Twilight stared at the projection of Rainbow’s cutie mark on the wall in front of her. Still no change. She shined the flashlight back towards the alarm clock; around 5:45 AM. What in Equestria am I doing? Twilight asked herself. I can’t help Rarity, it’s been four days and only Applejack has her cutie mark, and now I’m going to lose another day if I don’t get any sleep!
Twilight huffed. She needed to do something. Pulling out her saddlebags, she filled them with essentials, money, and the slide she had just inspected. She then proceeded to write out a sealed letter to Spike informing him of her plans, with a separate sticky-note for the Apples of where to bring it the next day. After she ran through a quick mental checklist to make sure she was ready, she headed downstairs, left the note on the table, and departed for the train station.
As she walked through the moonlit town, she thought about how she could help Pinkie. How in Equestria am I gonna cheer her up? The only pony I know who’d be best at doing that would be Pinkie herself! She tapped the tip of her right wing against her chin. Unless...
The ground was dry and rocky, covered in layers of mineral dust, and the area was surrounded with sparsely vegetated mountains. In a large flat area enclosed by a ring of trees sat a fenced-in section containing a two-story cottage, with a silo and windpump on either side of it. Twilight zipped between the trees along the perimeter, using the trunks as “cover” while she spied on the area. A small spot of dull pink was moving in on the far side of the space. Getting a bit closer, Twilight pulled out a pair of binoculars and peeked out from around the tree she was hiding behind.
The pony was a pink filly, with a semi-long, straight mane and tail, and no cutie mark. She was currently taking rocks from a clearing and rolling them over to a pile of other rocks with her muzzle.
Twilight waited for her to walk a good distance away from the pile, after which she zoomed out from her spot behind the tree. A minute later, the filly returned with another rock, and was about to put it on the pile before being cut short.
“SURPRISE!” Twilight exclaimed, jumping out from behind the pile of rocks, wearing a party hat, blowing a noise-maker, and tossing some confetti into the air.
Pinkie yelped and stumbled backward off her hooves.
“Congratulations! You just won the title of ‘Pony of the Day’! Twilight stuck a party hat on her.
“Huh? Who are you?!” Pinkie questioned.
“I’m your cheer-er-upper!” Twilight beamed.
“My what?”
“Your cheer-er-upper! Studies show that the more positive and lighthearted the work environment, the more productive ponies are! So, because of that…” Twilight jumped up on the pile of rocks and took a deep a breath. “My name is Twi-i-light,” Twilight pointed to herself in a grandiose fashion, “I am here to say: I’m gonna make you smile,” Twilight grinned wide, then stood on her hind legs, raising her forehooves into a Y shape, “and I will brighten up your daAAYYYY-!” Twilight suddenly felt the rock pile collapsing beneath her. She flailed her forelegs as she lost her balance and fell over onto the ground face-first. She propped herself up and spit out a rock that her mouth had landed on. She looked over to Pinkie with a sheepish smile. “...You get the idea.”
Pinkie cringed slightly.
Twilight stood back up and held out her hoof. “My name’s Twilight Sparkle!”
“I’m Pinkamena Pi-IIIEEEEEEE!” the filly shrieked, getting shocked by a joy buzzer at the end of Twilight’s hoof.
She pulled her hoof back as Pinkie momentarily stood dazed.
“Whu-?”
“Joy buzzer! Makes any hoofshake just a little more ‘shocking’!” Twilight cheerfully declared, holding up her hoof again for Pinkie to see.
Pinkie simply shook off the lingering sensation. “A-anyways, like I said: My name is Pinkamena Pie; though my sisters just call me ‘Pinkie’ because it’s quicker.”
Twilight slipped off the joy buzzer and held out her hoof again, Pinkie successfully shaking it this time.
“So, what brings you here?”
“Well,” Twilight began, “studies have shown that having fun leads to better performance among employees, so I’m here to help establish a happy and fun work environment so that everypony is at peak productivity!” Twilight picked up some rocks in her magic and arranged them into a mid-air smiley face.
“Happy and...fun?” Pinkie questioned.
“Yeah, you know; a few silly games, some super-special exciting food, wild decorations...”
Pinkie raised one eyebrow and cocked her head in confusion.
“Why don’t I just show you?” she said.
“Show -ME?” Pinkie responded, startled as she was suddenly slung onto Twilight’s back.
Twilight bolted towards the farm’s silo. “Ta-daaa!” she announced, throwing open the door to it.
Pinkie looked around and her eyes went wide. Balloons & streamers of varying colors, random assortments of snack foods, and small games decorated the interior of the structure. “What happened in here?” she asked, climbing off the mare’s back.
“Just a little redecorating!” Twilight stated proudly.
“But...it’s so...crazy!”
“But Pinkie, that’s the point! Fun is all about being crazy!”
“It is?”
Twilight nodded, after which she scanned the room. Her eyes fell upon a fresh poster of a cartoon Princess Celestia on the wall. “Aha!” She bounced over to it. “Pinkie, do you think you can pin Celestia’s tail in the right spot?” she asked, removing the aforementioned accessory from the poster.
“Yeah…?” Pinkie replied, uneasily, walking over. She took the tail and pinned it on.
“Now try it–“ Twilight tied a cloth band around Pinkie’s eyes, “–blindfolded!” She stuck the safe end of the pin back in Pinkie’s mouth.
“Buh, how c’n I see where I need teh puh IH!” she yelped as Twilight began spinning her around.
“That’s the fun part; you don’t!”
Twilight let the filly go, and Pinkie began stumbling as she tried to walk forward in a daze. “I geff I’ll – Woah! – tryh,” she said, after which she quickly reached her head forward to stick the pin into the poster.
“OW!”
Pinkie immediately pulled the blindfold off to see the pin stuck right in the middle of Twilight’s cutie mark, and the mare cringing a little. “Oh no, Miss Twilight! I’m so sorry-”
Twilight started giggling. “Oh Pinkie; it’s just a little pin!” She inhaled as she plucked it out with her magic. “It’s mostly muscle tissue below our cutie marks; no harm done. Why don’t you try it again?”
Pinkie silently accepted as she slipped the blindfold back on – after which Twilight silently tensed her face in pain and slowly exhaled the breath she was still holding, rubbing the spot on her flank in the process.
This time, after being spun around and regaining her supposed bearings, Pinkie ended up facing away from Twilight...and away from the poster as well. Letting her dizziness dissipate for a moment, she confidently reached her head forwards once again.
*POW* The pin made a balloon explode right in front of her face.
Pinkie yelped and dashed across the silo, crashing into a lavenderish-gray filly with a gray mane, who walking in in the door.
“GUH! ...Pinkie, what in Equestria are you doing!? You’re supposed to be out gathering rocks!” she yelled after being knocked off her hooves.
Pinkie pulled the blindfold off. “Oops, sorry Limestone, this mare was just showing me some things.”
“...What?” Limestone sat up and looked into the silo. “Oh. Well who are you?” she groaned, trotting in.
“I’m Twilight Sparkle!” she replied. “I’m here on behalf of the Healthy and Productive Workplaces Committee to help establish a more positive and lighthearted work environment!”
Limestone stared and then blinked. “...What? Now look Miss Twerplight – or whatever your name is, we’re on a schedule here; a schedule we can make without the help of your Happy Hopeless Horseplay Committee! So why don’t you do us a favor and just beat it?” she snapped, poking her hoof into Twilight to punctuate her points.
“C’mon, Limestone, she just wants to help,” Pinkie pleaded. “Besides, if it works, wouldn’t we not have to worry about the schedule so much?”
Limestone stared daggers into Pinkie for several seconds. “If you’re wrong about this then you’re doing my chores tonight,” she snarled.
“Great!” Twilight exclaimed. She looked around the room, then bounced over to a table with various foods on it. “Who wants snacks?”
The other two walked over, and Twilight hovered a bowl before them in her aura.
“What are these?” Pinkie asked, taking a bite of one.
“Tortilla chips! Southern Equestrian specialty!”
Limestone took her own bite. “What the hay is the point of these? They’re blander than the bread Mom makes!”
“That’s because you’re supposed to dip them in salsa, silly!” She levitated a bowl of the aforementioned accompaniment.
Limestone dunked the chip in the stuff and took a new bite. Immediately her face went red as she opened her mouth. “Hot. Hot! HOT!”
Unsure of what to do, Pinkie grabbed a bottle of soda and held it out for her.
Limestone snatched the bottle from her sister and gulped a bunch into her mouth, before spraying it out in reflex all over Pinkie. “What the hay did you give me!? It’s all tingly! Where’s the regular water!?” She looked around the room and spotted a bucket of idle water with a rag over the side. “Good enough!” she said, dashing over to it and plunging her head into it.
Twilight grinned at Pinkie sheepishly and held out a salsa-covered chip. “Want one?“
Pinkie turned her head away slightly. “Maybe not...”
Limestone pulled her head out of the water. “Pinkie...”
The aforementioned filly’s ears fell flat against her head.
“We are going back to work. NOW!”
Pinkie cringed. Her head sunk as she began to slowly follow Limestone towards the silo door. Upon reaching the doorway she paused, looking back at Twilight one more time.
The mare was standing with her back to a hay-bale, next to the table of sweets. She was scanning her eyes over all the decorations with a saddened look on her face. A balloon behind her fell from it’s taped position on the wall and onto the hay-bale. Twilight sighed and began to sit down.
“Twilight wait! You’re about to sit on a–“ Pinkie yelled out, but was too late.
Her rump plopped right down on the poor balloon, immediately popping it.
Twilight screamed in surprise, and jumped straight up. She tried to fly, but due to the coverage provided by her sweater, her wings were unable to open, and she crashed right down on the dessert table, breaking the legs on one side. A small cake that was on the table slid from the center directly onto Twilight’s face, blinding her eyes with frosting. “Ack!” Twilight yelped, now stumbling around the silo.
Pinkie simply watched, eyes wide and slack-jawed in utter shock.
Twilight bumped into the snack table rather hard, sending her head swinging down and forward, landing her face right in the bowl of salsa. She pulled her head out and licked her lips. Everything was calm for a brief second, before Twilight yelled “Hot!” and began to run towards where she thought the soda was, but instead stepped one hoof into the bucket of water and tripped, slamming into the silo wall right in front of the poster of Princess Celestia. The impact caused the poster to fall, which fell on Twilight and covered her.
Twilight wiped the frosting and salsa from her eyes, and tried to pull the poster off, but ended up getting her horn stuck through it. She stood up, and lifted part of the poster up to see Pinkie, who was still standing there, staring in shock. She looked back at the poster and realized her horn had skewered through the tail as well, holding it in right place. “Huh, looks like I won!”
The corners of Pinkie’s mouth twitched. She burst out laughing as she fell onto her back.
Twilight’s face lit up. “What’s this? A freak party accident has turned Twilight Sparkle into the salsa-frosting monster, and she has now come for your chips and cake!” Twilight narrated, smiling and looming over Pinkie with her fore-hooves raised.
Pinkie laughed even harder, with strands of her hair beginning to spring up and curl on their own.
Twilight started laughing as well.
Some of the salsa-frosting mix dripped off of Twilight’s mane and straight down onto Pinkie’s mouth.
“Pleh!” Pinkie started to spit out the frosting, but ultimately decided to lick it up and eat it instead. Immediately, she stopped laughing and sat up straight.
Twilight stood back. “Oh no, I’m sorry! I’ll go get some water from the well!”
“No! Wait a minute!” Twilight turned around, only to get slobbered by Pinkie’s tongue as she began licking off the salsa-frosting. She stepped back after finishing. “That’s actually really good!” Zipping over to the snack table, Pinkie grabbed the salsa, then zipped over to the broken dessert table and poured a bit of the salsa onto some cupcakes that survived. She took a bite. “Beft food ever!” she exclaimed, her mouth full of the stuff.
“PINKIE!” Limestone yelled from the doorway. “I thought we were going back to work!”
“But Limey, you gotta try this!” Pinkie exclaimed, running over to her sister and shoving a salsa-covered cupcake in her mouth. “It’s amazing!”
“Pnhkie...” Limestone started through a full mouth, but paused as her eyes went wide. “What ihn tardarus am I eahding?” she questioned.
Pinkie furrowed her eyebrows. “Something wrong?”
Limestone chewed then swallowed. “Nothing...just...only an insane pony would make something this good!” Limestone took another bite.
Pinkie’s face lit back up. “See! I knew you’d like it!”
Twilight walked up. “You know, there’s still four other ponies on the farm who haven’t tried your new creation. –Not including me, of course.”
Pinkie gasped, and her hair began to raise, creating an effect as though it was inflating with air like a balloon. “THAT’S IT!” Pinkie shrieked in excitement as she grabbed Twilight and shook her, with her own mane popping into a full curly-frizz. She let go, a huge grin on her face.
“Uhh, Pinkie?” Limestone asked, a dumbfounded stare on her face.
“Shh, not now! I gotta think,” She said, waving her hoof as she looked around the silo.
“But your ma–“
Limestone was cut off as Twilight put a hoof on her shoulder. “I wouldn’t stress yourself out trying to understand it.”
Suddenly, Pinkie gained a comically serious expression. “I know just what to do, but this room’s gonna need some cleanup, redecorating, and more of everything if it’s gonna be the grand premier of ‘fralsta!’ It needs to be big; it needs to be crazy; it needs to be...a party!” A smile crept across Pinkie’s face.
“HEY GIRLS!” Pinkie yelled, jumping out from behind a large rock to face two other young ponies. Both were gray, one with a slightly lavender tint to her coat and a purple mane, and the other having a mane of dark cyanish-gray with lighter streaks.
Marble gasped and jumped behind Maud in panic, with the latter’s eyes widened by a couple of millimeters.
“Hey Pinkie. You seem to be in a different state of emotion than usual,” Maud stated.
“Sorry! I’m just super excited!” Pinkie replied.
Marble peaked out from behind Maud with curious eyes.
“MMMM– I can tell you two really wanna know, but I can’t tell you! You’ll just have to meet me in the silo in five minutes and find ooouuut!” Pinkie stated, ending in a sing-song manner before bouncing away.
The two watched Pinkie bounce away, before Limestone followed up and turned to them. “It’s completely idiotic, but just trust her,” she assured.
Twilight smiled, overlooking the four from the top of the quarry.
As promised, five minutes later Pinkie and Twilight were waiting inside the silo, watching the entrance from behind a couple of tables. Then, the door creaked open, and all three sisters, along with a brown stallion and gray mare that Twilight recognized as Pinkie’s parents, stepped inside.
“SURPRISE!” Pinkie shouted, jumping out from behind her table, with Twilight following suit while blowing a noise-maker.
The Pie family froze in shock (which for Maud meant that her eyes were simply a bit wider than usual).
“You like it? It’s called a ‘party’!”
They continued to stare, looking around the room, completely taken aback not only by the surprise, but by all the streamers, balloons, and other party decorations all over the silo.
After a few moments though, Pinkie began to look down in sadness. “You don’t like it, do you?” she spoke, staring at the floor.
“I...love it!” Marble spoke, softly, with a small but wonder-filled smile across her face.
Pinkie looked back up. The other four looked down at Marble in surprise.
Limestone glanced back at the room. “Pinkie...this looks so...stupid!” she chuckled, trying and failing to hide a big grin across her face.
“I get a sense of lightheartedness from your use of lightweight decorations,” Maud stated, after which she smiled gently.
Igneous and Cloudy smiled as well.
“YOU ALL LOVE IT!” Pinkie exclaimed in delight, running over and hugging each of them. “Oh! But if you love this, you know what you’ll really love!?” Pinkie said, letting go and dashing over to the snack table. She returned with a tray full of cupcakes. “Fralsta! Equestria’s newest and bestest food, topped on cupcakes!”
Each family member took one and bit into it. Immediately, the eyes of everypony sans Maud went wide in surprise.
Deciding to take the rest of the evening off, the Pie family continued to enjoy all the food and games Pinkie had prepared – especially the fralsta-topped cupcakes.
Cloudy walked up to Pinkie. “This is certainly something, Pinkamena. Perhaps you could do it...more often?”
“You bet!” she winked.
“Y’know Pinkie?” Limestone began, approaching her sister. “I’ve seen some of the foals having parties after school, and it all looked pretty stupid to me. But, there’s something special about this one. It’s like you’ve got a talent for it or something.”
“Thanks Limestone,” Pinkie replied, her eyes watering slightly in joy.
Then, there was a light. All three sisters looked at Pinkie in surprise. Even Igneous, Cloudy, and Twilight turned to face her. Pinkie looked back to realize flank was glowing. With a flash, the image of three balloons, two blue with a yellow one flying higher in the middle, appeared on her flank.
Pinkie was speechless.
“You got your cutie mark,” Maud stated, still with her usual monotone. “Congratulations.”
Everyone shifted their gaze to Maud.
“I might be one to talk here,” Limestone began, “but don’t you think that came off a little–“
“Aww, thanks Maud!” Pinkie exclaimed, bouncing over to her sister and squeezing her in a hug.
“Pinkie?” Twilight asked.
Pinkie let go and turned around. “Yeah?”
“Have you ever heard of a cute-ceañera?”
“No. Why?”
Twilight smirked. “Well first off, I think this party’s only just getting started!”