“Yes?” she asked turning away from her kids “her eyes widened slightly and she cocked her head somewhat. “Do I know you from somewhere?”
“Them yes,” Etoile pointed at her parents and sunset who stood, mouths agape, “but me, no. Do you remember Canterlot High?” she asked
“Yes. That is where I graduated high school. How did you know?” Pinkie blinked “wait… girls?”
“Y-yeah.” Rarity said practically in a whisper.
“I-I-” Pinkie was clearly caught off guard and before she knew it she was walking towards them.
In a fit of overwhelming emotions AJ, Rarity, and Sunset pulled her into a group hug. Pinkie froze for a moment not quite sure how to react. Yeah, she’s glad to see her old friends but at the same time… being with them is starting to unlock memories of a better time. A time she’s been trying so hard to forget.
Pinkie pushed away, breaking the hug and confusing the rest of the girls. Clearing her throat realizing she let her guard down, she straightened up.
“So are you here because you need a party planner or…” Pinkie swallowed, “ any of the other services we offer?”
They all shared a look and Sunset looked quizzically at the friend she knew as a happy, cheerful, and silly person. “N-No… we’re here to talk to you, we need your help.”
“Hm, yes well, I’m very busy so unless you’re here for my business then I will have to ask you to leave”
“Mooommmm” Bubbly spoke “They seem really nice”
Pinkie looked at her and said “Fine. You can show them around if you want. Just don’t bother me.” And with that, she left up the stairs and to the second floor.
“Ok, so this is the confetti room. We have about 47 different shapes of confetti.” Curveball was giving the tour and this seemed to be the last stop. “Ya know, squares, circles, triangles, flowers, balloons, animals, all that boring stuff.”
The door to the confetti room was light blue, this hallway contained the first rooms designed when the company was just starting out. The doors seemed to be colored in a yellow, blue, blue pattern. Definitely more colorful than the newer additions.
“Anyways, that’s all of it! Unless…” Curveball looked to Bubbly and the twins who shared a look then shrugged. “Ok, so you guys said you knew our mom in high school right?” He asked.
“Yes. Us three, your mother, and three other girls, we were the best of friends.” Rarity said with a smile. “Alas, time drew us apart.”
Bubbly spoke at a whisper. “Was she uhm…”
“Sorry, hon? Can ya speak up?” Apple Jack asked.
“Our mom… was she-” The twins were on either side of her and gave her hands a little squeeze. “Was she happy? Like- would you say those were the happiest times of her life? In high school?”
“I- Uhm.” All four of the children looked to Sunset for an answer. Clearly, something had happened between graduation and now, that made Pinkie so… “Y-yeah. She was happy. She always knew just how to cheer someone up and made the best cupcakes.”
“Soufflés…” Rarity whispered to herself.
“W-wait. What?” Asked Bubbly.
“Oh sorry, dear. I was just remembering how your mother would always try to make a soufflé for me during the winter. It didn’t always go as planned, you know how soufflés are, but when it did… mmmm.”
Etoile cleared her throat. “If you don’t mind me asking. What happened? Why is she so… serious?”
“Now Etoile!-“ Rarity began scolding her daughter for being so blunt and rude but was cut off
“No it’s ok,” Curveball reassured Rarity and AJ. “Bubbly remembers most but not much. I remember a little but Sunny and laughter probably don’t remember anything.” He sighed and continued talking “here, follow us in this room.”
Pinkie’s children went to the door at the end of the hall. It was an odd yellow color, almost like the cheese in a grilled cheese sandwich. They walked in and there was another factory but this one was way more lively than the others. The workers in the other rooms looked pretty happy, who wouldn’t when you get to work in a party factory all day, but they still looked like it was their job. These employees didn’t give off that vibe.
“This is our dad’s…” Curveball pauses and talks in a very showy, energetic voice. “specially crafted custom gag factory!!!” the twins and Bubbly laugh at him and Bubbly takes over.
“Dad was the one who started the company and this” she gestures to the silliness going on down below the stairs they’re on. “Is what he started with. He and mom built up the company but then…” Bubbly looked down at her little siblings. “Shortly after they had Sunshine and Laughter… Dad was at the bank to get some money for whatever reason, there was a robbery and dad died trying to protect one of the hostages.”
“Oh, my” Sunset gasped.
Applejack looked at the kids empathetically. “Ah know what it’s like to lose parents when yer just a youngin’, it’s a feeling that can’t be described and never really goes away. I’m so sorry y'all know what that feels like”
Bubbly smiled and looked at AJ with “Yeah. it was really hard at first but now we can talk about him and not be sad. Curveball and I talk about him all the time to the twins because we want them to know how great he was.”
“Well, I’m so happy that you all are at that point.” Rarity chimed in and took Bubbly’s hands in her own. “It took me a while to get to that point after my mother passed. You’re all very mature for your ages.” She said bending down to smile at Sunshine and Laughter.
“Ever since then mom was never the same. For a few weeks, she would spend her time either walking around the house or sleeping. She barely ate or talked to us. Then all of the sudden she started going to work again and interacting with the twins. She would always have a fake smile on, but we could hear her crying at night. Sometimes the girls couldn’t sleep and Bubbly or I would have to stay with them till they did. After a few weeks of that, she stopped and distanced herself again. She put on the hard exterior she has now and has been that way for years-”
Bubbly cut Curveball off. “When we first saw how sad she was we would try to cheer her up by talking about dad, be funny, bake a cake. Just like she and dad would do for us. That didn’t last long though. She couldn’t even think about dad and broke down if we mentioned him. She rejected any of our efforts and couldn’t even be a mother to her chil-” Bubbly seemed to be getting more enraged the more she talked.
“Bubbly!” Curveball stopped her before she could get herself any further. “Mom has been closed off since Dad died and… do you guys think you could reach her? We’ve all tried so many times but I think we just remind her too much of what she’s lost.”
“Oh sweeties, of course, we’ll try,” Rarity assured them. “but we haven’t seen your mother since a bit after high school.”
“But we’re definitely gonna try.” Sunset looked at AJ and Rarity and they all nodded
“An’thing to get the old Pinkie Pie back,” Applejack added enthusiastically.
“Hey uhm, I think I’ll just stay back here and chill with them” Etoile motioned to Pinkie’s kids. “If that’s alright with you guys?” She smiled at them.
“Yeah!” Bubbly and Curveball said in sync.
They laughed and curveball said, “We can show you the REALLY cool parts of this place, like where we got those cool vehicles we rode in on!”
“Be careful and have fun y’all” Applejack called to Etoile as she was quickly whisked away. She gave a hearty chuckle and turned to the girls. “Well, let's get on findin’ our way back to the lobby and up those stairs. We’re gonna get our friend back!” and with that, they took off to Pinkie’s office.