasted flying time. She did it not for glory or recognition, but so somepony else would be happy.

Rarity sighed at this, "I just wish Pinkie Pie were here so we could tell her how much we all appreciate her hard work."

"Thank you!" They all spun around to see a pile of balloons, which had not been that close before, float away to reveal a crying Pinkie Pie. "Thank you! I love you too! All of you!"

"You're back!" Twilight cheered as Pinkie pulled her into a hug.

"I know!" she then pulled away with a frown, "I'm sorry everypony. I was so close to bringing something back from Yakyakistan, but at the last second, I made a mistake." She let out a long sigh, "I worked harder on this party than any party ever....but I'm still just a big failure."

Everypony frowned as she fell on her flank, Wild beginning to run his hoof through her mane as Twilight spoke up. "Pinkie Pie, you're not a failure."

"What matters is how hard you tried," Fluttershy added.

Rainbow nodded in agreement again. "Who else would've gone all across Equestria to plan one party?"

"That yaks could seriously learn something from you," Flash finished. "Besides, being perfect is overrated. It's the flaws that make us who we are."

Pinkie stared at her friends, now remembering back to her journey and all the ponies who had helped her along the way. "You know...the trip was really hard, but everypony I met along the way was so helpful. I just wish the yaks could see how friendly and wonderful and great Equestria really is!" But upon saying that, a bulb appeared over head...which she swatted it away with her hoof, "I don't need that! I just got the best party idea ever!"

Twilight shook her head, "It's too late. The yaks left on the last train."

"Um, no, they didn't." She squealed, "Trust me!" She ran up to the slide, "There's a whole lot of sheep out there!" With that, she jumped onto the slide and somehow slid up it.

Once she was gone, Fluttershy turned to the others. "So, um, do we walk back up the slide or...or what?" Nopony was sure how to answer, even Wild having no clue how Pinkie pulled that one off.





"Yaks stuck here?!" They heard Rutherford yell as they arrived at the train station. "Why trains not work?!"

"I never thought I'd say this, but...thank you sheep!" They yaks turned around, now seeing Pinkie bowing, "And now, if it's okay with you, it's PARTY TIME!" She threw on a pair of star-shaped shades and smiled at the confused yaks, who all blinked at her in confusion.

"Trust me," Wild added. "You'll love this. It's the most perfect party."

This seemed to get the yak's attention, the yaks following her to the barn. There, they were astounded to find the place had been transformed. There were several booths that each showed a different aspect of Equestria, like a Wonderbolt autograph booth that Soarin and Spitfire were running with Rainbow's help, and several Appaloosa booths. Cherry Jubilee was running a cherry stand, while Wild was entertaining the younger ponies with a puppet show. Celestia soon walked up and helped the yaks enjoy the party.

The sound of Rutherford's laughter made Twilight smile, making her and Flash turn to the pony responsible. "Wow Pinkie, this came together quickly, even for you."

Pinkie gave them a coy smile. "What can I say? I'm good at what I do." She trotted over to the yaks. "Prince Rutherford, every time we tried to make something in Equestria feel like Yakyakistan, we couldn't get it right. When I got back from my adventure, I realized something. We shouldn't try to make Equestria feel like your home. We should try to make you feel at home in Equestria, and that means showing you why we love it here, so you'll love it too."

Rutherford looked around, seeing all the ponies enjoying themselves before nodding, a tear dropping down his face as he turned to Pinkie, "Pink pony work hard to make yaks feel at home. Now yaks happy. No declare war."

Twilight sighed in relief, only to now remember she was standing next to a very confused Celestia.

"Ponies and yaks...friends?"

Pinkie shined a big grin, "For a thousand moons?"

"FOR A THOUSAND MOONS!" Rutherford yelled, making everypony cheer in celebration before Celestia turned to Twilight.

"I am very impressed, princess."

Twilight shook her head. "No, this wasn't me. Pinkie was the one who figured out how to win the yaks over. She's the one you should be impressed by." Celestia nodded back, clearly happy at the humility the young alicorn possessed.

Wild, after finishing his show, trotted over to Pinkie and pulled her into a hug. "You did it again Pinkie."

"Aw..." she kissed his cheek, "Thanks for helping keep the yaks entertained while I was gone. What would I do without you?"

"That's what we should be asking you," Flash added as he walked up, "You're one amazing pony Pinkie. Though, you could do with some working on your planning skills." Pinkie blinked at this as he continued, "I mean, you could have just messaged Cadance to send somepony like Ruby to Yakyakistan and magically mail you the gifts." Pinkie thought this over, only to go wide-eyed before facehoofing, a small squeaking noise following this. This caused Flash to laugh, only to feel Twilight smack his head with her tail.

"Pink pony," they turned to Rutherford. "You understand yaks now."

"Aww," she leapt onto him, "Come here you!" She then remembered what she was doing, hopping off before messing up the yak's fur. But instead of getting angry, Rutherford just smiled before pulling her into the tightest hug she had ever experienced. "Whoa! Too strong! Okay, okay, okay!"

Everypony else laughed at this as Rutherford let her go, before all returning to the party. There was a lot of Equestrian attractions the yaks wanted to experience and very little time to do them