//------------------------------// // S9 E14: The Last Laugh (What If?) // Story: My Little Pony Friendship is Magic What If?: Volume 11 // by SuperPinkBrony12 //------------------------------// Six ponies and a dragon had all gathered in the throne room at Twilight's castle. They'd been told to meet there by their party planning friend, but she hadn't offered many other details. "Okay, where's Pinkie Pie?" Rainbow Dash questioned. "She says to get here right away, and then she's nowhere to be found. If this is a joke, I don't get it." Applejack just commented. "She sure had a burr in her britches about somethin'. Haven't seen her this excited in a long time, actually." Spike only grumbled. "Well, where is she? It's rude to keep us waiting." A familiar bubbly voiced pretended to scoff. "Yeah. What is taking her so long?" Then she giggled. "Just kidding. Honestly, you guys really need to look behind you once in a while." So everyone turned, and there was Pinkie Pie resting atop the table map. It was most odd considering she hadn't been there earlier, but by now all knew this was far from the weirdest behavior they'd seen from their party planning friend. Twilight then simply asked. "So, Pinkie, you uh said you had something important to share with us?" Pinkie nodded her head. "Probably better to show you rather than tell you. Trust me, you're not gonna believe it!" She presented what appeared to be a rather lavishly decorated cupcake. "A cupcake?" Fluttershy questioned. "What's so special about it?" Pinkie Pie only grinned and giggled. "It's not just a cupcake, and this is one you wouldn't wanna eat," She pressed a button and the cupcake opened up, popping out a golden ticket attached to a string. "It's an invitation to visit the Cheese Sandwich Amusement Factory! It's even personalized, which means Cheese Sandwich wants to see me for something." "Cheese Sandwich went and opened a factory? Why doesn't that surprise me?" Starlight Glimmer commented. "And what exactly would they make at an amusement factory anyway?" Applejack laughed. "Oh, I don't know. Probably just rubber chickens and things like that." But Pinkie protested. "Funny, that's not what the invitation says. They make more way than rubber chickens!" Rarity then commented. "I always assumed Cheese Sandwich would continue to be a traveling party pony. I certainly wouldn't have expected him to go and open a factory," And then she suggested to her party planning friend. "Still, you must be excited to see him again after so long." "Yeah, I am," Pinkie nodded with a smile. "It'll be great to catch up with him. That last letter he sent to me just isn't the same as actually getting to talk to him," But then her smile faded as the bounce seemed to go out of her, like letting the air out of a balloon. "And I'm kind of hoping he can help me again. This time it's a lot more serious." Starlight immediately seemed to pick up on the shifting tone from her friend. She wasn't a guidance counselor and soon to be headmare for nothing after all. She'd gotten pretty good at reading others by now. "There's something you haven't been telling us, Pinkie. You wouldn't have called us here just to tell us you were going to see Cheese Sandwich or that he'd opened an amusement factory." The pink party pony let out an unhappy sigh. "Yeah. I really wasn't sure how to tell you this, girls. I don't wanna sound ungrateful. But the thing is, it feels like I don't have much of a purpose in life," And she lamented. "I mean, I know my special talent is all about spreading laughter and cheer. I know there's a lot of things I've done and can do that no one else can. I'm the big sister to the Cake twins, I've got my own party planning cave, I can see my favorite big sister whenever I want and I've even been to Yakyakistan and seen the world. I know I should be happy... but I'm not." "Hey, I've been down that same road, Pinkie." Spike pointed out. "Maybe, but this is different. I don't think I've let anypony down," Pinkie confessed as she continued to gloomily comment. "I really don't understand why I'm not happy, or at least as happy as I should be. When even Cheese Sandwich is settling down for a stable job, it kind of makes me feel like maybe I'm meant to be doing more with my life." Applejack was quick to suggest. "Well, what about the Cakes: Carrot and Cup? You've been livin' with them ever since you moved here as a filly. They've made it no secret you're like a daughter to them. And last I checked there's still your apprenticeship with them." "For how much longer, though? There's not much left they can teach me before I'll be ready to graduate," The pink party pony declared. "And what will I do then? If I opened another bakery I'd be competing against the Cakes, but I don't think they're looking to retire any time soon," She looked again at her invitation, the golden ticket dangling before her very eyes. "When I first got Cheese's invite, I was a little jealous actually. It felt like even he was moving on to bigger and better things. But then I realized Cheese Sandwich is a party pony just like me. If he figured out his purpose, he can help me figure out mine. I inspired him, so surely he can do the same for me." Twilight proposed. "Talking to Cheese Sandwich does sound like a good start, Pinkie. It probably takes a party pony to know a party pony," However, she then added. "But nopony else can decide your destiny for you. You have the power to decide what your life's purpose and how you want to go about that. All Cheese Sandwich or anyone else can do is offer you advice." "Maybe so, but Cheese must know something. If nothing else, maybe I could get a job working at his factory?" Pinkie pondered. "I can't think of any other reasons why he'd send me an invitation after not mentioning anything about any plans for a factory." "I'm sure Cheese Sandwich had his reasons," Twilight commented. "It takes a lot of work to make something like a factory come to life. But don't be so quick to think that your life in Ponyville has been without meaning. Use your time away to think about all you've accomplished. And when you come back, hopefully you'll know the answers to the questions you're asking." "Thanks, Twilight," Pinkie nodded. "I'm glad I still have you and the others as my friends. You're really the only other ones besides Cheese Sandwich I feel comfortable discussing this with. I don't wanna trouble the Cakes when they've got enough to worry about as it, and Maud's happy with her special somepony and I don't wanna be a burden." Starlight then suggested to her party planning friend. "Then what are you waiting? Go tour the factory and talk to Cheese! And don't come back until you're sure you know what your life's purpose is!" So Pinkie got up, and taking the golden ticket with her she set off for the location of the Cheese Sandwich Amusement Factory. Yet not even she could imagine what the real reason for being called by her fellow party pony would be, or what it was going to ultimately mean for her life's purpose. With the directions printed on the back of the ticket, it didn't take Pinkie long to find her way to the outskirts of the factory. Despite how drab it looked on the outside she was still hopeful as she strolled towards the gates, noticing the many posters of Cheese Sandwich smiling amidst a colorful background. "Anypony with a smile like that is exactly the kind of pony I want helping me!" She thought to herself. "Twilight's right, the only pony who can help a party pony like me is another party pony." The pink party pony approached the gates, only to find them locked and two guard ponies staring at her. "Oh, don't mind me, guys," She insisted. "Just gotta squeeze on through." The guards wouldn't let her as the one on the left questioned. "May we help you, ma'am?" "Yeah," Pinkie nodded. "I'm here to see Cheese Sandwich. So would you mind opening the gate so I can get in?" The guard on the right frowned and shook his head. "Sorry, miss, but Cheese Sandwich isn't 'seeing' anypony today. He hasn't been 'seeing' much of anypony lately." The guard on the left then added. "And don't get any ideas of sneaking in either. This factory's shut tight. No one comes and no one goes without permission. So why don't you just move along?" The party pony just sighed as she sat on her haunches. "Oh, very well. But it'd be a shame to come all this way for nothing. I literally have a golden ticket that says I can enter." And she displayed it to the guards. "Wait? You received a golden ticket?!" The guards both exclaimed! This was apparently news to them! "Yeah! Cheese Sandwich sent it to me, it's got my name on it and everything!" Pinkie pointed out as she then blushed. "Probably should've showed it to you." The guard on the right just cleared his throat. "Well, sorry for the confusion, ma'am. Obviously the boss is willing to make an exception for you. Sure wish he'd have told us though. Now stand aside." He went into a little booth, pressing a big red button. A funny sounding alarm rang out as the gates swung open. The guard on the left only grumbled. "You always get to push the button. Next time I get to push it," Then he instructed to Pinkie. "Go on ahead, ma'am. Sorry for the confusion." So Pinkie did, but she hadn't gotten very far when suddenly a massive red carpet was rolled out from the entrance to the factory! She let out a yelp as she ran back to avoid being hit by it, and was quite relieved when it stopped. She then looked up to see the smiling face of Cheese Sandwich staring right at her, although for some strange reason he now had on a black button suit. And she couldn't see from her position that the back half was differently colored, having a dull greenish-gray look to it, to say nothing of a cutie mark depicting a blanket with drops of water beneath it. "Cheese Sandwich!" Pinkie excitedly declared as she leaped up and hugged the stallion tightly! "I'm so happy to see you again! Never thought you'd open your own factory though." Yet instead of receiving a reply, Pinkie instead saw a greenish-gray colored hoof reach up to the face. It soon revealed that the smiling face of Cheese Sandwich was just a mask. And wearing the mask was an earth pony stallion with green eyes hidden behind a pair of rounded, gray colored glasses. "Hmm, most odd," The stallion said to himself while looking at the mask he'd pulled off. "That should've yielded a big laugh. What could've gone wrong?" And he started pondering aloud as he asked a unicorn stallion in a white lab jacket. "Do we need to maybe add more carpet rolls? I suppose it could be the mask. Let's try taking the nostril flare down ten percent to make it more believable. Thoughts?" "I've got one," Pinkie pointed out. "Who are you, stranger?" The stallion now realized he had a guest, and quickly apologized. "Oh, so sorry. Please allow me to introduce myself. I am Sans Smirk, vice-president of amusement integration. The factory was very much my idea," He then instructed. "If you'll kindly step this way, it's just a short walk from here up to Mr. Sandwich's office. He asked for you specifically, Miss Pinkamina Diane Pie." "Please, just call me Pinkie Pie or Pinkie. Everypony does." The party pony insisted. Sans Smirk nodded. "Well, Pinkie, I do hope you can help Mr. Sandwich with his problem." "That's funny, I came here hoping he could help me with my problem," Pinkie commented as she trotted into the factory. "Did something happen to Cheese? It looks like this factory's working perfectly. An entire factory dedicated to gags!" But as she looked around she noticed. "Huh, doesn't seem like a very funny place." "On the contrary, we make the fun right here. For we at the Cheese Sandwich Amusement Factory take comedy very seriously," Sans Smirk pointed out. "Although it used to be that Mr. Sandwich would oversee tours himself, when he wasn't busy making his rounds by the conveyor belts. Lately though, he's been holed up in his office. He hardly ever leaves and when he does it's never for anything funny. I've tried to talk to him but he always insists he's fine. Yesterday was different though, he seemed to be speaking highly of you." Pinkie did her best to look modest. "Well, I was the pony who inspired him." "And that's probably why he instructed me to send you that invitation," Sans declared as he led Pinkie past the multiple conveyor belts on the floor of the factory where various props for physical comedy were being manufactured. "Whatever his problem is, I believe it's something that you and you alone can help him with. I'm doing the best I can, but I can't keep the factory running when my boss is unhappy. He knows this comedy stuff better than I do, or at least he used to." The party pony gulped as she trotted up some stairs while following Sans Smirk. "'Used to'? I don't like the sound of that. Oh, I came at the worst possible time, didn't I?" Sans Smirk shook his head. "On the contrary, your timing couldn't be better," Then he added in a more serious tone. "But, I've talked long enough. I think it's best if Mr. Sandwich himself explained why you requested your presence. I'm sure if you help him with his problem, he'll gladly help you with yours." The door to the office where Cheese Sandwich resided was then pushed open, the creaking of the slowly opening door being the only sound amidst what was otherwise a very eerie silence. "Uh... hello?" Pinkie called out as she saw the office was dimly lit despite it being the middle of the day. The familiar voice of Cheese Sandwich soon called back, albeit in a noticeably somber tone. "Pinkie, I'm... I'm glad you came. I hoped you would." "Well you sent for me. And no way was I gonna miss a chance to see your awesome new factory!" Pinkie sincerely smiled as she trotted into the office. "You look like you've really made it big! Sounds like you've figured out your life purpose, which is a good thing." "You could see it like that," Cheese commented even as he refused to show himself. "I mean, everypony seems to think I should be happy. And I know I should feel the same, but I don't." Pinkie blinked upon hearing that. "That's funny, that's exactly what I've been feeling lately. I was kind of hoping you could help me, not remind me of what I already feel," Then she shook her head and changed the subject. "But that's not important. Sans Smirk seems to think I can help you, and he says you wanted to see me specifically. There's so many coincidences going on here, it's driving my 'Pinkie Sense' crazy! Maybe your 'Cheesie Sense' feels the same way." Cheese only answered. "It's not my 'Cheesie Sense' that's the problem, though I don't know if it would be acting up now even if I had it. The real problem is..." He turned around as the blinds in his office were suddenly thrown up, bathing the entire room in light! "I've completely lost my laugh!" He exclaimed as it was now possible to notice a frown on the stallion with a brilliant gamboge coat. And that prompted his fellow party pony to gasp and faint! Pinkie soon came to. She'd hoped beyond hope to find out that this was all a dream or some well thought out prank, but a look on the party planning stallion's face told her that this was real. "You lost your laugh? Is that even possible?" And she nervously pondered. "You're not just joking around with me, are you?" "Even if it was a joke, I wouldn't be able to laugh at it or tell you that it was funny," Cheese lamented. "You're the only pony I know who truly understands me, Pinkie. You're the only pony I can think of who would know how to put a smile back on my face and keep it there." The pink party pony nodded. "That sounds great. But why don't we discuss it over some delicious canned peanut brittle, hmm?" She prepared to offer some, only to then giggle as the can turned out to be full of rubber snakes launched from a spring. But Cheese Sandwich didn't laugh at it at all, not even a faint chuckle or giggle. "See what I mean?" He unhappily sighed as he put his head on his desk. The gravity of the situation slowly began to sink in. "Wow. You actually did lose your laugh. That's horrible! I thought I had it bad trying to figure out my life's purpose, but you definitely have it worse." Sans Smirk, meanwhile, was eyeing the can of snakes disguised as a can of peanut brittle. "Pardon my interruption, but it occurs to me that a seven percent tighter wind on the snake springs would yield a twelve percent increase in giggle output," He looked to Cheese as he declared. "I'd like to test that speculation if it's okay with you, sir." "Go right ahead, it's better than any ideas I could come up with at the moment," Cheese replied and then explained to Pinkie. "This is exactly why I went into business with Sans Smirk in the first place. We're like a team. Sans here has always been able to eke every last laugh out of my gags that I make here." "Wait, you can still tell if a gag is supposed to be funny or not? You just can't laugh at it if it's funny?" The pink party pony pondered aloud. Cheese nodded as he began to tear up! "Yes, and it's torture! A party pony's worst nightmare!" "How could this happen? You didn't lose your laugh overnight, did you?" Pinkie questioned her fellow party pony. "When do you last remember being able to laugh at something, at anything?" The stallion began to think back as he tried to rack his brain for an answer. "I... I don't know, really. It's been so long since I genuinely laughed I can barely remember it. But I do remember that, when I was still a traveling party pony, I... I laughed at everything and anything." And he began to recall some of his travels on the road, the events that had led to him opening the factory. Cheese Sandwich recalled how he'd traveled far and wide as a party pony with Boneless Two by his side the whole time. "Ever since our encounter in Ponyville for Rainbow Dash's birthaversary," He explained. "I continued to spread my party cheer wherever it was needed. Heck, I even started to make individual, one-of-a-kind novelty gags for each and every one of my parties." As the flashback progressed the stallion recalled some of his most successful one-off gags: A pianta bat that broke open to reveal candy, cleverly concealed joy buzzers, and even rubber chickens that bounced higher than should've been normal and made funny sounds. And he remembered how their success began to build up a reputation that was soon preceding him wherever he went. "I guess they got too successful, because soon it seemed like everyone I met wanted their own special Cheese Sandwich gag," The party planning stallion added. "It was fast becoming more work than my hooves could handle, but I didn't want to disappoint all those smiling faces. I never could turn down a request, no matter how hard it was to do. And then one day, he came." The flashback was now focused on Cheese meeting Sans Smirk by chance one day while in his workshop, trying to put the finishing touches on a few more of his special gags in time for his next big party. There came a knock on the workshop door, and Sans Smirk strolled in. After quickly introducing himself to Cheese Sandwich, presented the party planning stallion with a blueprint for something to help keep up with the demand. "Sans Smirk had heard I was in a bind, and he had the idea for a factory. Not just any factory though, but a gag factory. I could finally keep up with demand and make everypony happy. Soon we were sending gags all over, even going beyond Equestria. And I always had the final say, gags had to meet my standards." The flashback drew to a close as Cheese Sandwich started to remember that day when he finally realized he no longer could laugh at any gag or joke. "And then one day, all of a sudden, I realized that my laugh was... gone," And with the flashback concluded he lamented. "Since then I haven't bothered to leave the factory. I couldn't bare to let anypony see me like this. I mean look at me! Boneless Two doesn't even recognize me anymore, and he's not speaking to me either!" Pinkie's eyes fell upon a squeaky chair that was turned to a corner, making it impossible for its occupant to ever show its face to Cheese Sandwich. The earth pony stallion with a brilliant gamboge coat let out a long sigh of unhappiness. "You were my inspiration to become a party pony, and the one who I worked so hard to impress once upon a time, I figured if anypony was up to the task it'd be you," Then he asked. "So, can you help me out, Pinkie? Please? If you do I promise I'll help you with whatever problem it is you're having, it's only fair." After thinking over the offer for but a minute or so, the earth pony mare grinned. "Well, I think I've got two words for you, Cheese Sandwich," And she cleared her throat. "Knock... knock." "Uh, who's there?" Cheese uncertainly asked. "Boo." Pinkie replied. And Cheese uncertainly replied back. "Boo who?" Pinkie let out a giggle. "Aw, don't cry, Cheese. Because I'm gonna help you get your laugh back no matter what it takes! You can count on it!" "How exactly do you intend to do that, may I ask?" Sans Smirk questioned. "I tried a couple of measures just to get Mr. Sandwich to talk to me. And I would like to point out that we are in a gag factory." "Duh! But it takes a party pony to know a party pony!" Pinkie declared. "And the best way to get your laugh back is to see in action with somepony else! Follow me, Cheese!" Cheese reluctantly followed Pinkie and Sans out of his office and down to the factory floor, quite a few workers stopping to look at the party planning stallion in the process. But Sans Smirk quickly instructed to all the workers. "Please resume normal operating conditions. Everything is under control. Mr. Sandwich is simply entertaining an invited guest." So despite a series of hushed whispers all the workers reluctantly went back to operating the conveyor belts and inspecting the gags that were due to be shipped out. The gags themselves were largely your standard physical comedy props: Whoopee cushions, banana peels, squirting flowers and things like that. "Let's start with something small," Pinkie suggested as she stopped by one of the belts, eyeing an unsuspecting worker. "These gags should work just fine. And classic bits like this are what put Rainbow Dash's funny bone in a cast for a week!" Sans adjusted his glasses. "Are you suggesting that..." Pinkie nodded and put a hoof up to Sans' mouth to silence him. "You're gonna spoil the surprise. If we want Cheese to get his laugh back, he needs to see what a laugh looks like." Cheese didn't seem to agree. "I'm not sure it'll work, Pinkie. You and I, we seem to have a sense of humor few other ponies have. And if you're intending to use yourself, I know you'll laugh at anything." "Not just anything," The pink party planning pony protested. "And I never said it'd be me getting the worst of it," She struggled to hold back the giggles. "Now watch this," She gestured to a dark blue coated earth pony stallion who was leaving his station momentarily to restock the machine supplying the conveyor belt he'd been operating. "I'm gonna get this guy and get him good!" The stallion suspected nothing as he was approached by Pinkie Pie, who seemed to be shielding her eyes for some reason. "Excuse me," She said to the stallion. "Is there something in my eye?!" And removing her hooves from her eyes she revealed a pair of googly eyed glasses! The stallion managed to give off a faint giggle. "Hey, that wasn't half bad. I remember when Mr. Sandwich used to do stuff like that back when the factory first opened. I sure wish he'd do it again, it's the most fun anypony's ever had here." "Well I'm not done yet!" Pinkie declared! "Put 'er there, pal!" The blue coated stallion did so, only to receive a nasty electrical shock. "Okay, maybe that was a bit much for a newcomer," Pinkie apologized. "Let me make it up to you. How about some... pie?" And then she intentionally tripped, planting the pie squarely in the worker's face. The worker stallion started chuckling quite audibly as he licked his face clean. "Wow! That was incredible, and delicious! A three decker of classic gags, just like Sans Smirk suggested." Sans Smirk smiled while adjusting his glasses. "Indeed. It's really quite simple. By combining gags together, we can multiple the laughs with each successful chain. This was the first one to be tested by our gag engineers: Googly eye to hoof buzzer to pie-face pratfall. Simply masterful. Your talent for jokes and physical humor rivals that of Mr. Sandwich in his prime." "Well, how was that, Cheese?" Pinkie Pie asked the party planning stallion. "See what a good laugh looks like? I'll bet you're feeling it come back to you even now." Alas, Cheese failed to utter anything other than a mildly indifferent shrug. "That stallion's right, I used to be able to not only laugh but make others do the same," And he sighed. "A laugh like that doesn't help. It's not natural. He's only reacting to the gags, anypony would be hard pressed not to laugh at them." "Why don't you try it? Making others laugh should teach you a thing or two about how to make yourself laugh," Pinkie suggested. "It's always worked for me, and that's what I thought I was doing with my parties." "I could try, I guess," Cheese reluctantly agreed. But it was quickly clear that his heart wasn't into the performance. He ended up messing up, misplacing his gags and blowing the punchlines. He still got a laugh but it was far from the joyous one Pinkie had produced. "Well, don't blame yourself, Pinkie," He apologized. "Whatever it is I've got, I've got it bad." Now Pinkie herself frowning. "Okay, perhaps we need to start even smaller. Get a sense for what we're working with. Perhaps your laugh isn't the problem, it's something far worse." "A laugh diagnosis sounds like a good place to start pinning down the problem," Sans Smirk proposed. "Let's go somewhere a bit more 'private'. I don't wish for the workers to see Mr. Sandwich before he's back to normal." Within the privacy of the gag lab, Pinkie opted to get a closer look at Cheese's face. "Okay. You can't run before you can walk, and you can't laugh before you can smile. And your smiler's all out of whack." "Of course, that must be it!" Cheese Sandwich proclaimed even though his expression didn't fully change. "But how do we go about getting it back to normal so I can get my laugh back?" "Well, let's start by seeing your biggest, brightest, bestest smile!" Pinkie instructed! "Don't hold back on me, Cheese! Show me a smile worthy of the super duper party pony!" Cheese did his best, clearly straining himself to produce a smile that looked like it was painful to hold. "That's good, right?" He asked in a hopeful tone of voice. "I mean, I'm smiling again, aren't I?" "It's too wide, nopony's gonna buy it!" Pinkie shook her head. "Let me just step in really quick," She made a few adjustments to get the smile to be where she wanted it to be. Then she instructed. "Okay, that's better. Now let's see you wear it. If you can hold a smile, laughing should come naturally. I can hold a smile like this in my sleep, and I know you can do the same." Sans Smirk was a bit more hesitant. "You're sure this will work? It seems a little too simple. Did I really just need to hold up his face?" "It's the thought behind it that matters," Pinkie declared as she held Cheese's cheeks. "You totally got this, Cheese! Let's see that great big smile of yours. Ready?" When she received a nod from the party planning stallion she declared. "Okay, go!" There was a brief period of hope as the smile didn't instantly fade, and Cheese Sandwich seemed to be able to maintain it. "I'm... I'm doing it! I'm really doing it!" He happily proclaimed! "But if I can smile, why can't I laugh?" And as soon as his thoughts turned to his still missing sense of laughter, his smile immediately disappeared and his frown returned. "Oh, I thought I had something there." He complained. Sans seemed to agree while adjusting his glasses. "Your smile has not gone away like your laughter has. But it seems like you're focusing so much on that that you're unable to feel happiness in any other way." "But laughter is a big part of who I am! Laughter is part of what makes a party pony a party pony!" Cheese insisted. Pinkie just stomped a hoof down as she groaned. "I'm not giving up on you yet, Cheese. I just know there's something out there somewhere that'll make you laugh again. I just have to figure out where to look." However, the party planning stallion could only shake his head. "No, Pinkie. You did your best, but it's clear that even you can't bring my lost laughter. And if you can't I doubt anyone really can. I'm sorry I couldn't be more of help to you and that you came all this way just to fail." "Hey, we haven't failed yet!" The pink party pony protested. "We haven't tried everything yet!" Sans Smirk added and pleaded. "Sir, please, you can't just throw in the towel! I want to see you be your old happy self again as much as Miss. Pie and all the workers do." "I'll bet if we brought them onboard they'd be able to find something that'll make you laugh." The pink coated earth pony insisted to her fellow party pony. Cheese rejected the idea. "I'll just have to learn to live with this. Maybe it's a sign that my party pony days are behind me. The Cheese Sandwich everypony knew is no more," Then he declared. "I need to figure out how to live without a laugh," And he told Pinkie. "You did your best, I don't blame you for this. But you should go home. Maybe you can give Boneless Two a better home than I can now." He sadly trotted away. "Wait! Don't leave, Cheese!" Pinkie pleaded in desperation, but to no avail as she watched the stallion she'd tried so hard to help walk out of the room. Sans declared. "I, too, am saddened. I thought for sure you would be able to succeed where I could not," He then unhappily sighed. "But if Mr. Sandwich believes his laugh is gone forever, it seems that may be the case now. You are the funniest pony in Equestria. And if you can't bring back his laugh, then it surely is gone forever." "But it can't be!" The pink party pony protested as she stomped a hoof down. "Even at my worst I've never felt like my laugh's gone away forever! If anything I've always felt like the joke's been on me all the time, and I've come to learn that that's never the case," Then she commented. "I just don't understand. There's gotta be something we haven't thought of yet that'll work. His laughter's out there somewhere, and I have a hunch it's closer than we think, just waiting for the chance to spring out and say 'Gotcha!'" "Well, now would be a most excellent time for that to occur. Sadly, it would seem that outcome is unlikely, much as it pains me to say it," Sans Smirk commented back as he led Pinkie out of the gag lab. "It's really a shame this all had to happen. Mr. Sandwich and I had such high hopes for this place, we were even thinking we might someday expand our operations. Yet now it seems that even this factory may not last long." As Pinkie looked around at the conveyor belts and the workers tending to them, she asked Sans. "You're not gonna close down, are you? I thought this place was Cheese's life's purpose!" Sans declared. "Perhaps it was, it was certainly mine. I was as surprised as everypony else when Mr. Sandwich insisted on not just overseeing the factory but also managing the day to day operations," And he then lamented. "Still, if he has truly given up, there's little I can do to stop the inevitable. We can only retool his old ideas for so long before we'll run out of new gags to ship," Then he got an idea as the stallion looked to Pinkie. "Unless maybe you would like to take over. You knew everything that Mr. Sandwich knew in his prime, and you've already helped inspire a ton of new ideas." But Pinkie immediately shook her head at the idea. "I'm a party pony! I need to make ponies happy in real-time!" And she started to realize. "You know, perhaps I've been looking at it all wrong. The only pony who was ever unhappy with the way my life was going was me, and that's because I couldn't see how many wonderful things I truly had. Being away from it all though, I think I'm starting to realize just how much they meant to me. My friends, my families, so many things that give my life meaning." Sans nodded. "It seems like you know Mr. Sandwich even better than I do. And I was the last to know him before his laugh decided to make itself scarce," And he appeared to fondly recall. "In our early days, nothing brought Mr. Sandwich more pleasure than seeing the laughter his gags brought to ponies firsthoof. But he always insisted that he had to stay here to ensure the gags were up to snuff." Hearing that, a light bulb lit up inside of the pink party pony's head! "Wait, that's it! I think I've got it now! It was staring us right in the face the whole time too!" And she giggled. "Boy do I feel silly. How did I not see it before? And I call myself a party pony." Sans could only scratch his head. "I don't understand, Miss. Pie. I'm afraid you've lost me." The party pony just grinned. "Don't you see, Sans? We've been going about this all wrong the whole time. We were looking at the problem upside down. We don't need to make Cheese laugh. He needs to make us laugh! And it's gotta be natural too!" "Like what you tried to do earlier with that one pony?" The glasses wearing stallion pondered. Pinkie nodded. "Yeah, except much bigger," And she instructed. "You round up as many workers as you can, and I'll do my best to get Cheese back to his roots. With a little luck, everything will work out just fine." Then she zoomed away to Cheese's office. Pinkie rushed right up the steps and pushed open the office door! "Great news, Cheese!" She excitedly told him! "I figured it out! I know now why you can't laugh! And I know how to fix it too!" "You do?" Cheese hopefully answered as he lifted his head up from his desk. The pink party pony nodded to the gamboge coated stallion. "You started this factory because you didn't want to disappoint smiling faces, correct?" When the stallion nodded back she explained. "Well that's the problem. When you're stuck in here, you can't see any. This place isn't what you need. What you need is to get back out there and see the world again." An out of breath Sans Smirk came panting into the office as he added. "It does make a certain sense, sir. Spreading laughter has always brought you joy. That's why we started this factory in the first place." "Except now that means you can't see the laughs it produces," Pinkie pointed out. "You're a party pony like me, Cheese. And us party ponies, we need to make other ponies laugh the way we do best, and that means being around to see the smiles. The smiles are what make everything worth while, it's the party pony creed." Sans then proposed. "I will go first, sir. Try your best jokes on me. I can take them." Cheese Sandwich reluctantly obliged. "Alright, but I'm a bit rusty so don't expect much," He got up from his desk, looking Sans Smirk in the eyes as he told a joke. "Uh... why did Boneless Two cross the road? To prove to Boneless One that he wasn't a chicken." But Sans dryly replied. "Very funny, sir. That was a fantastic joke," Then he realized his mistake. "Oh! Er... I mean... ha ha!" He tried to laugh but it was obvious the laugh was weak and had been forced out. "Sorry," He apologized afterward. "Never was much of a laugher, though I've been trying to work on it for your sake." Then Pinkie stepped forward and insisted with a bright smile. "Okay, Cheese. Now for the real test," After quickly looking behind her she instructed. "Try me. I promise I'll laugh no matter what you say or do." The unhappy party planning stallion wasn't convinced. "Pinkie, you laugh at everything. That's who you are. You even literally laugh in the face of danger from what I hear," And he sighed anew. "I appreciate what you're trying to do here, but I'm afraid it's a cost lause," Then he blinked as he realize his mistake. "Er, I mean 'lost cause'." At that moment, the sound of snickering from the doorway caught Cheese's attention as his ears perked up. To his surprise he saw several factory workers, including the blue coated stallion he'd tried to make laugh earlier. "What... was... that?" He questioned. Had he heard things or that indeed been genuine laughter? The blue coated stallion struggled to keep from snickering as he approached his boss. "I'm sorry, sir. It's just that when you swapped out the letters of those words accidentally, it was..." "-Funny?" Cheese Sandwich hopefully asked, and received confirmation in the form of a nod! "Well then, I bet if I did it again you and the others would all lelly baugh, right?" "Y-yes." The stallion answered before he and all the workers started bursting into fits of laughter. The laughter was music to Cheese Sandwich's ears as he jumped atop his desk, shedding his drab black uniform for a bright yellow jacket and matching top hat! And any doubts anypony might have had were erased for good once he began to sing: Then that's all I need to do! That's who I need to be! I thought I needed laughter, But it has to come from me! He motioned for everypony to follow him down to the factory as he happily led them all in song: Squirting flowers and knobby knees. Rubber chickens, they're my expertise. So if you want laughter, stick with Cheese! Pinkie happily cheered her fellow party pony on. "Now you've got it, Cheese Sandwich! Don't hold back!" "I won't, Pinkie!" Cheese Sandwich promised as he began singing again: I suppose now I should really amp things up, To get the thing that I'm after. Move whole syll-AB-les around, And change em-PHA-sis to get some laughter! Can't stop now, I'm on a roll! And I've almost got it back. But bright folks like you aren't subject to, My own play-on-words attack! With something else, I'll have to play, To get me where I'm going. And Pinkie asked. "So whatcha gonna do?" Cheese rushed straight into the gag lab, donning a mask as he sang in a high pitch: SomeCommedia dell'arte, To really get the laughter flowing! Then he happily sang again as all the ponies working in the factory joined him: And it's what I need to do, It's who I need to be. I thought I needed laughter, But it has to come from me! Follow right behind, if you please, Walk this way and I guarantee, Oh, if you want laughter, then stick with Cheese! "Accordion solo!" Cheese Sandwich shouted out. Pinkie tossed an accordion up to the party pony and encouraged! "Shred it, Cheese!" "With pleasure!" Cheese smiled, playing the accordion with the kind of practiced precision that few ponies could even hope to match! He truly felt alive, and he kept singing as the solo ended: And it's what I need to do, It's who I need to be. I thought I needed laughter, But it has to come from me! Whoopee cushions and Dungarees! For I know jokes like my A-B-C's. And if you want laughter, then stick with Cheese! Suddenly, the lights in the factory dimmed and a spotlight shown down on Sans Smirk. With Pinkie occasionally singing in encouragement in back-up, Cheese sang and explained: And now my biggest test, Yes, the hardest fish to fry! A mind so analytical. A sense of humor so dry. To make you laugh would prove to me, That this little experiment's done! Something ridiculous and not too smart, Something like a pun! Before Sans realized it he was face to face with a re-energized Cheese Sandwich who asked him. "Hey, Sans, old buddy! How did the laughing bird's eggs hatch? They cracked up!" There came a rimshot and then silence as Sans stared Cheese in the face. He took off his glasses to rub his eyes briefly, before declaring. "Sir... that is so..." Following a pause marked by his lips quivering, he answered. "Ridiculous!" And just like that he too was laughing, laughing long and loud! Feeling emboldened by the success, Cheese happily sang in triumph: Then that's all I need to do, Yes, that's all I need to see! I thought I needed laughter, But it had to come from me! Everypony started singing alongside Cheese as the song reached its conclusion: Squirting flowers and knobby knees, Rubber chickens and Dungarees, But if you want laughter, stick with Cheese! With so many factory ponies laughing, even Sans Smirk couldn't deny that the old Cheese Sandwich was back and back for good. "It's wonderful to have you back, sir," Sans smiled as he followed Cheese up to his office. "Finally we can get this factory back to how it used to be." But Cheese had a different idea in mind. "Sans, my good pony, I don't think I can run this factory anymore. But I know you can!" Sans stumbled back and stuttered! "W-Without you? Sir, you can't possibly mean..." Cheese Sandwich interrupted. "-I do. Pinkie was right, this factory isn't what I need," He proceeded to remove his yellow jacket and top hat, once again dawning his cowpony attire that included the signature black poncho and ten gallon hat. "I just can't have funny ideas all the time. I need to be able to wander the land and see ponies laughing at them. Staying shut up in that factory did me no good," And he explained to Sans. "You can run the factory, it was your idea after all. I'll still be sure to provide plenty of ideas for gags and that'll keep you busy," Then he noticed Boneless Two in the corner. "And don't think I've forgotten about you, little buddy. You'll be by my side the whole time." "You're sure this is what you want to do with your life, sir?" Sans Smirk questioned. Cheese nodded his head in firm confirmation. "It's my life's purpose! I only wish I'd seen it sooner." "Hey, that's funny. I came here hoping to ask you for help with my life's purpose!" Pinkie suggested. And Cheese was eager to offer. "Well, if you need time to look for it, why not join Boneless Two and I? We'd love to have you on the road with us." But the pink party pony shook her head. "Thanks but no thanks. I know now where I truly belong, in Ponyville. My life's purpose has been there all along, I just couldn't see it before. This time away has helped me think clearly." "Well, at least I hope you'll take this back with you." The party planning stallion declared as he tossed a set of keys to Pinkie. "The keys to your factory?" Pinkie questioned. Cheese nodded his head. "I know I can count on you to make sure Sans isn't getting swamped with work, and that the factory's living up to my expectations. You don't have to do it often, just swinging by once a month would be nice." "I'll try to find time," Pinkie promised. "And I hope you'll come back to Ponyville for a visit one day. I don't plan to really be going anywhere anytime soon. At least I wanna wait until the Cake Twins are all grown up. Just like you, my life's purpose is to bring others happiness and laughter." The party planning stallion nodded once again, before tipping his hat. "Well then, until we meet again, Miss. Pie," Then he said to the rubber chicken on his back. "Come on, Boneless Two. It's time for us to get back in the saddle. There's parties out there just waiting for our expertise!" And he trotted off into the sunset, his laugh back for good. And Pinkie Pie would be heading back to Ponyville with a renewed sense of purpose. There were so many ways she could spread the laughter to others and make them happy, and they didn't all have to involve parties. And should worse come to worse, she could add overseeing the Cheese Sandwich Amusement Factory as something that would give her a purpose in life.