The streets of Ponyville were bustling with ponies as there was a carnival in town. Everypony trotted toward rides and vendors to enjoy themselves throughout the day. The only pony not having such a good time would be Feather Bangs as he sat on a bench while looking really down. He came to the carnival for the sole purpose of finding cute mares who would want to hang out with him. Feather made several attempts to approach some mares and tried to charm them with his good looks and his go-to-attitude. The results were the mares either declined Feather's offer, laughed at Feather for his sad attempts, or all the above. After all of the rejections Feather faced, he decided to give up and took a seat on a nearby bench. Even though Feather's surroundings were filled with colorful decorations and attractions, he was still sad as he wouldn't be able to enjoy all of this without at least one mare by his side.
Feather let out a deep sigh. "I guess I'll be brining back sadness from this day-out." Feather said to himself. Feather lifted his head to be completely startled from what was in front of him. It was a pink earth pony mare with dark park, puffy manes. Feather was spooked because she just appeared right before his eyes.
"Hiya, cutie! Why are you so down in the dumps?" The pink mare asked Feather.
"Umm, what?" Feather responded in confusion.
"I sensed that somepony was feeling sad and I ended up finding you." The pink mare explained. "Why are you sad when you're at a carnival? It's a wonderful place to be in!"
"I came here to look for some mares to hang out with. The only problem is that mares here don't want to hang out with me." Feather answered. The pink mare gasped and appeared next to Feather.
"Wait a minute! I'm a mare! Do you want to hang out with me?" The pink mare looked at Feather with excitement on her face.
"I'm not sure," Feather said while rubbing his manes.
"Ah, come on! I won't bite." The pink mare said while leaning over to Feather and giving him a suggestive wink. Feather took a moment to think over the pink mare's offer. He wasn't sure about the pink mare as there was something strange about her. Feather then realized that this was what he was looking for and decided to take his chances.
"Alright, I accept your offer." Feather got concerned when he saw that the pink mare was suddenly shaking as if she was about to blow.
"Yippie!" The pink mare hollered in excitement while jumping up in the air. "We're gonna have so much fun!" The pink mare said as she took Feather by the hoof and dragged him to another part of the carnival. "I know where we can ride some exciting rides!" The pink mare suddenly stopped from where she was and it caused Feather to bump into her. "Oh! I almost forgot! My name is Pinkie Pie!" The pink mare said as she turned to Feather. "What's your name?"
"I'm....Feather Bangs." Feather answered.
"Oooh, I like that name!" Pinkie claimed. "It really matches your manes. Anyway, let's go ride some rides!" Pinkie then pulled Feather towards an area full of carnival rides.
Their first stop was at a closed off area where ponies were riding bumper cars. Pinkie was jumping from where she was while she and Feather waited in line to ride. Feather gulped as he noticed how hard the bumper cars hit each other on impact.
"Are you alright, Feather?" Pinkie asked out of curiosity. "Do you not like bumper cars?"
"I don't hate bumper cars," Feather answered. "This will actually be my first time riding these things."
"Then this will be really exciting for you!" Pinkie cheered as she resumed hopping from one spot. When it was Pinkie and Feather's turn on get on their bumper car, Feather was relived to see that it's big enough for two ponies.
"Which one of you will be the driver?" The attendant asked Pinkie and Feather.
"I'll let the lovely mare drive." Feather said as he bowed while offering Pinkie assistance with entering their car. Pinkie just jumped on in and held on to the steering wheel in anticipation.
""Aw yeah! This is going to be fun!" Pinkie said as she showed a face of both excitement and terror. Feather gulped again as he wasn't sure if letting Pinkie drive was such a good idea. A few minutes later, Feather was feeling absolute regrets as he held on with dear life while Pinkie drove their bumper car like a maniac. "Woo hoo! Out of the way!" Pinkie hollered as she turned the wheel to bump two nearby bumper cars. Even though Feather had his seatbelt on and it was fastened, he was shaking around like a ragdoll due to Pinkie's reckless driving. Feather thought that riding bumper cars was more rough than he thought as he could feel the collision whenever Pinkie rammed their car into another one. Feather began to feel queasy due to feeling all the momentum. Before Feather could vomit from motion sickness, a bell rang to indicate that the ride was over. "Oh phooey," Pinkie complained as she exited the bumper car. "I was just getting started with my car bumping moves." Pinkie looked over to see Feather filling one of the trash cans with his vomit.
'Thank Celestia it's over!' Feather thought before he threw up in the trash can again.
"Are you okay, Feather?" Pinkie asked as she went over to Feather.
"I'm fine, it must have been that old daisy sandwich I ate before coming here." Feather lied.
"If you're not feeling well, we can do something else besides riding rides." Pinkie suggested.
"That would be fine!" Feather said immediately. He then cleared his throat as he didn't want to come off as scared. "I mean...sure, that sounds good."
"Great! We go to the vendors and play all of the carnival games!" Pinkie said as she pulled Feather's hoof towards the game area.
'This shouldn't be too bad.' Feather thought. 'Maybe I can impress Pinkie with my skills in carnival games.' Feather developed a new sense of confidence.
"Alright, kid, I think you had enough turns." The vendor stallion said to Feather. Feather was in the middle of a game of throwing darts at a board full of inflated balloons. The only problem was that Feather already had six turns and he hasn't popped a single balloon.
"Don't worry, I got this." Feather said as he was ready to throw his last dart. He used his hoof to throw the dart, but it ended up hitting none of the balloons.
"Sorry kid, better luck next time." The vendor stallion said. Feather groaned in frustration as he wasn't able to win anything. Pinkie patted Feather on his back.
"It's alright, Feather." Pinkie assured. "You did your best." Pinkie turned to look over to the balloon board and stared at it until she turned back to Feather. "Will it be alright if I had a turn, Feather?" Pinkie asked.
"Sure," Feather said in a sour manner. Pinkie stepped up and offered a bit to the vendor stallion.
"One dart, please," Pinkie pleaded nicely.
"You know that you can buy more than one dart, right Miss?" The vendor stallion asked in confusion.
"Nah, I only need the one." Pinkie said with a smirk.
"Suit yourself," The vendor stallion said as he gave one dart to Pinkie. Pinkie picked up the dart and backed away a bit from the booth. She carefully observed the balloon board and began spinning her hoof that held her dart. Feather grew concern as he saw that Pinkie's hoof was spinning faster until her arm was nothing but a pink, circular blur. Pinkie then threw her dart towards the board and it popped one of the balloons. The dart's impact was so great that it caused a chain reaction that made the rest of the balloons pop, leaving nothing but an empty board full of deflated balloons. Feather and the vendor stallion stared in shock while Pinkie was rubbing her hoof on her chest as if she thought it was no big deal.
"So, what's my prize?" Pinkie asked.
"T-Take anything on the top shelf." The vendor stallion said while sweating nervously. Pinkie pointed at something and she received a large ,stuffed Ursa Minor.
"Feather, could you be a dear and hold this for me?" Pinkie asked with pleading eyes.
"Um, sure." Feather said as he was given the large bear and put it on his back.
"Let's go play more games!" Pinkie said while pulling Feather's hoof to more vendors. The day went on with Pinkie winning almost all of the carnival's games while Feather held the prizes like a gentlecolt he was. Feather was honestly surprised that a mare like Pinkie was able to have such a winning streak when it came to carnival games. He knows that stallions like him would feel embarrassed to lose against a mare, but he was rather impressed and just wanted to spend time with Pinkie.
"Wow Pinkie, you are such a pro when it comes to carnival games." Feather said as he lifted up some of the prizes Pinkie won.
"Why thank you, Feather." Pinkie said while winking. "I had lots of practice." Pinkie stopped when something caught her attention. "Ooh! We should go there!" Pinkie pointed at what looked like a mirror fun house.
"I never seen a place like that before." Feather said while looking at the building.
"We have got to go in! These fun houses are always awesome!" Pinkie claimed as she pulled Feather's hoof. Feather showed no signs of hesitation as he trusted Pinkie that this fun house could be fun for him. Once inside, Feather was in awe as the fun house's first room was just a hallway full of strange looking mirrors.
'I wonder why there are so many mirrors here,' Feather thought as he approached one of them. He was shocked to see that his reflection was him but having longer hooves that made him taller.
"Whoa!" Feather said as he lifted one hoof to examine his reflection's tall one. It almost reminded Feather of giraffe legs.
"That's the fun thing about fun houses," Pinkie said. "They are full of crazy mirrors! Like this one!" Pinkie said while pointing at the mirror she was facing. Feather trotted up to be completely shocked from what he saw on the mirror. Pinkie's reflection was much shorter, her eyes and head were bigger than her body, and her cutie mark only showed one yellow balloon. It was as if Feather was looking at a chibi version of Pinkie. "Yeah, this mirror is really crazy." Pinkie said while making faces to the mirror. Feather looked at another mirror and his reflection was a more muscular version of himself.
"Whoa, I look like I been hitting the gym!" Feather said while posing to make his reflection flex his muscles. He moved on to the next mirror which showed him as a mare. Feather was startled to see how beautiful he looked.
"I heard of falling in love with myself, but now I'm head over hooves for myself." Feather claimed as he and Pinkie moved on to the next room. The room was filled with all sorts of mirrors that was made into a small labyrinth. "What did I tell you? This place is completely fun!" Pinkie said as she bounced forward while Feather followed in pursuit. Feather stopped in front of one mirror and couldn't help but swing his manes and showed of his smile to his reflection.
"Look at you, good-lookin'." Feather said to his reflection. "Going on a date with such a cute mare, you really scored big this time." Feather turned to notice that Pinkie completely vanished from his sights. Feather slowly trotted down the hall while looking around to find Pinkie. "Pinkie, where are you?" Feather called out in attempt to get her attention.
"Here I am!" Pinkie said as she appeared in front of Feather.
"Cool," Feather said as he approached Pinkie. "I almost felt sc-" Feather hit his head and quickly backed away. "What the?" Feather said in confusion.
"Sorry, did I say here?" Pinkie said as she reappeared at another spot. "I'm actually here." Feather felt uncertain and decided to reach out his hoof to see if Pinkie was really in front of him. As Feather expected, it was just another mirror in front of him.
"Pinkie, where actually are you located?" Feather asked as he was getting more confused. Pinkie tapped her chin with her hoof.
"Hmm, I may be here. Or-" Pinkie moved to another spot and there was a second Pinkie appeared in another spot. "I could be here,"
"Or here," The other Pinkie said.
"Or here!" A third Pinkie popped up another spot. Feather then saw a lot more Pinkies appear all around him. Feather's heart raced as he had no idea which one is the real Pinkie and how he should get out of here.
"Or maybe I'm...right here!" Pinkie said as she appeared next to Feather, causing him to fall back in fear. Pinkie giggled in response to Feather. "Oopsie, my bad." Pinkie said as she offered a hoof to Feather. "I sort got carried away with the whole mirror thing." Feather took Pinkie's hoof and got up on his hooves.
"It's alright, at least I'm not hurt." Feather then looked at the multiple mirrors. "Although, it would've been really scary to be with so many copies of you, Pinkie."
"Yeah heh heh," Pinkie said while rubbing her neck with her hoof. "Anyway, let's get out of here and continue our fun!" Pinkie then lead Feather to the exit. When both of them left, another Pinkie popped out from one of the mirrors.
"Woo! That was a close one!" The other Pinkie said as she didn't want to get caught by her original self. As Pinkie and Feather left the fun house, they looked around to find more things to do at the carnival. Pinkie gasped and grabbed Feather by the head.
"We should ride that next!" Pinkie said as she turned Feather's head and pointed her hoof at the large Ferris wheel. Some ponies were in line to enter the next carts. Feather's jaws dropped from how tall the Ferris wheel was.
"Are you sure, Pinkie?" Feather asked. "This is one large ride."
"It will be fine!" Pinkie assured. "Ferris wheels are pretty safe as all it does is move ponies in a circle." Feather's heart started beating in a fast pace as he looked at how high the Ferris wheel goes.
'Come on, Feather!' Feather's inner thoughts said. 'You can't be such a chicken in front of a mare! You got to face this to show her that you really are strong!'
"Sure, I don't have a problem." Feather said as he was being pulled once again by Pinkie. The line moved kept moving after a few minutes. It wasn't long until it was Feather and Pinkie's turn to get on one of the Ferris wheel's carts. Feather carefully entered the cart and did his best to fasten his seatbelt.
"Hope you enjoy the ride." The attendant pony said as she activated the wheel and it started moving. Feather breathed heavily while watching himself move along the ride's motions. Pinkie on the other hoof was practically shaking as she was full of excitement despite being on such a slow ride.
"Woo! I love Ferris wheels so much! Especially when they stop to allow us to get a good view from where we are. I do hope that we stop on the very top!" Pinkie squealed in excitement. Feather also hoped that their cart stopped at a not-so-high position. He thought that stopping at the very top would be such a rare chance. At that moment, the Ferris wheel's carts suddenly stopped from where they were. To make things worse, Feather and Pinkie's cart was stopped at the very top of the ride. This allowed both ponies to see the view of the entire carnival and all of Ponyville.
"Wow! This view is amazing!" Pinkie said as she lifted her hoof over her head to see things better. "You can really see almost everything in Ponyville. I can even see Twilight's castle from her!" Pinkie turned to notice that Feather's eyes were closed and he gripped really hard on the cart's handle bar.
"Feather, are you alright?" Pinkie asked with concern.
"I'm....d-doing....f-fine, Pinkie." Feather stuttered as he started to sink into his seat.
"Come on, Feather. You can tell me." Pinkie assured.
"Everything is fine, Pinkie." Feather answered. "I'm just not so used to being this high before. But I can handle it." Feather suddenly flinched when he felt a shaky motion while on the cart. He was shaking all over and covered his face with his hooves to hide his embarrassment.
"Feather, it's alright to be afraid of heights."
"No it's not," Feather mumbled. "I'm trying to impress you by facing my fear of heights, but that's not working." Pinkie placed a hoof on Feather's to get his attention.
"Do you know what's one of my biggest fears?" Pinkie asked. "Seeing another pony or creature in fear or saddness." Feather looked at Pinkie to see that she was really worried. "I don't want you to feel this way just for me. That makes me feel so bad as I truly wanted to cheer you up ever since I saw you on that bench."
"Really?" Feather said with a small grin.
"Mmhmm!" Pinkie nodded. "As the Element of Laughter, I try to spread happiness to everybody I meet without asking for almost anything in return."
"Almost anything?" Feather said in confusion.
"Yep, the only price I want from cheering you up would be...one smile!" Pinkie said as she grinned to express her happiness. Feather couldn't help but tear up as such a mare like her existed.
"Wow, thanks Pinkie." Feather said as he wiped away his tears. "I'm glad that you made such efforts to make me feel better."
"It's what I do. Now come on, let me see you smile!" Pinkie requested. Feather laughed while showing his most sincere smile he could give. "That will do, Feather." Pinkie nodded. "Although, I do want something else in return."
"What would that be?" Feather asked before Pinkie moved closer to give him a big kiss on his cheek.
"That...and more," Pinkie said while her eyes were half-lidded. Sounds of smooching and giggling were coming from Feather and Pinkie's cart as it moved once again. When the ponies left the Ferris wheel, Feather's manes were a bit messy while his face was covered with kiss marks. Pinkie blushed while giggling like a school filly. "Let's do this again sometime, cutie." Pinkie said as they trotted through the carnival.