"So, there's more out there than just the Moon and the Sun?" Pinkie said as she hopped through the aisles of books at the Ponyville library. "I always thought that there was just Equestria, the moon and the Sun?"
"Well," Twilight sighed, picking up the books Pinkie had discarded in her search, "Actually Equestria is just a part of where we are, but-"
"Since when?" Pinkie asked, slightly muffled by the book she was in the process of throwing aside. Spike wasn't going to be happy after all this was done. Nothing's worse than a cranky dragon who has to clean the whole library.
"Well, forever but, that's not important." Twilight said exasperatedly. "The important thing is that there are places infinitely larger than Equestria and everywhere else you've ever seen put together." The librarian had hoped that bombshell would cause Pinkie to stop for a moment, but she kept searching regardless. Undaunted, Twilight continued. "Have you ever wondered what those stars in the sky look like up close?"
"Nope!" Pinkie said as she bounced. "I always just thought of them like candles in the clouds. Are they like that?"
"No, they're actually incredibly more beautiful and complex." Twilight said without missing a beat. "Every single one of them is as grand as our sun, bigger than anything you could ever think of. It would take us millenniums to reach them even in teleportation." Twilight stared off at the rising sun on the horizon out her window. "And from that star, you could see thousands more in every direction, with each of those having thousands more! And who knows, maybe each one has planets, or maybe even their own princesses guarding over it!"
"So I guess what you're saying is that 'yes, there are more than one hundred places in the universe'?" Pinkie said as she precariously balanced on a step ladder, dusting her latest find.
"Yes Pinkie, I am saying that." Twilight said, slightly annoyed at the lack of wonderment.
"Phooey. I was at 72 places today and I was thinking that I might be able to reach everything by the end of the year if I really tried. Now it's going to take forever!" Pinkie collapsed in mock exhaustion. "Literally, right?"
Twilight nodded. "Actually, some scientists have been working on a new theory that could mean that you couldn't reach everywhere in the universe even if you had forever."
"Why would they do that? What have I ever done to scientists? Besides those few times which were totally repaid in specially designed parties!" Pinkie grumbled in a pout.
"No, not you in particular Pinkie!" Twilight chuckled. "They have a theory about how time works with the universe. What they think is that every time somepony makes a decision, a new universe is made for every possible possibility." Pinkie's only response was to tilt her head as she eyed Twilight."Okay, think of it like this. If i flipped a coin, our universe would split into two new universes. One where the coin landed horns, and the other tails. And maybe one where it landed on its edge. Except this happens all the time and to everypony, meaning that there is infinite Universes of infinite space. Pretty cool huh?"
"Wait, so that means when I overslept today and opened the bakery late, there is an another world where I did that right?" Pinkie asked, lost in thought.
"Yup!" Twilight said, glad that one of her lectures had gotten through to her friend.
Pinkie smiled. "Neato!" Her smile drained soon though as a thought entered her mind. "I bet that Pinkie was way less rushed today! So I guess that also means that when I stayed out at the farm... and when the young fliers, and-and...oh." Pinkie took a step back, taking in her surroundings. Twilight was staring at her, confused while she slowly started to back out of the library.
"Hey, I just remembered I have to go, but thanks for all that stuff. I'll see you later, okie dokie?" Before Twilight could respond, Pinkie was out the door.
"Pinkie, you forgot your book!" Twilight yelled after her. For all the mess it had made, Party Planning Plus, Fifth edition had to have been important to Pinkie.
She did look back, however she didn't return for it. Instead her eyes narrowed on it, before she turned and galloped off.
"Well, that was weird." Twilight said as she wandered up the library stairs up to her personal room. Once the library closed for the day, she'd have to go check on Pinkie.
Well, the rising sun from before was now sinking back into the abyss where it had came from, and no one had heard a word from Pinkie the entire day. Well, that's not entirely true. The Cakes heard her say quite a few worried mumbles before she placed her mattress next to her door effectively sound proofing and locking herself out from the world all at once.
As Twilight locked the doors of the library, she was greeted by a familiar face. Rainbow Dash flew down and perched herself on the second story of Twilight's house. This wasn't a good sign when she chose to take the high ground, Twilight had learned from experience, this was the posture of a swooping eagle, not a feathered friend.
"So, I went to call on Pinkie today. Any guesses on how that went?" she said, her tone flat.
"Not well? Is there something up with Pinkie?" Twilight asked, genuinely wanting answers.
"You tell me! She's locked in there tight, and she doesn't want out." Rainbow said, with a hint of annoyance but a lot more anger. Seeing her friends sad made her angry, but seeing Pinkie like this? It was a whole new level of not right. The only time Pinkie ever sealed herself up like this was when she got baked into cakes.
"I don't know! We were just talking about the universe, and time, and then she got weird and decided to leave.Did you try talking to her when she was there? You're good with dealing with Pinkie when she gets like this."
"Yeah, I'm good with dealing with an angry Pinkie. An angry Pinkie you can just tell to stop being stubborn and look around and get happy. You can fight an angry Pinkie. But I can't go in there and force a sobbing pony to go out and have fun."
"She's sobbing?" Twilight asked, the keys she had been levitating dropping to the ground. "Why?!"
"I have no idea, why do you think I'm here? Anyway, it doesn't matter because you're going to fix it."
"What? Wait, okay but how?"
"Well, you're going to teleport inside, and then you're going to talk to her and tell her how wrong she is about whatever is making her sad. And when that's done, tell her that I've already set up our next prank and to meet me at the library."
"Okay, I'll try my best. Do you want to come in with me?" Twilight asked.
"No, I have to stay here and get itching powder in all your scarves for doing this in the first place. Anyway, philosophy and such isn't exactly my strength." With a nod, Twilight turned to Sugarcube Corner, the prank barely registering in her mind as she focused on what mattered.
"Oh, Twilight one thing." Rainbow called out to her leaving friend. "Be careful in there. Pinkie's a scatterbrain, but when that brain stops scattering its for a reason. I don't want two friends locked in a dark room crying."
Twilight gulped. "I know. I'm actually a bit scared about what she's going to say. What if she's right about whatever it is?"
"She's not. Just remember the one truth I've found out in the universe." Rainbow said with a smirk. "'Pinkie should be happy.' If she's not, then something isn't right. So fix it."
It truly was a dark room for so early in the evening. When Twilight teleported inside she felt like she was in a diamond dog tunnel. However, her minor flash when she appeared was like Celestia had lowered the sun into her room for Pinkie's sensitive eyes. With a terrified yelp she jumped up and promptly collapsed in a cluster of hooves. As twilight adjusted to the dark, Pinkie slowly and grimly looked up at her friend.
"Oh, hi Twilight. I'm not exactly taking gu-guests today," Pinkie said as she stifled her sobs, "so if its okay I was hoping to spend today by myself." She said weakly, looking up on top of her various comforters and blankets adorning the floor. Her room didn't look to different from before, but the windows were all covered now, her mattress covered her door and she was lying on the ground now. She wasn't sobbing like Dash had said, but her puffy eyes made it clear that she had been not too long ago. Possibly up til Twilight's entrance.
"Pinkie, I'm sure this is already one of the 72 places you've been before," Twilight said, deciding this scenario was too serious as it was for a normal Pinkie chat. "If you stay in here all day you'll never reach 100, let alone the rest." Twilight slowly approached her friend, carefully so as to not spook her. "What's up?" Twilight said as she put her hoof around Pinkie's slumped shoulder.
"Everything." Pinkie solemnly stated. "Everything is looking up for old Pinks. I'm working in a pastry shop, living with my five best friends and having a new adventure every day! Did you hear that Mrs. Cake is pregnant yet? I'm going to have a foal walking through the bakery, how exciting is that going to be every day? I couldn't be happier!" Pinkie sniffled, shaking a little as she leaned on Twilight. Pinkie's optimism felt like the smell of fresh pie coming off a heap of garbage to Twilight. It just didn't add up.
"To be frank Pinkie, It looks like you could be a lot happier."
"Oh no, The only thing I could be is sadder. Like if I never met you guys, I would be really sad. Or If when I woke up late, what if the cakes fired me? Then I'd be sad. Or what if the floor gave out and I fell all the way downstairs? That would really hurt!" Pinkie said, turning to look Twilight in the eyes.
"Well, yes that would be unfortunate..." Twilight said, unsure of what Pinkie was getting at.
"But that's just the tip of the iceberg Twi! What about when Rarity fell out of the sky and Rainbow caught her? What If Rainbow was just a second too late? What if she hit the ground too? What if they didn't make it?"
"Pinkie! You can't think like that!" Twilight said, but Pinkie shoved her off and began pacing, her mouth frantically listing off everything she feared.
"Or when Nightmare moon came back! Or what about if that Dragon that we scared off just looked Fluttershy right in the eyes, opened his mouth and-"
"Pinkie!" Twilight cut off her friend, shaking her head in a futile attempt to shake out the image. " Pinkie, you don't have to worry about any of that. They're all just possibilities, 'what ifs'! They didn't happen."
"To me." Pinkie said, quietly and still. "None of this happened to me. But every time something good happens to me, every day my life," Pinkie paused as she stumbled for the right word," works out, There is another Pinkie who has to watch the opposite unfold." She said, eyes wet and desperate.
Twilight had to stop, this was what she feared would happen; Pinkie would have a point. In fact, Pinkie didn't even grasp the scope of her realization. It wasn't just one alternate universe, there was infinite Pinkie's living like that if modern science was correct. Maybe a new reality for every blade of grass, a new world whenever the wind changed. And each one, possible pure lament and sorrow.
"And what did I do to deserve any of this? All those Pinkie's are just like me! I'm nothing special, but everything worked out for me. Why should I be happy when they all have to deal with the opposite of every decision I made right?"
For a second Twilight paused, before Rainbow Dash's words echoed in her head.
"Because Pinkie...they'd want you to."
The earth was ash underneath her hooves, the sky black and crackling in lightening. As Pinkie wandered through the deadlands in front of her, she approached the shell where the library used to be, the last building that still stood as far as Pinkie could see. Canterlot was either behind the clouds or had fallen long ago.
However in this eternal twilight, Pinkie grabbed her tattered blanket and snuggled up into bed with a smile. A smile she kept every night for when she dreamed, one that infinite Pinkie's shared throughout the cosmos. Pinkie lay in her bed, imagining how things could have been. How she'd spend the day playing with her friends and not scavenging for food. How Equestria used to be, and how it was the most beautiful place she ever knew. She'd dream she made sugary treats every day, and that everybody she saw left her with a smile. And she knew that somewhere out there, things turned out okay for her.
And because of that, Pinkie kept on smiling. Because, all she ever wanted was to make others smile, one way or another.