//------------------------------// // Remembrance and Realisation // Story: There Was Going To Be Cake // by MarkKB //------------------------------// Smokey puffs of ashen cloud drifted over the pale-blue sky, curling and swirling streams of white and grey before fading into the ether. Sometimes they would make familiar shapes and objects, some reminiscent of party streamers or balloons on long tethers of twine. Pinkamina Diane Pie looked up and sighed – reminders of a happier time were things she did not need. The reason for the name 'Pinkamina Diane' was twofold – first, it was her birth name, given to her by her parents in honour of Diane, her grandmother, and Pinkamina, her aunt. 'Pinkie' was a shortening of the name, one she had chosen because it felt cheery and light and fun – but now, Pinkamina felt none of those things. She was now on the outskirts of Ponyville, if you could say a small town like Ponyville had outskirts – it was more like a rural farmland that purveyed the landscape for miles. It was maybe another kilometre or two to the train station, although she could see the wisps from the engine already. She looked from farmyard to farmyard, just taking in the scenery – all the fascinating sights and sounds. In one, puffy sheep brayed and whispered to and reassured each other of the coming night; in another, cornstalks swayed to the beat of the wind. Yellow bales of hay on a rusty starch-coloured hill lay in a third, and on a forth, somepony was driving a plough through a field of dirt, leaving in their wake straight furrows, perfectly aligned and awaiting the seeds that they'd eventually receive. Although it had been many years since she'd walked down this road, she could not shake the feeling of familiarity, although it was a rather vague feeling at best. It seemed that, even if she could not remember things specifically, somewhere in her head something was recognising the scenes she saw before her. Before her she could see the roof of a silo, just peeking out from behind a depression in the land ahead. The feeling of familiarity was much stronger here, although she still could not place her hoof on it, nor could she answer the question 'why would a silo seem important?' It was only when she reached the edge of the depression that the answer came to her. Before her lay a field, much like the others in some ways, but most peculiar in others. Just like many of them, the otherwise exposed dirt was absolutely covered in a crop of some description, and like many others there was a small, two-story house and a silo for storing tools. The way it differed, however, was in the kind of crop it offered. The soil in this farm, you see, was absolutely perfect for growing rocks. Rock-growing soil was very difficult to maintain, and one must keep the space clear, otherwise it became difficult to harvest. Well, one should probably say more difficult, because rock picking was difficult enough without the complications. It was for these reasons that most ponies did not grow their own rocks, even the farmers among them – and it was in this area that the Pie family had carved a niche for themselves. And it was that very silo in which she had thrown her very first party. This was it. This was my home! Pinkamina took off, almost loosing Gummy in the process; at an almost unmaintainable gallop, she rushed down the bank of the depression and across the field of rocks, very nearly stumbling to a pratfall several times. She leapt onto the veranda, bounded across the wooden floor, and knocked on the door several times, hoping to give whoever answered a big, welcoming surprise. But no one answered. "Ma, Pa! It's Pinkamina!" She banged on it louder – perhaps it hadn't been loud enough? But still nothing stirred. She tried one last time, hitting the door as hard as she could. It must have been too hard, for the door fell to the floor before her, thrusting a puff of dust into the air. "Ma? Pa?" The interior was dim and dark. A flutter of something caught Pinkamina's attention; she looked to it and saw that it had been a sheet covering a small comfy-chair. In fact, looking around revealed that much of the furniture had the same white sheets covering them, and everything had been coated in a layer of dust. Outcroppings of stone burst through the floor, cracking and splintering the fine woodwork into something that looked rather fragile indeed. She looked back at the field, and the truth that she had not seen in her rush to see her family revelled itself – rather than isolated rocks with plenty of room to breathe, the entire field was covered in a jagged rock floor. The veranda also had rocks bursting through the surface, and even the silo had a stone or two breaking through its concrete walls. This place had obviously not been tended for quite some time. The bitter disappointment that she had been feeling brimmed to the surface once more, and this time it was her family added to the growing list of things she could no longer rely on. She sighed, and looked to the sky, where the puffs of smoke from the train still hang in the air. It was growing dark, and by the time she'd reach the train yard it would be night. In Ponyville, she felt – had felt – safe to roam the streets by night, but she did not know if there were any unsavoury folks in this part of Equestria. It was probably for the best that she sheltered for the night, and went to the train station in the early morning instead. Slowly, she wandered across the field of rocks, until she reached the tall silo. Not without some difficulty, she pushed the door of the silo open, walked inside, placed her kerchief down, and lay on the bare concrete floor. Gummy hopped off of her mane and snuggled beside her cheek. At least there was someone she could rely on. If a passer-by were to, whatever reason, put their ear to the door of the silo, they would have sworn that they could hear a soft, sombre sobbing coming from the abandoned building, as if the ghost of a child had moved in instead. But Pinkamina would never admit to such a thing – even in her darkest moments, she would never want to make anyone unnecessarily worry about her. She could take care of herself. Worrying, however, was exactly what her friends were doing. "Rainbow Dash!" exclaimed Twilight, as the cyan-coloured pegasus landed gracefully through the open door of the barn at Sweet Apple Acres. "Any word on-" Rainbow Dash shook her head, her multi-coloured mane swaying with her movements. "I looked everywhere! Neither of the Cakes have seen her since this morning, and she's definitely not in her room. I-" "Did you check in with her brother and sister?" asked Twilight. "Yes, Twilight. I just can't-" "What about the park?" "Yes, Twilight, but-" "She's not at Fluttershy's, is she?" "No, and besides, Fluttershy would have run into her when she went to feed her chickens-" "What about-" Rainbow Dash sighed. "Trust me, when I say I checked everywhere, I mean everywhere! As far as I can tell, she's not in Ponyville anymore." Twilight frowned. "You don't think she had some kind of appointment somewhere else?" "If she did, she didn't mention it to anyone. And besides, why would she schedule a party on the same day?" "Well, not everypony is very good at organising," said Twilight. "Still, you'd think even Pinkie wouldn't miss something quite as obvious." "Especially on her birthday," agreed Rainbow Dash. "Heya, fellas," announced a voice from the door of the barn, and Twilight and Rainbow Dash turned to see an amber-coloured pony enter the room. "Any news on Pinkie Pie?" "Hey, Applejack," said Twilight. "No, I'm afraid not." "Y'all don't recon she's, uh, upset?" Applejack asked hesitantly. "We did kinda blow her off and everythin', and you saw how she was with Rainbow Dash." "Trust me, I've known Pinkie as long as anypony," said Rainbow Dash, "and there's not been a single thing that's made Pinkie upset. She's been as perky every day as the day I met her." Silence hung in the air for a moment, emphasising Pinkie's state of not-being there. And then Twilight had an idea. "Uh, I'd hate to bring this up," she said nervously, "but what if she was… well, kidnapped?" "Kidnapped!?" Rainbow Dash shook her head. "Nopony would do that-" "No-one in Ponyville, sure," said Twilight, "but not everywhere is like Ponyville, and you know how Pinkie reacts when she meets someone new. If they walked in to town and Pinkie greeted them, then-" "You're overthinking things, Twi," said Applejack. "For now, let's assume that wherever she is, she went there under her own horsepower. If we don't find her by night's end tomorrow, then we can start worrying." "I hope you're right," said Twilight, staring out at the ever-darkening sky. "I really hope you're right." Spike yawned, stretched his arms and leaned back in the chair he was sitting. He had just awoken from what he had initially thought was a short nap, although if the sky was any indication it had been much longer than that – it was already nighttime. There were still a few gems left on the plate before him, although they had been displaced by his sleeping mug. He could always eat those later, he decided – there were a small enough group that he could carry them with ease. Why hadn't Pinkie Pie woken him up? She knew Twilight had a strict curfew in place for him, and- Wait, Pinkie Pie! He went to get up, but as he took his feet off of the table, the chair destabilised and fell, sending him barrelling backwards until he ran into the wall, upside down. He rolled himself forwards and stood up, rubbing his head as he did. Sometimes it paid to be a dragon, and the tougher exterior was one of those advantages. He ran down the stairs and through the store, almost bumping into Mrs. Cake as she was leaving for the night. "Oh, Spike, dear!" Mrs. Cake said. "You haven't seen-" "Sorry, nice to see you, can't stop, gotta run!" Spike shouted hurriedly. He did not stop until he reached the library. "Oh, Spike, is that you?" came Twilight's voice from upstairs, as Spike slammed the door shut. "I've been looking all over for you – you haven't seen Pinkie, have you? Anyway, I need to send a letter to-" Spike couldn't take it any longer - all of his fears began rushing out of his mouth at once. "IthinkImighthavemadePinkiePieleaveandifIdidthenI'mreallyreallysorrybut-" "What was that?" Twilight's purple head poked out from the study on the upper floor. "Okay." He took a deep breath. "Pinkie Pie invited me over for some lunch – only before the lunch, she got really weird. Like she was interrogating me or something. You know, like how they do on N.E.C.I.S when the old guy locks him and the perp in-" "I get the picture," said Twilight, walking down the stairs. "Although – aren't you a little young to be watching that show?" "Uh- well- I just saw the trailers?" "Very well," she said, smiling a little as if she didn't quite believe him. "Continue." "I figured that she was playing some kind of game or something – you know how Pinkie is like with games – but then she got kind of, well, scary." "Scary?" "She started yelling stuff at me – like confess! I kinda panicked, so I asked her to tell me what she wanted me to say, and, well…" Twilight raised her eyebrow. "Don't tell me this is going where I think it's going. Pinkie Pie wouldn't-" "I'm sorry! I didn't think of it at the time, I just kinda repeated what she said! I didn't-" Twilight looked at Spike very closely with one eye, as if she was trying to see into his very soul. "What did she say, Spike." It wasn't a question. It was a demand. "Uh- that her friends have been ignoring her and won't come to her parties because they don't want to be her friends anymore?" Spike shivered and braced, but Twilight just sighed and looked away. "Oh, Spike." She looked back up. "What happened after that?" "Well, she gave me the gems, and then she put a few things into a handkerchief and she kinda, well, left." "But surely she didn't… leave leave? Maybe she just went to get some fresh air, or have a picnic or something." "That's what I thought too – it gets kind of stuffy up there. But then I fell asleep, and when I woke up it was already night." "Pinkie knows you have a curfew," said Twilight, echoing his earlier thoughts. "Exactly! And then all the pieces fell into place, why she'd been asking all those weird questions, and then I remembered what she asked me to tell her and – please don't ask Princess Celestria to send me to the moon!" "What? Why would I-" "Sweet Luna, what am I talking about? She doesn't need you to tell her, she probably already knows! I'll be banished to the moon where I'll be all alone and I won't see anypony ever again and I'll have nothing to eat but moon rocks! And moon rocks taste terrible!" "You've eaten moon rocks before?" "No, but something had to have made Nightmare Moon so cranky when you ran into her!" Twilight giggled into her hoof a bit. "Please don't make her send me to the moon, I'm begging you!" He got down onto his knees, mustered the saddest look he could, and clasped his hands together. "Pleeeeaaas-" "I'm not going to ask Princess Celestria to send you to the moon," said Twilight. "You made a mistake. You're still pretty young, you're allowed to make mistakes." She narrowed her eyes with determination. "But we still have to find Pinkie. Spike, take a letter." "You're not going to tell her about me, are you?" "I'm writing a letter asking for Princess Celestria to send over their best search-and-rescue teams," said Twilight. "She could be in the Everfree Forest, and Rainbow Dash wants to lead a search there." "Why not ask for the Wonderbolts – they could probably cover the ground faster." 'Spike, Pinkie or not, you know how Rainbow Dash gets around the Wonderbolts," said Twilight. "No, we have to send someone who she won't go starstruck over." "Alright," said Spike. "So, you won't tell her?" Twilight smiled. "Of course not. I'll leave that up to you to write about, if and when you choose to do so." "Thanks," Spike grinned, then picked up a piece of parchment. "So, Dear Princess Celestria?" "Right," said Twilight. "Our dear friend Pinkie Pie is missing-" Spike breathed a sigh of relief to himself. At least Twilight had understood him. But he was also worried. Where could have Pinkie Pie gone? Could she be lost, frightened, alone? Could she be, at this moment, cowering beneath some beast of the night, all because of him? We'll find you, he said to himself as he wrote what Twilight dictated. Don't worry, Pinkie Pie - we'll find you.