Pinkie laid in her bed asleep while her body shook back and forth. It was the same horrible dream in the whole world again. She was a young filly. She stood in a vast field of rocks. The giggling of two voices heralded the arrival of her two older sisters. As always little Pinkie couldn’t see them very well. They looked like shadows to her. In the dream little Pinkie wasn’t bothered and played happily with them. Her twin sister Marble shyly watched from nearby.
Ma and Pa called them inside then the sky suddenly changed color. At first it took the brilliance of a glorious rainbow. Little Pinkie had never seen anything so vibrant. But a few seconds later it became clear that the rainbow was a wave of burning doom.
The shockwave struck next. The air filled with dust and their home collapsed in its wake. Pinkie felt her body fly through the air and land painfully on the ground. She wildly looked around for her family but saw nothing. The dust had filled her eyes and they were starting to burn.
Suddenly she felt herself lifted and placed into a nearby opened geode next to Marble. She tried to see who it was. She called for Ma and Pa but her mouth immediately filled with dust.
The sky exploded again and a pair of enormous crystalline wings took up a hemisphere of the sky. She caught a glimpse of something purple and then the lid to the geode closed. Seconds later her twin cried as their vessel sailed and tumbled through the air. Pinkie felt searing pain in her chest as the sharp crystal cut in. Marble helped put pressure on the wound. Minutes, hours, possibly days went by as their capsule was sealed from the outside.
The filly twins clung to each other for reassurance. Pinkie remembered making faces at Marble to keep her spirits up. She even puffed her mane up like a balloon and got a small smile. She didn’t even notice when her cutie mark appeared as a result.
The little rock was finally opened. The brilliant sun blinded the little fillies. Large pink hooves pulled them out. Pinkie and Marble barely spoke in shock. Ma and Pa were nowhere to be found. Their sisters were equally absent. They looked at the kind be-crowned face of their savior who looked on them with concern.
***
Pinkie woke up shaking and panting again. She could feel the sweat pouring from her body. Her mane was matted and the sheets were soaked. She sat up and shivered.
Pinkie remembered that her farm in Yakyakistan had been obliterated during the second impact. Her and Marble’s little geode sailed from their farm and somehow made its way to the crystal kingdom. They were found by Princess Cadence on a walk when she heard them crying.
Pinkie sighed and flopped back on the bed. She hated this feeling of constant sadness in the morning. She rubbed her eyes and dragged her body out of bed. She slowly dressed in her normal black dress and threw her bright red jacket on. She noted the rain outside and donned her bright red CAKE barrette. She took a large breath and left her room to find Applejack and Sunburst in her living room.
“Oops,” apologized Applejack. “Sorry to intrude. It’s rainin’ harder than a ram’s horn, Miss Pinkie.”
“Fluttershy said we could come in and dry off,” explained Sunburst.
“The more the merrier,” Pinkie grinned as she placed the morning sadness aside. “Now there are more ponies to eat these cupcakes.”
A large yawn brought the group's attention to a groggy Rainbow Dash. She appeared wearing just a long t-shirt that covered her flank. Her half opened eyes glanced at them then widened suddenly in recognition.
“Gah! What is the lame squad doing here?” the speedster demanded. “Are you trying to smoose me out of my Fluttershy time? Too jealous of the time she spends with me huh? Well I can’t blame you.”
“Ha! Like anypony would want to spend her time with you,” scoffed Applejack.
“Goes to show what you know,” retorted Rainbow Dash, her mussel inches from Applejack. “Fluttershy’s my main squeeze. We’ve been hugging and everything.”
“What?!” gasped the jaw dropped cowpony, turning to Fluttershy. “You’re datin’ her? And ya didn’t even tell us?”
“I didn’t want to upset you,” muttered Fluttershy as she slowly hid in her mane. “It’s not like we’ve been on a date or anything.”
“What do you mean?” demanded Rainbow Dash. “We went to the hot springs together.”
“Well, Pinkie Pie was in the hot springs too. I thought dates were supposed to be only two ponies.”
“That’s normally how it’s done,” nodded Applejack returning from her surprise.
“Fine,” huffed Rainbow Dash and struck the ground with her hoof. “I will take her on the most awesome date that anypony has ever had.”
“Can’t say Ah approve of yer level o’ taste,” apologised Applejack to Fluttershy. “But if it makes ya happy then Ah guess Ah can tolerate her.”
Fluttershy’s expression visibly brightened. She wasn’t sure what Applejack’s reaction would be. A long sigh of relief escaped her that she wasn’t even aware she had held on to.
“But ya better be sure ya take care o’ her,” the orange mare continued turning to the blue pegasus. “If in Ah hear that you’ve been mistreatin’ her then ya better be faster than ya claim ta be. And you better remember that yer ‘awesome date’ should be awesome fer Fluttershy. Not yerself.”
Pinkie was a little wary of such grumpy thoughts so early in the day. The fear of this morning’s dream still lingered and made her feel edgy. She nearly sprang through the roof when Sunburst suddenly jumped in front of her.
“Congratulations on your promotion!” he cheerily expressed.
“Oh you’re sweet, thanks,” Pinkie hastily smiled as best she could.
“What promotion?” demanded Rainbow. She hated being the last to know things.
“Didn’t ya notice?” huffed Applejack.
“Pinkie’s badge has another stripe,” explained Sunburst. “That means she’s been promoted to Major.”
“Wow! Congratulations!” said Fluttershy.
“Yeah, you’re like 20% cooler now,” admired Rainbow.
“Yeah, it is pretty cool,” admitted Pinkie. “But I don’t work for praise. I just want every pony to smile. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash don’t forget you have a harmonica test after school so get practicing.”
“Don’t you mean a harmonics test?” clarified Rainbow.
“Heh he, no.”
“Same old, Pinkie Pie,” shrugged Rainbow.
“Yeah,” sighed Applejack with a forlorn look.
***
Pinkie returned to the control room from her donut run to find an irate Twilight staring her down. Lyra, Bon Bon, and Trixie watched with saddened looks. Pinkie inwardly sighed. Twilight seemed to be upset with most of her ideas. This one was no exception.
“Why are they playing harmonicas in the harmonics test?”demanded Twilight. “The mares told me it was your idea.”
“You said harmonics?” pondered Pinkie. “Ohh, I thought getting the Evas to lead parasprites away would be useful.”
“Actually,” explained Bon Bon,” the sync rates have improved. It looks like the harmonicas are actually helping them sync.”
“But how will they be able to move the Evas with harmonicas in their mouths?” whined Twilight. The vein in her forehead was pulsing.
“We can get them racks,” illustrated Pinkie as she pulled out a harmonica rack from her mane.
“I think it might be more of a distraction,” grumbled Twilight.
Pinkie sighed. Everypony was so up tight lately. They worried about silly things like rank or following the rules or making sense. Since when does being happy ever make sense. No pony could tell her exactly what made them happy. They just knew that they were.
“You can stop playing now,” pleaded Lyra with her hooves in her ears.
“Look at this,” pointed out Twilight, ”Fluttershy’s sync ratio has improved dramatically. She’s getting closer to Rainbow’s ratio.”
Pinkie pressed the intercom. “Fluttershy! Your scores are great!” she shouted. “We should have a party for it when we get home.”
Pinkie watched the small yellow mare blush. She hoped that Fluttershy would feel super dooper from the news.
“I’m still the best though, right?” asked Rainbow.
“Yeah, but Fluttershy’s catching up,”stated Pinkie.
***
Pinkie found the idea of a Fluttershy’s catching up party intriguing as she made her way home. She hoped everypony could forget their scariediness and sadness and have a good time. Her mind soared through her vast knowledge of party favors, cupcakes and supplies she would need.
Her mind froze as she turned on the lights to her apartment and found a large gathering of ponies there.
“Surprise!” they shouted.
“Oh my gosh!” gasped Pinkie. ”A surprise party?! For me?! Best surprise ever!”
Pinkie had planned for such an occasion. She had measures in place she was ecstatic to use. She pulled a nearby string and a banner unrolled and two confetti cannons fired. The room filled with streamers and decorations that looked extravagant next to the simple decorations that had been hastily hung.
It was her special first surprise party party. The first party held seconds after she was surprised by the first surprise party she ever received. The banner proudly declared “Happy First Surprise Party Party!”
The surprisers watched in awe as the party rebuilt itself around them. Each of them were filled with wonder.
“We thought we’d throw this party to congratulate you on your promotion, “Sunburst said, looking for more explosions.
“Sunburst did most of the work,” admitted Applejack. “Ah just baked some of the apple based desserts.”
“Apple deserts!?” drooled Pinkie. It had been a long day at work and all she had to eat was cupcakes, muffins, cinnamon rolls, and some popcorn during the harmonics tests. Her appetite and excitement took over her body and sent it hurtling at the dessert spread. Apple tarts, apple pie, and apple dumplings all found their way into Pinkie’s open maw. Within seconds the desserts were in disarray. Most of the food floated around in Pinkie’s swollen belly.
“There goes the desserts, Ah reckon,” admired Applejack. The small party band turned away from the dessert carnage and began to chat amongst themselves.
“What brings you here Starlight?” asked Sunburst.
“She’s a friend of mine so I invited her,” defended Rainbow. She stared down Sunburst as if he had declared war. “You got a problem with that?”
“No problem,” back-peddled Sunburst. “It’s just I haven’t seen her out much anymore.”
“Well, I’ve been busy with my class representative duties,” said Starlight. “I have that entire class room to keep organized because that old stallion doesn’t seem to remember anything else except how to teach about the 2nd impact.”
“Hey,” said Rainbow Dash. “No egghead stuff at this party.”
“Ah don’t think it’s good manners ta invite a guest then yell at them fer talkin’,” scolded Applejack.
“It’s ok,” apologized Starlight blushing. “I don’t want to bore everypony with my problems.”
“Your fine, Starlight,” waved off Applejack. “Some ponies just have ta learn better manners.”
“Says you! Weren’t you raised in a bar?” Rainbow jeered.
“And Ah ended up with more manners than you!”
“What! You want to fight about it?”
Pinkie Pie watched the two friends begin to shout. She found some ponies love to shout and argue. It was how they showed they cared. Other ponies liked to sit in the corners and watch. Pinkie wondered if Fluttershy understood that because she looked very nervous as her friend and girlfriend bickered back and forth. She hoped to illuminate her.
“Hey Fluttershy,” the party roommate began. “Are you having a splendiferous time?”
“Yeah, I’m getting used to it,” the timid pegasus responded, not looking at all like she was.
“It’s still hard to be around others, huh?”
“I just don’t understand why they fight so much.”
“Everypony is different. Applejack and Rainbow Dash just like to fight.”
“So how do you feel about your promotion?” Fluttershy asked, hoping to change the subject.
“It’s pretty okish. It’s not the type of thing that makes me feel superty duper.”
“What do you do it for?”
“To make others happy of course.”
“How does destroying angels make ponies happy?” the first filly wondered. “It seems like there are other things that would be better to make others happy?”
“Well, my dream of being a party pony didn’t work out. I think it’s due to all the fear that ponies have from the second impact. So if I can fight off all these angels ponies might smile again and feel safe.”
“That does sound nice.”
“At least I tell myself that,” Pinkie grinned. Then she remembered her dream. The cold piece of her that always was with her. “But I don’t think it’s the really real reason. My family was killed due to the second impact.”
“Oh my goodness,” gasped Fluttershy. “I didn’t know.”
“Not many ponies do. My family were rock farmers in Yakyakistan. The second impact took place in the center of the Yak village. A family member was able to put me and my sister in a rock for safety. But I think I might be a tinsy bit mad at the angels for it.”
Fluttershy placed her hoof around Pinkie’s shoulder. Pinkie returned the hug with interest. She realized that though she thought about the sadness, talking about it made her feel better. She didn’t understand it but there it was. It was like Pinkie sense. She just knew how she felt. The joy of finding a new understanding made her feel twice as happy.
“Thanks everypony, “the party pony cheered. “You made this the best promotional surprise party party ever!”
The door opened. Cheese Sandwich arrived with Twilight and Pinkie’s heart sank. It was supposed to be her party to feel awesome. Cheese’s presence felt like a wet blanket had been thrown on her.
“Sorry we’re late but we were attacked by an alligator,”said Cheese.
“A likely story,” Pinkie said sticking her nose in the air.
“At least you admit it’s likely,” shrugged Cheese.
“It’s more likely that you’re a spy sent here to gather information on CAKE and commander Discord for some shadow society of secrets. Now you’re trying to act all buddy buddy with Twilight to get her to give up super secret stuff.”
Cheese’s face suddenly took on a very strained look. The casual smile he normally wore stretched unnaturally and looked entirely too wide. Twilight sighed.
“Pinkie, you say that about anypony I show up with,” snorted Twilight. “You accused Commander Discord of the same thing last week.”
“I’m still not certain he was truly telling the truth,” Pinkie huffed.
“Anyway congratulations,” Cheese curtly remarked.
“Welcome to the party,” Sunburst welcomed.
“Pinkie ate all the food,” informed Applejack.
“I anticipated that,” said Twilight. She pulled out bags of food from her saddle bags. Most of it was premade but the hungry party goers were famished.
“It’s sad that Commander Discord and Mud Briar are out of the country and couldn’t come,” sighed Pinkie.“What happened to Maud?”
“Oh, she said she doesn’t like surprise parties,” answered Applejack.
****
The partially frozen lands of Yakyakistan were once a desolate seething wasteland where only the strongest could survive. The village of Yaks were the hardiest of all creatures. Now the land was a desolate wasteland without even yaks in it.
Discord and Mud Briar stood in the tundra surrounded by nothing.
“Nothing lives here. No trees grow anywhere within one hundred miles of here. It seems quite dead,” commented Mud Briar.
“Not much of a cheerful place,” responded Discord as he kicked a small frozen clod of dirt. “Why is it all red?”
“You’re wearing red glasses, sir.”
“Oh, of course.” He took off his favorite red tinted glasses. “So this is where the second impact thingy happened.”
“Yes.”
“So many yaks and ponies died in the explosion. It was quite a mess.”
“Yes, and even now we really don’t know what caused it,” mused Mud Briar.”
“Yup, absolutely no idea,” said Discord rolling his eyes and brushing past the comment.”So we should find that huge staff that probably had nothing to do with this.”
“The lance of Longpegasus? It’s over there,” the deadpan pony pointed to the giant lance sticking out of the snow.
“See, if this land wasn’t so dead we would have had a much harder time finding it. Always a silver lining.”
“Now we just have to carry it out.”
“Oh, I have a method for that,” said Discord excitedly. He snapped his fingers but nothing happened. “Oh right, with myself spread all over the place I can’t use my chaos magic. But don’t worry I have a backup. Ohh, Smoozey poo,” he waved frantically. “Could you pick up that large stick and put it on the sled please?”
A giant green blob slid and oozed all over the landscape. It blubbered around the lance and swallowed it. Then slid its enormous body back to a large awaiting sled. It happily looked at Discord in askance.
“We talked about this,” scolded Discord. “You know what you must do.”
The gelatinous form shook and pouted. It slowly extracted the object and backed away.
“This is merely a shrine now of ponykind’s folly,” pronounced Mud Briar.
“My goodness, such language ” Discord exclaimed aghast. “Did anybody ever tell you you’re a real stick in the mud? There is no need to assault the scenery with such morose prose.”
“I am sorry. It felt apropos.”
“Well you can feel your apropos yourself.” Discord shivered at the thought of them.
****
The dim blue light of a computer shown on Lyra’s bored face as it slid down the side of her hoof. The face slammed into the keyboard as her hoof lost its grip. She cringed as she felt the tenderness of her snout. Then glanced at that screen. She gasped and pressed the buzzer that alerted Twilight and the others.
“The next angel has been spotted by our satellite,” shouted Lyra. “Ick! It looks awful.”
“They all looked awful,” retorted Bon Bon.
“Is it another giant bug?!” cringed Twilight.
“I don’t think so,” Lyra answered uncertainly.
“Put it on the big screen,” commanded Pinkie.
“No! Not if it’s another eye covered bug!” whimpered Twilight.
The command center gasped as a large orange mass displayed on the screen. It had one eye and looked like an ameba with wings. It hovered above the earth and looked down at them. The satellite caught the giant eye of the angel. A mouth shimmered across its body and it smiled a buck toothed smile.
“Umm, is it supposed to look like that?” asked Bon Bon.
“I kind of like it,”stated Pinkie.
The ameba angel squinted and grunted with effort as a small section of it broke off and dropped to the earth.
“It looks like it’s ...pooping,” explained Lyra.
Bon Bon blankly stared at her.
“Well, what would you call it?” the green unicorn demanded, exasperated.
“It’s dropping itself, Twilight,” sighed Bon Bon.
“But why?” pondered Twilight.
The satellite image followed the small object as it descended to the earth. The angel chunk changed color to bright red as it passed through the atmosphere. It stuck Equestria thousands of miles below. A large crater rippled out along the Equestrian surface.
“It’s using itself and falling velocity to act like a bomb!” Twilight gasped.
The angel dropped a few more chunks in similar fashion over the next few hours. Each piece struck the ground closer and closer to CAKE headquarters. When Twilight and her team drew their conclusions they brought their findings to Major Pinkie.
“Alright we have a new mission,” shouted Pinkie. “We have to stop Poopiel from dropping on us.”
“Please don’t call it that,” requested Twilight as she placed her hoof to her head.
“Too late,” insisted Pinkie. “Alright pilots, listen up.”
The large screen changed and displayed the Eva pilots in their Evas. They looked around in confusion as their daily harmonics test abruptly ended.
“An angel has been dropping itself,”Twilight explained.
“Pooping!” shouted Pinkie.
“Dropping itself,” insisted Twilight,” closer and closer to home base. We believe it’s honing in...”
“Its poo,” snickered Pinkie.
“Honing in on our location. We think it plans to drop itself on HQ.”
“And we’re going to catch it,” explained Pinkie.
“What?” shouted Twilight. “It could drop anywhere or blow up all the Evas.”
“Nope, nope, nope, we’re going to catch it with the Eva’s AT field like a giant catchers mitt.”
“It could still explode and catching something that’s falling at terminal velocity is crazy. It could kill them and us.”
“What would you do Twilight?” Pinkie demanded.
“Well I need a week then I can calculate all the data.”
“It’s coming really soon, Twilight.”
“I need more time. I can’t think under this pressure.” Twilight began to dance on her hooves.
“Then we are going with my plan until you come up with one.”
“I don’t know Pinkie,” started Fluttershy. “It sounds kind of dangerous.”
“It’ll be safe in your Evas. I’m sure of it”, Pinkie assured, remembering her geode.
“Twilight really makes it sound like we’re going to blow up,” said Rainbow uncomfortably. “I love explosions but not sure I want to be the main focus of one.”
“C’mon team!” Pinkie desperately yelled,”where’s the spirit?!Don’t be some Debbie downers!We got this!”
“I don’t know,” said Fluttershy sheepishly.
“If you do it I’ll throw in dinner.”
“In a restaurant?” asked Rainbow excitedly.
“Umm I guess.”
“Can you pay for Fluttershy and my date instead?”
“But what about Maud?” asked Fluttershy. “We couldn’t exclude her.”
“It’s fine, I normally eat with boulder anyway,” affirmed Maud.
“See,” convinced Rainbow,” she’s cool with it.”
“I don’t know,” the third filly wondered.
“Come on, we’re supposed to be dating. You brought up that you wanted to go on a date. So let’s go.”
Pinkie watched the racing thoughts on Fluttershy’s face. The party pony knew that it was hard for her to accept a treat for herself. Her mind raced.
“I’ll pay for the whole day,” she assured frantically.
“See even Pinkie wants us to go,” pointed out Rainbow.
Pinkie nodded her assurance to Fluttershy’s uncertain eyes.
“Ok,” the yellow mare finally relented.
Pinkie breathed a sigh of relief. It was an odd couple but Pinkie loved oddness. She also wanted to see Fluttershy take more steps forward with her friendships.
“So what do we have to do for this mission?” asked the enthused Rainbow Dash.
“All you have to do is spread out and wait until Poopiel drops. Then catch it with your AT field.”
“How will we know when and where it’s supposed to drop?” asked Fluttershy.
“My Pinkie sense will tell us.”
Twilight face hoofed.
****
“Ok team let’s spread out and begin operation #@&! catcher,”Pinkie instructed the Eva pilots.
“You can’t call it that,” gasped Twilight.
“Too late.”
The Evas spread out throughout Ponyville 3. The buildings shook as the Eva’s thundered by.
“I see it.”Rainbow pointed to the sky. Poopiel’s huge ameba body fell through the stratosphere, turning fire red. The huge buck-toothed mouth opened in a large innocent looking smile.
“Wait for it,” commanded Pinkie. “Wait for it, waaaiiit fooor it.”
“Pinkie, I was totally waiting. You don’t have to keep repeating it,” Rainbow griped.
Suddenly Pinkie’s entire body started to shake. She felt her ears twitch and her hooves wiggle uncontrollably.
“That’s it. It's going to land right there,” she hollered and slammed a spot on a map in front of her.
“Where? We can’t see the map, Pinkie,” sighed Rainbow.
“Ohh, heh heh, right. It looks like it’s going to land right on Twilight’s tree library. Sorry twi.”
“What!?” cried Twilight.
Pinkie grabbed Twilight in a supreme best friend hug but watched the monitor as the Evas ran toward the purple unicorn’s home.
The hulking mass continued to plummet. It was only a few hundred feet before impact when Rainbow deployed her wings and rushed to meet it. She gritted her teeth and used her up draft to maintain her position.
“Opening AT field!” the prismatic-maned pony screamed.
Unit-00 and 01 arrived seconds later and extended their AT fields. A blanket of energy ensnared the confused angel. It smiled gleefully as Maud used her mighty hooves to shatter its field. Fluttershy jumped in directly after and impaled it with her horn. The smiling never ceased as the entire being exploded with titanic force. Buildings, roadways and library trees were disintegrated instantly.
“My home!” shouted Twilight. She collapsed into Pinkie’s soft embrace. Tears streamed from her normally stoic face. The control room watched in mourning as Twilight succumbed to the horror of her plight. Lyra and Trixie both had their hooves over their mouths. Pinkie felt awful and wondered if she had done the right thing after all. The best thing she knew she could do is be there for her friend.
“You can live with us Twilight,” suggested Lyra meekly but caught a stern look from Bon Bon.
“No, I don’t want to impose,” sniffled Twilight shaking her head. “CAKE can find me a new place to live I’m sure.”
“We barely have enough room for each other,” whispered Bon Bon. Lyra looked down in shame.
“You can stay with Trixie,” declared Trixie, “your new great and powerful roommate!”
“Trixie!” gasped Twilight. “What are you doing?” she suddenly hissed in a harsh whisper.
“Duh,” the blue unicorn snarked and rolled her eyes. ”Trixie is opening her home for you. By home I mean my measly apartment.”
“Thank you, Trixie,”Twilight finally breathed. “I will happily accept.”
The monitor turned back on and the ponies saw the total devastation of the area. The library was simply a crater. The three Eva’s lay in a twisted heap. Pinkie felt tears well up in her own eyes. She could feel the firm resolve she had in her plan begin to crumble. Should stopping the angels cost them so much? How much more could her and her friends take?
A lavender hoof found its way onto her shoulder. Pinkie felt a definite squeeze.
“It’s ok Pinkie,” her best friend said,” it’s just a home. I know this was the best plan you could come up with. You did good.”
***
The pilots returned from the wreckage with bruises but in good spirits. Pinkie and Twilight quickly dried their eyes. They embraced their returning champions and found solace in their friendship.
The phone rang and Lyra quickly answered.
“Major Pinkie, it’s Commander Discord,” Lyra informed.
Pinkie took a big breath in. The commander must have heard about Poopiel and Twilight’s house. The Evas weren’t in the most bestest shape either.
“Commander Discord,” Pinkie began as she answered. “I’m sorry mission ‘#@!* catcher’ resulted in the destruction of Twilight's house. It also damaged the Evas quite a bit.”
“Oh, that’s no matter, Major Pinkie Pie,” assured the soothing chaotic voice.“What matters is that adorable angel is gone. Now I think I have a bad connection because I think I misheard the mission name. What was it again?”
“#@&! Catcher”
“Yeah, this line is so funny I keep hearing something that sounds most profane.”
“It only sounds like that. It’s written with a bunch of symbols.”
“I see. Is um Fluttershy about perchance?”
“I’m here, Commander Discord,” piped up Fluttershy.
“I just wanted to say good work, Fluttershy.”
“Thank you, Commander,” she mumbled.
“What about me?”, demanded Rainbow. “I caught the angel with my Eva’s wings.”
“Yes, yes, very good.. err..aaahh Rainbow..cloud?.. lightning bolt?.. something.”
“Dash,” finished Rainbow.
“Yes indeed I must, toot-a-loo, everyone. Click”
The phone line clicked and went dead.
“That didn’t feel very sincere,” scowled Rainbow.
“You did great, Dashie,” congratulated Pinkie. “You all did. Now time for us to party.”
“Ok, but then Fluttershy and I go on our date,” reminded Rainbow.
“Done,” nodded Pinkie.
***
The triumphant friends returned to Pinkie’s little apartment and began yet another party. Yesterday’s decorations were replaced with a new set of decorations and Pinkie felt her inner party animal rise up within her. She felt the freedom to let herself go and truly enjoy her moment. She felt all the sadness, self doubt and anger disperse on the dance floor. It was healing. Pinkie wanted to share that feeling with every pony.
“Isn’t this fun?!” screamed Pinkie through the intense music.
“Yeah, even Maud showed!” yelled Rainbow.
“She is a party animal, whooo!”
Maud calmly blew a small party horn. It gave forth a triumphant strangled goose call.
Pinkie watched all the dancing ponies and noticed her favorite yellow wallflower was missing. She caught sight of her on the balcony.
“Why are you all mopey faced? We’re winners!” declared Pinkie as she assaulted Fluttershy with music by opening the balcony door.
“Sometimes it feels like all we do is hurt others,” answered Fluttershy. “I know they are just magical constructs but I can’t help but feel bad we don’t give them a chance.”
“Fluttershy! They destroyed Yakyakistan! They killed my family!” said Pinkie Pie, suddenly angry. “I am all for second, third and forth chances but it’s hard to be nice to something that wants to kill you.”
Fluttershy looked down for a minute. Pinkie couldn’t believe her own outburst. She had danced all her cares away. Why did they bubble up so fast? She wished she could tell Fluttershy that the angels were gone. She wished she could tell her that she didn’t have to pilot anymore. She knew better. The angels would continue to come and Fluttershy was ponykind’s best bet.
“Fluttershy, why do you pilot the Eva?” the pink mare asked.
“I’m not sure. I guess like you I just want to make ponies happy but I do wish it was more constructive.”
“But what you do helps ponies live. For realsies. If you weren’t fighting the angels would just destroy us all.”
“It just doesn’t seem kind,” Fluttershy said, hanging her head.
“Sometimes kindness could be sparing others from doing the hard things.”
“I never thought of it like that.”
Pinkie gave her a hug and hoped she hadn’t manipulated her friend to her own doom. Still she knew that Fluttershy was too important to let her quit. She hoped that she believed her own words as much as Fluttershy did.