Pinkie Pie bounced along her way with a big grin on her face as he made her daily rounds. She waved to Cheerilee as she was on her way to the schoolhouse. She bought a bouquet of flowers from Rose and gave them to Cranky Doodle Donkey who was on his way to breakfast at the cafe with Matilda. And she told a joke she was working on for a few days to Derpy, who laughed long and hard despite barely comprehending it.
Soon she came upon the first human friend of the day, Kris, whistling a somewhat happy tune. She thanked her luck on account of having an important message to give to him. “Happy birthday, Kris! Can you tell me what kind of par- HURK!” Pinkie was suddenly lying flat on the ground, her eye black and stinging, and her head spinning. Every surrounding pony and even several humans were staring in shock at what happened, especially at Kris, who lowered his raised fist and continued down his way, grumbling.
Maxine von Wrinkle, who was sitting on a nearby bench reading the newspaper, sighed and moved to help the dazed Pinkie Pie back up. “Pinkie, my dear, are you okay?”
Pinkie stood unsteadily on her hooves and gave Maxine an unfocused look, tiny imaginary Pinkies bouncing around her head. “Happy Birthday… Happy Birthday… Happy Birthday…” Maxine stood ready to catch her if she fell, giving her a few more moments to collect herself. Then, Pinkie suddenly stood a lot more steady and shook her head before holding a hoof to her bruised face. “Oh… Madame… von Wrinkle? What hit me? I can’t remember a thing!”
Maxine held her finger out to Pinkie and traced a circle of red magic over her injured eye. This emanation formed into what vaguely looked like a pair of clock hands and some ethereal gears, which started spinning at an increased speed until the bruise faded. “I’m afraid you said the worst possible thing to young Kris and wished him a happy birthday. He’s sworn to sock anyone in the face who even mentions his birthday, especially on the day of his birthday.”
Pinkie Pie looked weirded out. “Oh…kay… Is that some kind of human thing? Because we might need to have a talk about that with the Princess!”
At this, Maxine sighed and shook her head. “No, it’s just him. You see, young master Duelis hates his birthday more than anything.”
At that, Pinkie made a deep gasp and stumbled backwards on her back hooves, falling onto her back. Then she sat up and wildly flung her front hooves in the air. “Hates his birthday? HOW COULD ANYPONY HATE THEIR OWN BIRTHDAY?”
Maxine held out her hand and gestured down the way. “I’m afraid that’s a rather long story. Tell you what, I’ll tell the story at Sugarcube Corner over a half-dozen cupcakes as recompense for my junior’s unwarranted assault.”
Pinkie suddenly hopped to her hooves with a big smile. “Make it three dozen, and you’ve got yourself a deal!”
***
As Mr. Carrot Cake left the table after having set down the tray with the pile of cupcakes, Madam von Wrinkle was picking at the wrapping paper of her first and Pinkie Pie was shoving her fifth into her mouth.
“You see, for all his young life, young Kris was never not part of the Prancing Pony guild. Even during the so-called good times, it happened a lot more often than any of us care to admit; whoever bore him more than likely couldn’t take care of him for what could be many reasons, so he was left at our guild hall’s doorstep in a basket and bundle of blankets.
“After that, we filled out some paperwork and adopted him as a ward of our guild. The ones most suited to each role nurtured him, provided for him, educated him, and trained him to use his magic and fight. When he was old enough, he joined the guild in full as an apprentice and eventually made friends with the other children signed up as apprentices that would eventually become known as the Brave Six.”
Pinkie Pie finally swallowed, burped very loudly, and wiped the crumbs and frosting from her face with her hoof. “Okay, that all sounds pretty good so far. I don’t see what he has to complain about.”
Maxine padded her face of crumbs with a pocket kerchief and placed to the side the folded cupcake wrapper. “Well, that’s from your perspective. Young Kris has another way of viewing it. Eventually, we had to tell him how he came to us and why. He viewed it as that he was just simply abandoned, discarded for being useless. It severely impacted his ability to form positive emotional bonds with others.
“My guess is that he saw it as that if it’s easy enough for one to just abandon their own child, then any kind of loving relationship must be extremely fragile and ultimately temporary. The closure of the Guild certainly didn’t make this outlook any better. In order to avoid pain, he closed off his wounded heart to everyone.
“Even after spending the remainder of his youth with me and always being told he could stay as long as he needed, he just left without a word as soon as he came of age. His lifestyle as a lone champion didn’t give him many opportunities to heal. Reconnecting with his closest friends and coming up here definitely allowed him to make great progress, but it’s definitely going to take him time to get over his issues, and he has many. Chief among his issues is great anguish at the mere mention of his birthday.”
After a moment lost in recollection, she looked back up at Pinkie Pie, and remained stoic at her excessively grief-stricken expression. Eventually, Pinkie could no longer contain herself and started wailing, a waterfall of tears spraying from each eye. She paused briefly to shovel several more cupcakes in her mouth, maintaining her expression. After swallowing, she returned to her cry and repeated these actions a couple more times.
Sniffling, Pinkie Pie regained enough composure to speak. “I’m sorry, but that’s just… the saddest story I’ve ever heard! He always seems so strong and confident, but inside, he’s in so much pain!”
Maxine awkwardly looked away as she took another cupcake in hand. “Yes, well, don’t tell him that to his face. He’ll probably just think you’re patronizing him instead of offering sympathy and won’t take it well. And he certainly won’t take it well if he finds out I told you all this.”
Pinkie Pie wiped her face of food residue and fluids and suddenly got a determined look, holding a hoof in the air. “Thank you for telling me this, Madam von Wrinkle! This is no time for treats and crying! I’ve got a big birthday party to plan!”
Before Maxine could even think of saying anything, Pinkie had already zoomed out of the bakery’s swinging doors. Maxine could only sigh as she placed another folded wrapper to the side. “This probably won’t end well. I just wish someone would just call me Maxine for once.”
A few hours later, after Kris had completed his stroll to clear his head and think about anything but his birthday, he made his way back to the Everfree encampment, specifically to its soon-to-be-famous hanging bazaar for a hot drink. However, he was put slightly on-edge after seeing that all the windows and the main entryway were all dark. “Is the place closed? I probably would have heard something about it. Plus, they probably would have drawn the curtain and taken down the ‘welcome’ sign.”
He warily crossed the threshold into the bazaar proper, keeping his guard up like the seasoned warrior he was. However, nothing could have prepared him for what he’d experience next.
All the lights suddenly erupted on and the crowd previously hidden in the darkness erupted in cheers, human and pony alike wearing party hats, blowing party horns, and carrying platters of cake. “Happy birthday Kris!” A banner emblazoned with the same statement hung overhead among streamers and balloons.
Pinkie Pie bounced up to the dumbstruck Kris, offering a corner piece of the cake she personally made. “I threw this extra-special party just for you, Kris! Just to show you how much we all love and appreciate you, forever and ever!”
Pinkie Pie stood there waiting for the outburst of joy she expected, used to ponies taking a minute to realize exactly how they feel. Kris, however, saw the whole thing differently than Pinkie expected.
First, all the bright colors just started blurring together, then all the noise of the party started muffling as the only thing Kris could hear was the sound of his own heavy breathing and pounding heartbeat. Then, terror filled his mind as he began losing his balance, the muscles in all of his limbs trembling.
The previously oblivious Pinkie abruptly dropped her smile as she immediately noticed that something was very, very wrong. She tried to come to his aid, dropping the cake, as he started wobbling on his feet and collapsed onto the ground. “Kris, are you-” but when she tried to get closer, Kris screamed and swept out his arm at her, sending her reeling as the front tip of her mane was sliced off by a faint ethereal blade.
After this display, the atmosphere died very quickly. Even the music stopped with a stereotypical scratch of the record. After a minute, Kris’s breathing steadied and he managed to stand back up. But after seeing everyone staring at him and what he’d done to Pinkie, he got a look of both great humiliation and shame. “Um… Uh… Ishouldgo…!”
Kris whirled around and raced out of the bazaar’s entryway. Pinkie suddenly looked worried and guilty as she tried to chase after Kris. “Kris! Wait! It’s okay! IT’S ALL MY FAULT!”
Even after making it out onto the bazaar’s deck, she’d totally lost sight of her friend. She gave off a depressed sigh and held her head low, her mane much less voluminous and her coat several shades paler.
“Well, that went much better than I expected.”
Pinkie Pie’s ears stood erect at the familiar sarcastic voice. “Alphonse? ‘Better’? What do you mean?” She stared at her close human friend as he stepped out of the shadows, but he wasn’t the only one. All five of the close human friends she and her friends made in Core Metro came out of hiding, all wearing somber expressions.
Percival, this time adopting the visage of Alphonse, held their hand out to Pinkie. “Sorry for not showing up, Pinkie, but when we heard about this little surprise of yours, we decided to wait and see how it would turn out.”
Wilda sniffed and scratched his beard. “We were kind of hoping this might have been good for him. This brand new world we’re all living in has done wonders for the mental health of countless other humans, but it seems that old wounds, especially wounds on the heart, run deep.”
Trace crossed his arms and looked away. “We talked it over and decided that the best thing to do would be to wait and see from a distance in case our presence would have put unnecessary pressure on our friend. If things would have gone well, we could have just come in and shared the joy. If things would have gone badly, we could have stopped our friend from doing anything he’d regret later. Thankfully, it wasn’t as bad as we’d anticipated.”
Sloop tipped his hat up and gave a nonchalant laugh. “If it makes it any better, I’ll personally reimburse you for what you spent on this party and what Kris did to your lovely mane.”
Pinkie Pie quickly regained herself and got another determined but slightly softer expression. “No. I’ve been making bad decisions all day, approaching this problem with Kris all the wrong ways! I’m going to give it one last try, throw one more party, an extra-super-special party just for Kris!”
Alphonse looked sympathetic, but made a condescending scoff. “Really? You say you’ve learned your lesson, but after everything that’s happened, you want to have another party?”
Pinkie spun around and pointed her hoof at her sourpuss friend with a confident look. “You bet your sweet bon-bons I do! And here’s how I’m going to do it…!”
She started consulting the group of friends, asking questions and further inquiring about the answers she got. The more she talked, the more she started bringing them around. Even Alphonse could only nod in approval with wide eyes.
***
Hours after the party had gone wrong and the sun began to set in the sky, Kris violently vented his stress and anxiety at the everfree dumpsite as he gave out a loud holler each time he slashed apart a large piece or pile of garbage. Since the fungus elementals were just going to use their magic to reduce the whole thing to a biodegradable sludge anyway, he figured it wouldn’t be any harm.
The exercises left him so sensitized that he immediately recognized that he wasn’t alone, with several new presences encroaching upon him. He quickly struck a stance and held out his ethereal sword. “Whoever’s there, I want you to know that I’m a top-class warrior and I’ve been having a really bad day! So come out where I can see you!”
With a combination of surprise and morbid assurance, he saw Pinkie Pie slowly come out from behind a wall of rubbish wearing a sentimental look. He dematerialized his weapon, but maintained his defensive posture. “Pinkie? Look, I’m very sorry about how rough I’ve treated you today, but I’m not like you ponies! Humans have things called boundaries, and if these boundaries aren’t respected, the ones that violate them are guaranteed some powerful hurt!”
Pinkie maintained her distance, but tried to keep an open posture. “I know that now, but I can’t just leave you like this! Especially since I was the one that triggered this whole mess! So I talked with your friends and they agree that I should have one last chance to make this a day worth enjoying for you!”
Kris raised an eyebrow in apprehension, but Pinkie Pie gestured with her hoof to signal a few more figures to come out of their hiding places that left Kris aghast. Recognizable among them was Maxine von Wrinkle and Boros Noxus in casual wear, but these were followed by a few more humans that took even the endlessly persistent Pinkie great effort to find. A hunched over man with long gray hair wearing a fuzzy fur cloak and top hat using a short but oversized key as a walking stick, a large woman with voluminous brown hair and freckles dressed in a thick white smock, a short but incredibly muscular old man with a long pale-blond beard and a large-malletted sledgehammer hoisted over his back dressed in cloth shorts and a leather apron, and a short middle-aged woman with brown curls wearing a white apron and carrying a cooking knife hanging from her hip in a leather sheath.
Kris’s eyes were wide, but it took him a minute to drop his defensive stance and approach the group. “Madam von Wrinkle and Master Noxus? Locke Enki, the Prancing Pony fiduciary? Lynette Everbright, the guild hall’s chief healer? Ezekiel Aereus, the senior craft master? And Kera Bol, the guild hall canteen cook?”
He then turned to look at Pinkie Pie. “How did you track down the Prancing Pony guild senior staff?”
“Why so formal, you nimrod? These guys are basically you’re parents, right? Raised you, fed you, loved you, made you who you are, right?”
Kris swung around his head, trying to locate the source of the familiar taunting voice. Out from behind more piles of semi-eviscerated garbage emerged Kris’s closest childhood friends. Sitting on top of a rusty refrigerator, Alphonse laughed sarcastically and scratched his nose. “Don’t be so shocked, dear friend. Like I said before, you cut yourself off! All of us kept in contact after the guild closed, but that’s besides the point…”
He hopped off his seat and approached Kris. “I consider myself a rather tolerant person. I might complain a lot, but for the most part I’ll let people’s bad points be their own business if it doesn’t affect me. But I just have to speak up about this little self-loathing complex you have. I know you were badly hurt, and I won’t be as tactless just to tell you to get over it, but you can’t start healing unless you take each step yourself. But I want you to know that all of us are more than willing to ease the burden however we can.”
At this, Kris started looking down and fidgeting with his hands. Then, he took a deep breath and walked up to Pinkie Pie. “I just want to say… Thank you. Especially after I pretty much spent the entire day brutalizing you. I can’t say I’m ready and willing to put everything behind me yet, but now I think I’m ready to sincerely start that thousand-mile journey ahead of me.”
He then gave a small smile at her, which made Pinkie break out in a big smile. “It’s what I’m here for! C’mon everyone! There’s still a bit of cake and punch back at the bazaar!”