DING!
The loud sharp sound of the register rang throughout the bakery. In any given situation, sound of a cash register dinging meant another sale. At Sugar Cube Corner, it meant many other things as well. To Mr. and Mrs. Cake, it meant more income and more satisfied customers. To the young pink baker that worked under them however, it meant that soon somepony would be enjoying another delectable treat, freshly baked and made with love. It gave her great joy in being able to supply Ponyville with such fine baking. And when allowed to, she loved to run the register to see all the ponies that would chow down on her homemade pastries.
This time, somepony would be enjoying a dozen freshly baked Cinnamon Buns, glazed with delicious icing. It took all Pinkie had not to drool all over the pastries, let alone eat them right there. But, she managed to control herself enough to have the pleasure of letting somepony else experience the magic. Wrapping the Cinnamon buns into a brown paper bag, Pinkie Pie handed them off to her orange and white customer.
“Here ya go!” Pinkie cheered with the brightest smile on her face. The orange pony nodded in thanks, taking the bag between her teeth. She threw the buns in her saddle bag and began to leave. As she walked away, Pinkie waved and said goodbye.
“Bye, be sure to com-buh-laht!”
Both ponies went silent and froze in place. The white maned pony turned back gave her a look of confusion. Pinkie just stood there just as confused, tongue hanging out. Nopony said anything for a bit. Surprised at her mouth, Pinkie tried again.
“Be sure to come bal-tuh-nah… Be sha-tah-kauh!”
The awkwardness continued to rise as Pinkie continued to flub her words. Although they were the only two ponies in the room, it became increasingly weird for everypony.
Finally, Pinkie decided to just cover her mouth. Giving an embarrassed smile, she simply said, “Bye.”
Marking it off as just Pinkie being Pinkie, the orange mare rolled her eyes and walked away. Once she had left, Pinkie checked her mouth. She stuck out her tongue and looked. It didn’t move, but she knew it would soon. After a second or two, it began to tickle and twitch violently. Her whole head shook along with it. Seriousness appeared in her eyes as she put her tongue back in its place. She knew what was going on.
Stepping outside of the bakery, she checked around. There was nopony except a very confused white and orange pony running away. Pinkie continued to check around the building, walking around the bakery until she came across the only other ponies in the vicinity: three little fillies. The trio sat in the grass behind the building. The first one was a yellow earth pony with a big pink bow in her bright red mane. The second one was white with a small horn protruding from her forehead, indicating she was unicorn. The third and final filly was orange with small feathered wings that were fully extended as the three of them talked.
Pinkie instantly recognized them: the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Three little fillies that banded together on a quest to gain their cutie marks and discover who they really are. In other words, do anything they wanted to do and label their excuse as trying to find their cutie marks. Although they hadn’t noticed her yet, Pinkie continued to stare. Her intense stare grew angrier. She didn’t say anything yet; she just watched them closely. Listening intently, she heard their conversation.
“And the next thing I knew, I was flat out on the ground and my scooter was #%&$ed up in a tree!” muttered the disgruntled Scootaloo.
“Sounds like your weekend wasn’t any #%&$ing good,” AppleBloom concurred. She and Sweetie Belle shook their heads sadly at their friend’s misfortune.
Scootaloo kick her hoof in the dirt. “Yeah. The #%&$ was I thinking, though? That ramp was way too short and that hill was way too #%&$ing small.” She put a hoof to her chin in thought. “Need a bigger one…”
That was it. That was enough for Pinkie. Her stare grew even more intense and her mouth muscles contracted into a vicious snarl. She stared until her eyes were practically digging into the back of their skulls. In a very un-Pinkie like manner, she marched right up to the three of them. No jumping, no hopping, no surprising come-out-of-nowhere scare; just a straightforward march. As she approached them, they noticed the older pony and greeted her.
“Hello, Pinkie!”
“Hey!”
“Hi.”
“Hello, girls…” she growled in a rather aggressive manner. The three fillies fell silent at the strange greeting. They were confused. Everything about Pinkie seemed very wrong and very scary. Her hair wasn’t deflated or anything, but she was still giving off a creepy vibe. Had they done something wrong?
Looking into their innocent and scared little eyes, Pinkie’s expression changed from one of anger to disappointment. Pinkie’s next actions could give Rarity’s dramatic performances a run for their money: “Tsk tsk. Oh, you poor young and impressionable children!” She scooped up the children in her arms and gave them a squeeze. “What horrible and most dastardly villain hast taught you the foul vocabulary that hast fallen upon your tongues? Woe is me that you shall betray my trust and fall to such sinful language!”
The three fillies just stayed in silence, stuck in Pinkie’s arms. They blinked. Nopony said anything until, unanimously, they spoke:
“What?”
Pinkie’s eyes fell upon the three fillies in her arms. She released them quickly and they dropped to the ground with a thud. Dropping her intenseness, Pinkie sighed and tried a much more straight forward approach. “I mean, you shouldn’t be going around saying bad words like that!”
Confusion was still plastered to their faces. “What words?” asked Sweetie Belle in the most innocent and sweet voice.
Pinkie was taken aback for a second, quite a remarkable task to accomplish. “That…word! You know!” Pinkie tried desperately not to say it herself. What sort of an example would that be? “That word. The word you were just saying!” Did they really not know?
“Ya mean #%&$?” said AppleBloom loudly. She watched as Pinkie’s eyes grew large and her tongue twitched again.
“YESTHATWORD!” Pinkie screamed very loudly and very quickly. Quickly followeing her outburst, Pinkie hunched down and covered her mouth with her hoof, as well as AppleBloom’s. And Sweetie Belle’s. And Scootaloo’s. All at once. There was the Pinkie Pie they all knew and loved. Silence was forced upon the four ponies. They continued to keep quiet even after Pinkie removed her hooves from their mouths.
“You shouldn’t say words like that. Where did you learn it anyways?”
Sweetie Belle answered that one. “Scootaloo picked it up when she was hangin’ out with Rainbow Dash.”
Scootaloo blushed when the attention was turned to her. “Heh. Well, it wasn’t so much hanging out, as much as it was following her around.” she said sheepishly.
Pinkie shook her head. She should have known. They had no idea what they were saying was wrong. How could they? If your hero was saying ‘cool’ things, why wouldn’t you want to? But they had to know the truth.
“Girls, you really shouldn’t say things like that. It’s a very bad word!” She tried to say it as seriously as Pinkie Pie could be.
At this, the girls’ reactions varied. Sweetie Belle covered her mouth in shock. They were doing wrong? For shame! AppleBloom actually did look slightly ashamed; like she knew what they were doing was wrong. But Scootaloo seemed indifferent, or rather, unimpressed.
“So what? Dashie uses it all the time. How bad can it be?” she said.
Pinkie hesitated with her response. She put a hoof to her chin and aimed her eyes down in thought. How could she get the point across? She had to let them know the dangers of swearing. But how?
It’s like punching people but with your mouth? She thought. Okay, not really. That would be biting which isn’t that bad although I guess it could be in some cases, but that’s not the point, the point is you’re hurting people!
She continued to argue with herself while Sweetie Belle began to wonder if Scootaloo had broken Pinkie or something. Quite a feat…
Well, how did I learn it was wrong? Pinkie asked herself. She remembered how many years ago, she learned firsthand just how harmful it could be. What a time that was… Wait. Maybe…That’s it!
A smile crept across Pinkie’s face. She snapped her head back up and looked into each of the fillies’ eyes. Her smile grew as she sat her butt down on the ground. They knew that something important was happening. Pinkie almost never sat down normally. They listened intently.
“Girls, gather ‘round! I’m going to tell you all about the first time I ever learned about swear words.” She announced. Then her attitude became serious. “And you know what? It wasn’t a pleasant one…”
It was June, a few days after the beginning of summer. A few hours ago, the sun had begun its ascent into the sky over a barren wasteland that had been dubbed a ‘Rock Farm’. In said farm, there stood a small settlement of buildings. A house, a silo and a windmill were the only things not made of rock that could be seen. In front of the house, two young sisters stood waiting.
“Come, on Blinkie. Hurry up or we’re going without you!” called one filly. She had a coat of light gray and a mane of darker gray. Her mane fell straight down and covered her right eye. Strapped across her back was a small saddle bag, one just enough to carry some money and other small items.
A voice came from inside the house, “Coming!”
As she had told the Cutie Mark Crusaders before, Pinkie Pie grew up on a rock farm with her parents and her two sisters. Every day they would farm rocks. It was difficult and unpleasant, and there were no smiles. Just rocks. Then one day, something magical happened: a Sonic Rainboom! The wondrous colours and amazement of the sight inspired Pinkie to smile and bring joy to every pony she met. This granted her a picture of three balloons on her butt. Or as they were more commonly known, a ‘cutie mark’.
“Wait for me!” After a moment of waiting, the two sisters were joined by a third pony. She had a coat of blue-gray and a mane of light gray. Like her sister, her hair fell downward, but came short of covering her eyes. She also had a saddle bag, although this one was much larger and could carry much more.
“All right, let’s go girls!” said a familiar pink maned pony. At that, the three began walking towards the main road.
What she hadn’t told them, however, was what her life was like outside of just the rock farm. It wasn’t simply that they were separated from society on their barren wasteland and that was her entire life. Oh, no, there was much more. While it was true they had many chores and didn’t leave the farm to do much, they did into the nearby town on occasion. These trips were usually for things like going to church on Sundays, going to market or meeting with business ponies who want to buy their farmed rocks.
This was the situation before Pinkie had earned her cutie mark. After she had spread the joy and laughter of her parties however, her parents became much happier and somewhat less stiff with rules. This, along with the fact that they were becoming older and had a right to know more about the outside world, the three sisters were granted access to town own their own. Now they were free to travel and do what they wanted, providing they had finished their chores and behaved, of course.
“So,” asked the young Pinkie Pie, bounding down the road with her usual hop. “What are you guys gonna do today?”
“Well, we’ve finally saved up our allowances enough to buy that book we’ve had our eye on.” Blinkie motioned towards both her and Inkie’s bags. “That’s why we needed the big saddle bag today.”
Pinkie closed her eyes and giggled. “Oh, is that what you guys were doing? I thought you just kept forgetting were your money was. I don’t think I could wait that long to buy something. You guys always have so much patience.”
“That’s because you just want to buy cheap sweets at the same store every time we go.” Blinkie remarked in a slightly irritated tone.
“Yeah,” Inkie chimed in, “You always just waste your bits right away.”
Pinkie giggled again, louder this time. “It’s not going to waste if I love it!” she exclaimed with a bright smile. “Besides, those sweets are just too sweet to pass up. They know me by name down there.”
Blinkie rolled her eyes. “Which is why we’re going to the bookstore and you’re gonna wind up at the sweets shop. I don’t know why you even asked. It’s almost a routine by now.”
Pinkie frowned at her tone of voice.
By now the group had made their way into town and were only a few blocks away from the bookstore. This is where they usually went their separate ways and reconvened at the end of their trips. If one were continue down the road, they would easily pass by the bookstore without much notice. However, if one where to turn right at this crossroad, they would come directly up to the infamous candy store; impossible to miss.
“Hmph. Well enjoy your boring books!” Pinkie said, “I’m gonna find something fun to do!”
“Right, well, make sure you’re back here in 10 minutes.” Blinkie reminded her.
Pinkie playfully stuck her tongue out in response. Blinkie sighed, shook her head and began to walk away. Inkie giggled a bit and followed post haste. As her sisters trotted away, Pinkie continued to hop joyfully down the road that would lead her to her favourite shop.
Who cares what they think? She thought. I bring joy to Mr. and Mrs. Taffy. They love me there!
After finishing up her chewy and delicious piece of fudge, Pinkie was ready to go back to her sisters. As she happily trotted down the street, however, she noticed something. Down the street, heading in her direction, were two ponies. Her smile grew exponentially.
They were two colts actually, a bit older than Pinkie. They were both a shade of brown; with manes that fell in front of their eyes. They weren’t anypony that Pinkie knew; two complete strangers walking down the street. While this may not have seemed special in itself, it was very special to Pinkie Pie. Running right towards these new ponies, she noticed something: they were both pegasi. Somehow, her smile became even bigger. She had never actually met a pegasus before. Going full board Pinkie Pie, she greeted them.
“Hi!” she yelled in their faces. The two colts jumped back at this surprise outburst.
“Wow, I’ve never met you two before. I know, because I know everypony in this town, and I’ve never seen your guys’ faces before! By the way my name is Pinkie Pie. Are you two new or are you visiting? I love visiting places, well if we ever went anywhere, I’d probably love it, but that’s not what-”
Pinkie’s monologue of speech was entirely lost on the two colts. She caught them completely off guard. They stood confused and unable to speak. Here was this random pink filly, having come completely out of nowhere and was just blabbering about… Celestia knows what.
“Ohmygosh, you two are pegasuses!” She continued to talk. “I’ve never seen real pegasueses before! You guys have wings! That’s so cool, I wish I had wings. Then I could WOOSH over the town and go WHEEEE over my sisters. They said I would never meet real pegasuseseses-“
The two looked at each other in confusion. They couldn’t help but snicker a bit. This was so random.
“Dude,” chuckled one colt to his friend, “Dude... the #%&$?”
“HEY!” Pinkie suddenly shouted. The colt jumped, quickly becoming quiet. Nopony said anything for a moment. Pinkie just stood there, staring down at her mouth. She moved her tongue a bit, wondering what could have triggered such a funny feeling. Was it something they said? What did he say, anyways?
“What was that funny word you just said?” inquired the still happy, but now somewhat curious pony.
The colts paused for a moment. The corners of their mouths rose half an inch in slight amusement. Feigning ignorance, they decided to mess with her mind a bit.
“What word?” asked one colt.
“I didn’t hear anything,” agreed the other.
Pinkie gave them an odd look. “You know… The one your friend whispered to you before my tongue felt all funny…” She looked back down at her tongue, sticking it out.
Both boys looked at each other and snickered. “Do you know she’s talking about?”
“Not a #%&$ing clue.” he said way too sarcastically.
Pinkie’s head bounced and twitched as her tongue shook violently. “OOP! Ahahaha! Hey, that’s the word. Wow. Lemme try!” She cleared her throat. “#%&$! Ahahahaha! It makes my tongue tickle!”
It was at this point the two colts decided to leave. They had had enough with the irksome little filly and it seemed like she wasn’t going to be paying them much attention now that she had a new little friend. Having completed their teaching of swear words to children, they laughed as they trotted off.
“The #%&$ just happened?” chuckled one. His friend shrugged. The little pink pony was laughing so hard, she didn’t even notice the two leave. She did notice however, that his comment made her tongue feel hilarious! It was like nothing she had ever felt before. It was wonderfully unbearable. Suddenly, a brilliant idea flashed into her head.
Closing her bedroom door behind her with a click, Pinkie turned around and smiled at her sisters. Blinkie sat on the bed while Inkie took a seat on the floor. Both looked at Pinkie. Blinkie looked at her with a face of slight irritation. Inkie innocently smiled, though both very curious.
“Okay, Pinkie,” Blinkie started, “What’s so important you had to drag us in here?” She expected Pinkie to whip out a new game or a new pet rock or something. She hoped it wasn’t the latter, because the last time Pinkie had a pet rock, they ended up having to slaughter it and sell it at the market. It was a rock farm after all, and that was just the way of life, no matter how many tears you shed.
Pinkie smiled and began to explain. “Okay girls, I know you want to read your new book and that’s great, really. But I have something even funner! Something I bet you’ve never heard of!”
Inkie perked up at this. “Like what?”
“It’s a new word!” Pinkie giggled with excitement.
Both sisters were intrigued by this. Inkie was getting excited too, beginning to bounce up and down as she sat. Blinkie simply raised an eyebrow, showing that Pinkie had captured her attention. Usually, Pinkie didn’t care about vocabulary or intellectual things. Pinkie actually excited about learning a new word? This ought to be interesting.
“Okay, so cut to the chase. What’s the word?” Blinkie asked, somewhat curious and somewhat suspicious.
Pinkie almost visibly shook at containing the secret. Finally, unable to hold her excitement in any longer, she spilled the beans.
“#%&?” Inkie repeated. Pinkie’s tongue twitched.
“Yup. #%&! Aahahaha!” Pinkie laughed as her tongue tickled again. “It tickles my tongue when I say it.” Pinkie had taken a seat on the floor next to Inkie, who seemed much more interested in her discovery.
Inkie put a hoof to her chin in thought. “Hm. It sounds sort of…” She struggled to find the right word to describe this new word.
“Fancy?” Pinkie offered, tilting her head.
“Yeah! That’s it, fancy. #%&!” Inkie agreed, although the word she was thinking of more was ‘sophisticated’. “That’s #%&ing it. Wow. This is so cool! You can use it anywhere!”
Pinkie nodded in agreement. She put her hoof on her chest. “Nice #%&ing day isn’t it?” She said as an example.
Inkie giggled, getting up on her hooves in a flash. “Ooh ooh! Let me try!” She turned around to the light grey filly who was sitting on the bed and said, “Hey Blinkie, how the #%& are you today?”
“Yeah! Like that!” Pinkie cheered her on, “It’s like icing for sentences. Just adds a splash of flavour!”
Pinkie and Inkie both burst out laughing at this. It really was more fun than reading that book. Instead of reading words, they were busying saying words. Go figure. Although two of the sisters were having the time of their young lives, one sister did not share their humour and exuberance with their word.
“Hm. Are you sure?” Blnkie crossed her arms, signifying she was uncomfortable. “I’ve never heard of anything like this before...”
Pinkie jumped up onto the bed and landed with a thump. “Yeah I’m sure! It’s fun. Give it a try, Blinkie.” she encouraged her.
Blinkie looked over her shoulder, then in front of her. Both of her sisters were giving her such adorable eyes and cute smiles. How could she say no?
Still, Blinkie had her doubts. Any word Pinkie picked up, or made up, usually was okay, but… She didn’t know. There was a nagging feeling something was wrong. Like what they were doing was… dirty. But if her sisters liked it so much, why shouldn’t she?
Blinkie hesitated a second longer. Finally she sighed and said, “I can’t wait to get out of here and read my #%&ing book.”
After the initial explosion of laughter and cacophony of giggles chuckles and snorts coming from both Inkie and Pinkie died down a bit, even Blinkie began to giggle. Her mouth began to crack into a smile and she too was soon laughing. There were right. It was a fun word to use. Finally, the laughter settled down.
“Okay, maybe it is pretty funny.” Blinkie admitted.
“It’s the best!” Inkie flashed her bright smile.
“Girls! You know what we have to do know, don’t ‘cha?” Pinkie said, bouncing off of the bed and onto the floor. Not waiting for an answer, she continued, “We have to share this everypony! It’s not fair if we have this much fun by ourselves. We need to spread the joy! Think of how many smiles we can spread.”
Blinkie thought for a second, then concurred, “Hey, that’s actually a good idea, Pinkie”
Inkie threw her hooves up in the air and exclaimed, “Yeah. Why didn’t I think of that?”
Pinkie closed her eyes and looked proud. “It’s just my talent.” It really was. Spreading joy and making ponies smile was the reason behind those three balloons.
It was settled then. The next time the girls would go to town, they would share their new fond happiness and tell everypony this new word. Only good could possibly come from this.
The girls started at their usual spot, the street corner. It was familiar ground and easily accessible, or at least easy to navigate to. A day had passed since their ‘word-fest’ in Pinkie’s room. Their laughter carried on for quite some time before the strict lights-out rule. They had made sure not to disturb their parents with their new for fear they would be denied privilege to go to town.
Pinkie had her trademarked smile plastered across her face from cheek to cheek. “Okay, girls. Let’s spread the word. Hee hee, spread the word…” Pinkie laughed at her own pun. She continued to giggle as she hopped merrily down the street.
Blinkie just groaned under her breath and kept her pace towards her favourite store. The grey and pink sisters walked away, leaving one more little grey filly by herself. Inkie looked left at Blinkie, then to the right at Pinkie. Had they forgotten about her? Well, she knew what she had to do, might as well get started. Unsure where she was going, but determined to keep a promise, Inkie wandered off into the familiar parts of town.
Inkie didn’t really watch where she as going, she just went, walking wherever her hooves took her. The buildings that travelled alongside the road turned into tents, which in turn turned into stalls and carts. Eventually, she found herself in the center of the farmer’s market, a somewhat more familiar part of town; one that she had visited long since before they could go by themselves.
Stalls of vegetables and fruits and grains and breads and many other things were always a welcoming sight. The happy little filly trotted through the assorted vendors, wondering which pony she should tell the word to first. Well, it was like a sentence icing, right? Just use it in normal conversation. Happily walking up to the vendor selling apples, Inkie was greeted by the green and orange pony behind the cart.
“Well, howdy lil’ one. Interested in a fresh delicious apple?” she said, motioning her hoof towards her produce.
“Yes, please.” Inkie put down two bits on the table, her little cash left over from buying that book. She chose the reddest, most delicious looking apple from the basket and took a large bite. She closed her eyes and smiled, taking in the succulent flavour. “Mmm. You’re right. That’s one delicious #%& apple!”
The mare behind the stand jolted, dropping the bits. She stood in confusion, wondering if she had really heard what she thought she had. Nopony spoke. The young filly took another bite.
“So #%&ing juicy!”
The apple stand mare just looked shocked. Her eyes widened at the language that was pouring from this child’s mouth. Unbelievable. Inkie noticed the mare’s shocked and silent state. She smiled. She rendered the mare speechless with her grand vocabulary! What a good feeling, she thought, her pride swelling.
Inkie continued to munch on her delicious red fruit, describing it in ways the orange and green mare had never heard before. The older mare kept silent in shock the entire time. Never did she expect to hear such dribble coming from an innocently cute soul. She was unable to respond as the little filly finally finished off the apple and said good bye. She cheerfully sauntered away back in direction she had come from, and was soon lost in the crowd. The green and orange mare blinked then shook her head. She sadly looked down and sighed. Another generation lost, she thought.
Blinkie quietly opened the door to the bookstore. She made sure it didn’t slam behind her as she stepped inside. Sure, it wasn’t a library in the traditional sense, but it was still a place of literature and reading, and she respected the quietness of such places-
“Heya, Blinkie!”
-even if some others didn’t. Relaxing her shoulders after the sharp outburst, she looked to see who had spoken. Feigning a smile she greeted the loud speaker, “Hello, Page.”
The blue pony behind the counter flashed her a toothy grin. The atmosphere of the bookstore was always a very friendly one, especially whenever Page Turner was working. His hearty laugh and kind smile always filled ponies’ hearts with joy and Blinkie’s ears with blood. But, it was the only bookstore in town, so she could bear a few minutes with Page in exchange for several days with new books.
The young, but still older than Blinkie, pony chuckled. “Back so soon? I thought you said that last book drained all your funds. Unless…” His smile dropped. “You’re not returning it, are you?” He spoke rather sadly, like they were discussing the passing of somepony’s grandmother.
Blinkie smiled and reassured him, “No, nothing like that. It’s a good read.” At least it will be when I get home and actually start reading it, she added mentally.
Page Turner’s grinned returned twofold. He nodded. “Good good. I get enough complaints about my volume already.” He rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. “If there were an increase in returns...” He gulped in fear for his job.
Blinkie shook her head in amusement. Stepping away from the register area, she began browsing through the shelves. She took her time, looking at interesting titles and finding the prices so she could calculate the costs ahead and save her bits accordingly. Yes, she was considered the brains of the three sisters.
After a while, she began to get bored. She would much rather be reading the book she already bought than be down here wasting time. Of course, she had a reason to be here. She said it was a good idea herself. Might as well get it over with. She picked up a random book and pretended to look interested in it. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She hesitated in trying again. She felt… funny, nervous even. Why? She noticed the book shaking. No, her hoof was shaking. She breathed deeply and tried again.
“This looks like a #%& read.” She whispered. Honestly, Blinkie really was nervous. She felt odd about doing this. Like it as… wrong. As a result, her comment hadn’t been as loud as she thought, like it was lost in the wind.
Page popped his head around the corner. “Hm? What was that?”
Blinkie jumped, almost dropping the book. She was startled by his sudden appearance out of thin air. He reminded her of another pony that liked to do that. She tried to speak again, this time with a bit more confidence. “I was just saying it looks like a great #%&ing book. If I had the #%& bits, I’d get it.”
The corners of Page’s mouth fell. He opened his eyes. His gaze was intense. He lowered his head in a disapproving manner. “What did you say?” His voice was low and intimidating. He was completely opposite of his normal self. Not a single bit of him looked amused; no part of his attitude was even familiar. It was like looking at an entirely different pony.
Blinkie’s eyes darted around nervously. The hairs on the back of her neck rose. She began to sweat, intimidated by this sudden change in atmosphere. The cheery disposition of the bookstore was gone, replaced with awkward tension. The bookstore was as silent as a real library.
She tried, and failed, to give an unconvincing smile. “Um, I should be…” Blinkie stuttered.
If she was nervous before, Blinkie was downright terrified now. She carefully put the book back on the shelf. Page remained silent. Avoiding eye contact, she shuffled around past him and headed for the door. Page simply closed his eyes again and shook his head slowly in disappointment. Blinkie couldn’t get out of there fast enough.
The candy store had a bell attached to its roof. Not on the outside, mind you; it was inside, dangling just in front of the front door. It served a number of purposes. For instance, it was sometimes difficult to hear customers when in the back, so a bell is just perfect for Mr. and Mrs. Taffy. Not to mention, it added a bit of rustic charm to the old place. Not too many ponies gave it a thought. It definitely didn’t cross through the mind of the young pink pony ringing the bell as she walked in the doorway.
“Hellooo!” she cheered into the strangely empty store. Well, it wasn’t completely empty; that would be absurd. No, the racks and shelves and candies were still there, along with the register and such, but the store was completely devoid of life.
“Anypony here?” she asked, glancing around the room for any sign of movement.
“Why, hello Pinkie.” Out of the corner of her eye, Pinkie finally saw a familiar face. She twisted her head around to the mare that had appeared behind the counter. She was an older pony, probably the same age as Pinkie’s parents. Her kindly green eyes shone through her thick rimmed glasses, a familiar sight to the young pink pony.
“Hi Mrs. Taffy.” She nodded her head in a wide motion. The curls on her head bounced furiously.
“Back again so soon?” Mrs. Taffy asked. Usually, there would be some time passing between Pinkie’s visits, due to ‘budget limitations’, as they liked to joke.
Pinkie just shrugged. “Yeah, well I just can’t stay away, you know!? I love seeing this place and you and Mr. Taffy!” Pinkie exclaimed.
Mrs. Taffy closed her eyes and nodded. “Mm. It’s always a pleasure to see you around here as well.” It had always been a much livelier place since Pinkie starting going more and more frequently. Ponies around just seemed… generally happier.
Pinkie Pie smiled brightly and began to browse around the shop, forgetting momentarily why she was there. All her favourites were there: caramel swirls, bon-bons, nutty fudge chunks, and of course, the famous saltwater taffy. Pinkie’s eye practically engulfed her head as she ogled them. She was drooling already. She pressed her face right up against the glass.
“Oh, Pinkie, I forgot to mention this last time, thank you for helping Mr. Taffy with that surprise cake for me. It was really amazing. Shame you couldn’t be there for it.”
Pinkie pulled her face off of the glass. Her head snapped with a loud POP, as if it had been stuck to the glass by suction. She turned to Mrs. Taffy. “No problem, Mrs. Taffy! Glad I could help. It was fun baking. Besides, it was you two’s super special day together!”
“Yes. Still, that was quite an amazing cake you two baked,” she said. So delicious and moist the cake was. It was most likely the best cake she had had in a long time. This little filly really had a knack for baking. ”You should look into becoming a baker. I bet you’d make a lot of ponies happy.”
Pinkie shrugged. “Yeah. I guess that cake did turn out pretty good…” She didn’t really care for baking at such a young age. All she knew about her special talent was throwing parties and making ponies smile. Did baking really have that much to contribute?
Mrs. Taffy nodded then glanced behind in a mischievous way. Pinkie noticed this and tilted her head to one side in curiosity. Mrs. Taffy leaned down closer, close enough to the pink party pony that she could whisper. “Don’t let Mr. Taffy know, but as a thank you, I’ll let you have a small treat. On the house.”
The pink pony’s eyes went huge. Her mouth was wide open and smiling. “Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!” She was overjoyed. Free candy!
Picking out a peanutty bar of chocolate, Mrs. Taffy treated Pinkie Pie. Unfortunately, Pinkie had just then remembered the reason she had gone there in the first place. As Pinkie munched on the chocolate, Mrs. Taffy asked, “So, how do you like it?”
Pinkie gulped down the chocolate in her mouth and looked thoughtfully. “Well…”
Pinkie’s ears pressed flat against her head. She rubbed her sore bottom as she hobbled along the road, head full of thought, both of which were an uncommon sight. Her head was filled with quite a few things. One of the ideas that drifted between her ears was the rumors of Celestia banning public spanking. It wasn’t as controversial as say, outlawing moon-banishment was, but oh how she couldn’t wait for it to be true.
One of the other thoughts was why she had received a spanking in the first place. Mrs. Taffy said she wouldn’t tolerate that kind of language in her store. What language? English? Pinkie Pie was thoroughly confused. The filly arrived at the end of her road, where her sisters were already waiting for her. She hoped they had had a better time than she had. Needless to say, they didn’t.
Blinkie explained the incident in the bookstore and Page’s strange behaviour. She still got shivers when she thought about it. Inkie hadn’t had any much better luck either. It started out fine, but the more she said their special word, the more disapproving and dirty looks she got from the adults around her. Leaving out the embarrassing parts, Pinkie concurred and added to the growing pile of stories of sorrow.
All three of them sighed in unison.
The leaves of the trees in the park were deep green, light green and every shade in between. Pinkie watched as the leaves rustled in the gentle wind, her mind elsewhere. She thought about how everything seemed to go wrong. The usually cheery Page Turner was acting strange, Mrs. Taffy had given her such a wild punishment and the ponies at the market weren’t too keen about the new word either… Something was wrong and she couldn’t put her hoof on it.
“I just don’t get it, girls. What went wrong?” asked Blinkie.
Pinkie tilted her head from side to side as she thought. “I dunno. Maybe we didn’t use it enough?”
Inkie shook her head. “I think I used it a lot. Every time I could… But they still didn’t like it.” she added with a depressed sigh.
“Nopony seemed to like it…” said Pinkie.
And so, the three sisters just sat on the park bench, thinking about what they could do. Blinkie tapped her hoof to the bench’s right arm. She sighed. Pinkie continued to tilt her head left and right, like she was swishing around her brain until a good idea surfaced. So far all she got from it was ‘reply hazy’ and ‘ask again later’. The third grey filly just tapped her hooves together quietly in between the two deep thinkers. Nopony did anything for a while. Just depressing silence and thought. Silence and contemplation. Silent and boring…
Inkie sighed and decided she had had enough. This was going nowhere and she was bored. Standing up off of the bench, she began her depressing retreat out of the park. She hadn’t gotten ten feet before Pinkie snapped out of her trance and noticed her sister was leaving.
“Hey!” she called, “Where are you going?”
“Home.” Inkie said simply.
“Home? But why?” Pinkie asked.
“Cause it’s boring here. And besides, your idea didn’t work anyways!”
Blinkie stood up as well and began walking towards her grey little sister. “I have to agree. I’m sorry, Pinkie, but this just hasn’t worked out. Nopony likes this word.” She slowed her pace when she reached Inkie.
Pinkie couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “But we like it! C’mon. We gotta share this word! We just gotta find the right way. There has to be some way! Inkie?” She looked at her sister in despair.
Inkie said nothing. Her tightly pursed lips formed a frown, the last thing Pinkie liked to see. She looked down in sorrow. “No good has come of this.” she whispered.
“Pinkie. Forget it. There is no good way. This word…” She closed her eyes and shook her head, “Maybe I’m too young to understand it, but I know it’s not good.”
For once, Pinkie couldn’t say anything. She moved her mouth like she wanted to talk, but some magician had cast a mute spell on her. She watched through watery eyes her sisters leaving her alone. She stood in silence for a few passing moments then slowly sat back down on the bench. Fine, she thought. If they were going to be like this, she could spread happiness by herself. All by herself…
So there she was, all alone. Her straightened dark mane hid her eye as the tears welled. Her entire outlook seemed bleak. She sighed again. She hadn’t felt this terrible in a long time, and hoped she would never have to again. Not after she learned her special talent. If she couldn’t give herself joy, how could she give it to others? It was this stupid word. If she could just figure out how to use it…
But try as she might, she couldn’t get it. Call her stubborn, but she would not give up until she had given others the chance to feel as good as she had. She really wanted to give the word the benefit of the doubt. It still could be a good word, despite what her sisters thought. Maybe they just weren’t using it right… Look at the facts. Nopony liked it. Well, no, that was not true, because the three of them liked it. Okay, so just adults didn’t like it? Yeah, okay. Adults didn’t like it… yet they, children, did.
Then, it clicked.
Her dejected expression slowly grew from a tight frown to a wide smile; so wide, it reminded her of her first view of a Sonic Rainboom. Of course, it was so obvious now! All she had to do was think about it. She spoke aloud to herself.
“So, adults don’t like #%&. They also don’t like childish things… and I‘ve never seen an adult do childish things, or use the word #%&!” She began to get giddy. “Therefore, the word #%& must be a word only for kids!”
If Inkie and Blinkie had still been there, they would have been stunned silent by such infallible logic. Pinkie would have prided herself on this.
Standing up onto the bench, the poofy maned filly looked around. She had to find another kid her age in order to use the word correctly. She still had a chance! She had to try at least once more. She had to be right! But where would she find one? She looked as far as she could from where she was. She saw trees and grass… and the playground.
Oh yes… The park playground. She remembered now. It was years ago when last she played on it. Unfortunately, it showed. The playground hadn’t been taken care of very well. Over the years, metal rusted and things fell apart. It looked…well used. The only thing that hadn’t been broken off or rusted was the sandbox. There weren’t many way to break a sandbox. And in that little sandbox, Pinkie saw the only other pony in the entire park. Not just a pony, though, it was filly. Her smile grew again. She jumped off the bench and bee lined to the sandbox.
As she got closer however, she had a sudden spot of déjà vu. She blinked twice then laughed a little. The filly in the sandbox was a pegasus. She chuckled at her luck. Another new pony to meet, and it was a another pegasus. Pinkie began to get excited, and when she got too excited she tended to lose control of her mouth. By the time she reached the other pony, she was practically foaming at the mouth.
The pegasus in the sandbox hummed happily to herself, oblivious to the impeding Pinkie Pie. The pegasus was yellow and had a long pink flowing mane that covered her face pretty well. Sure, the filly looked a little too old for the sandbox, but she seemed to enjoy the feel of dirt and earth. As any pegasus can tell you, it feels so much different than cloud. She was engrossed in it. Because of this, she didn’t notice the strange pink pony until she was right in her face.
Pinkie spoke at a mile a minute. “Hi there! Whatcha doing? Of course, the #%& sandbox! #%&ing great isn’t it? You know, I used to #%& love the sandbox. The sandbox is so #%&ing fun! Actually, I liked the swings more. Going up and down and #%& and back and forth and up and down! Heeheehee!” She giggled with delight.
The little yellow filly was absolutely terrified. What on earth was happening? All she was doing was playing in the sand when a scary pink pony came up and started yelling and swearing. She may have been young, but this filly was old enough to know the word Pinkie was saying and what it meant. This onslaught of incoherent words and swearing was both confusing and frightening. It was too overwhelming. She began to tear up and whimper.
Pinkie missed this completely and continued. “Too bad it’s gone now. Aw, #%&.I bet you would have loved it! You know, you kind of remind me of me! Your mane looks just like mine when, it’s not all, you know, #%&ed up! Hey, you know what else? I’ve never seen you before! Holy #%&! How about that? I meet another pony I’ve never seen before…again!”
As the assault of loud words and frightening gestures continued, so did the little pegasus continue to cry. By now, she was bawling her eyes out. She was so scared and had no idea what was happening. She shook as fear grasped her, unable to move from this little spot of hell. Then, just as suddenly as she could not move, she could. She moved. As far away and as fast as she could. Forgetting she could even fly, the young pegasus sped away from this terrifying situation, lost into the distance.
By now, Pinkie had finally stopped. She was at a loss for words. Her mouth ran dry as she watched the pegasus run off in sheer horror. Further and further into the distance the pegasus ran. Pinkie did not understand. All she saw was a filly running away from her. Why did she run?
Once again, Pinkie stood alone in the park, the wind to her back. There it was. Her last remaining hope, snuffed out. The word was not for kids. But then, she faced a new problem. What was that word for? Whom was that word for? She began to walk home as those thoughts were glued to her mind. It stayed with her all the way home, and all the way into bed until she fell asleep on her pillow. Nopony in the house dare ask why her mane was so dull and flat. They just let her be.
It was about a week later that anything of importance happened. During this time, Pinkie had become rather solemn and quiet. She was nearly the opposite of what her family had come to know as Pinkie Pie with a cutie mark. While she did not smile, neither did she become completely down and out. She almost looked like she was…serious. She kept quiet at meals and often was alone in the ‘fields;. While in the fields, she took the time think. She tried to comprehend what had happened, what had gone wrong, but was at a loss. What was so wrong about the word? It wasn’t very plain and simple. And she didn’t like it.
During this phase, neither of her sisters spoke to her. It was only sometime later during their usual chores, did Inkie try again to speak with Pinkie. The three sisters were currently farming the rocks and pushing them along the fields. Inkie rolled her rock alongside Pinkie.
“Hey, Pinkie.” Inkie said, trying to sound cheerful.
Pinkie did not stop rolling her rock as she responded, “Hey.” Her voice was quiet. Inkie took note of this.
“Listen, are you okay?” she asked, “I mean, it’s been like a week since you went anywhere with us. Blinkie and me miss you. If it’s about us leaving you alone the other day, we’re real sorry.” Her apology was sincere.
Pinkie Pie sighed. “No. It’s not that.” She stopped rolling her rock and just stared at it. “It’s just… I don’t know.” She picked her head up and looked at her sister. “That word… did it make you feel good?”
It took her off-guard and made her think for a moment. “Well, sure, I mean…yeah. It was good.” Inkie shrugged.
Her pink mane swung from side to side as she shook her head. “No, I mean, did it make you feel good? Like… all warm and tingly and good inside.”
“Oh… well if you put it that way, no. It’s just another word, I suppose.” Inkie said.
Pinkie looked back down in sadness.
Then Inkie added, “It was you who made it special.”
Pinkie picked her head up and glanced toward her sister. “It was me…?”
“Yeah. You seemed so happy and excited to say it, I went along with it.”
Pinkie went silent as she pondered on that. It was only her that felt so good and funny and happy about the word. Inkie treated like just another word, because to her, it was just another word. Then, if that was the case, why did was it so funny to Pinkie? What made this word so special? Was there something wrong with her? As Pinkie kept thinking, she didn’t notice her other sister had joined the two of them. Blinkie noticed the state Pinkie was in and asked Inkie to fill her in.
“Well, yeah. Honestly, I had my doubts about this. It didn’t feel… right.” Blinkie confessed.
Pinkie seemed to become even more depressed by this news. Blinkie shifted her weight from hoof to hoof. She felt like she should say sorry or something, but what really was there to say?
“Pinkie? What’s wrong? Why are you acting like this?” Blinkie said with concern.
They weren’t there, remembered. They didn’t see her at her lowest and most desperate time. Perhaps it was better they didn’t know. Pinkie just shook her head slowly. “I guess it’s nothing.” She tried her best to smile.
The two grey sisters looked at each other, concern and sadness in their eyes. They wanted their happy smiling sister back. And Blinkie had an idea how...
“Pinkie, you need to get your mind off this. Why don’t you come with us and meet our new friend?”
In an instant, Pinkie perked up at this. “Friend?” she echoed.
A sly smile crept across her sister’s face. “Yeah we met her the other day. She’s visiting this summer. She’s really nice. Think you would like to meet her?”
Slowly, Pinkie’s small false smile grew into a gigantic genuine grin. She reached out and scooped her sister together in a big hug. “Thanks girls. That really sounds really great!”
Inkie and Blinkie looked at each other and winked. They had her.
In a few hours, the three were off again, down the familiar dirt path. Pinkie hopped merrily next to the two grey ponies. It felt good to be going out with her sisters again. Like the good old days.
“Remember,” Blinkie warned her, “We’re trying to be nice, so-”
“Don’t use the word, got it!” Pinkie finished Blinkie’s sentence. “You know maybe I should just make up my own word. That sounds like a lot funner, don’t cha think?” Pinkie began to drift as she thought of new words such as Bangliho and Pipp-diddly-dish.
They arrived in the familiar park about the time Pinkie made her sixteenth word. Inkie looked around, but she did not see their friend. They stopped by the park bench.
“Must be late. Oh well, let’s wait for her.” Inkie said. As they waited, the two sisters began to tell Pinkie about their new friend. She seemed nice enough, but there were a few things that piqued Pinkie’s interest.
“She’s kind of quiet. She’s been pretty good at talking with us, but there was something a little while ago.” said Blinkie.
“Yeah, apparently some bullies came up to her and started making fun of her.” Inkie began to get a little angry. “They called her names and used scary words and made fun of her mane and called her stupid!”
As her sister went on this tangent of describing the bullies, Pinkie began to imagine what the bullies looked like. At first, she imagined these huge scary ponies with fierce eyes and deep voices. The more they spoke however, her picture turned into a regular pony, scuffed up and tough and mean. She could picture two colts she knew that might fit this description.
They explained just how badly they had scared her, and how frightened she was to even talk to the two sisters for fear they would make fun of her as well. She was horribly bullied to tears. If they ever found out who had done this…
Finally, Blinkie interrupted the discussion. “Look, there she is now!” She waved her hoof at the approaching filly. When Pinkie turned to look, her ears fell back and her eyes filled with sorrow. Her previous disposition of smiles disappeared as she slowly sank back into her previous funk.
The little filly smiled at her new friends, then froze in place once she saw the third sister. She shook visibly and was unable to take another step.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Blinkie asked.
The yellow pegasus dropped down to the ground, cowering in fear. She looked like she expected to be hit any moment.
“What is it?” Inkie asked with concern.
“It… it’s b-b-b…” She struggled to spit out even a full word.
“What? The bullies? Where?!” Inkie frantically looked around ready to defend her new friend. With a shaky hoof, the young pony slowly pointed to her abuser, the one who had terrified her so badly and sent her cowering in a whimpering ball on the floor. The grey sisters’ eyes followed the yellow hoof and then stopped, staring directly at Pinkie Pie.
Everypony’s reaction to this varied. Inkie blinked in confused. Blinkie gasped in shocked. Fluttershy stayed on the ground, frightened. Pinkie vomited.
By the time Blinkie and Inkie helped their sister up, the yellow pegasus was nowhere to be seen. Pinkie had passed out, and the two sisters worked together to take her home. When Pinkie awoke in her bed, she shut the door and stayed in her room. Loud wailing and sniffling could be heard coming from inside, but nopony had the heart to check on her. It was clear that it was time for some parental interference.
The eldest of the Pie family was none the least bit pleased to hear what had happened, nor was he pleased about having to take matters into his own hooves. But he agreed that she needed him and that something had to be done. He calmly made his way to Pinkie’s bedroom, but before he even knocked at the door, he heard a voice coming from inside.
“Don’t come in.”
He took a step back, somewhat surprised, somewhat offended. How did she know he was there? Supersonic hearing? Nevertheless, he ignored her quiet plea and opened the door anyway. The lights were out and the room was dark. Well, as dark as it could be at three in the afternoon. He saw Pinkie huddled up deep under her blanket, face above a darkly stained pillow.
“I knew you would.” Pinkie said solemnly. She stuffed her face back into the pillow. Mr. Pie furrowed his brow for a second, but decided to focus on the topic at hoof. He let out a deep breath and took a seat at the foot of the bed.
There was a heavy silence in the room for a while. Neither pony wanted to speak first, even though they both knew exactly what had to be said. Finally, the eldest pony spoke first.
“Pinkie, your sisters told me what happened.” His voice was calm yet firm at the same time.
Pinkie said nothing. She didn’t need to be reminded of her atrocious actions. Why did he think she was in bed still?
“I would say you look like you’re feeling better, but I’d be lying.” He tried to be comforting as well he could. “I know how you feel.”
Tears welled in her eyes. “I was a bully.”
“Yes. I heard everything that happened today… I’m disappointed in you, Pinkie.”
His words pierced her heart. They were the last thing any child want to hear from their parents.
“I didn’t mean to…” she sobbed, “I-I just got excited and-” She cut off and looked into the distance, the memories churning in her head, making her only feel worse.
Silence.
“There was something else, wasn’t there?” Mr. Pie lowered his head slightly, gaze remaining on Pinkie. “The way they described what you did to that filly… yes. You did go overboard. But that wasn’t all, I hear.”
“…?” Pinkie turned her head a nudge to peak an eye at her father. His face was still and dull, reflecting the disappointment he held in his heart.
"I heard you learned a new word. Is this true?" His eyes had a sharp stare that showed he already knew everything he was talking about. Pinkie broke eye contact to look away at the floor. She slowly nodded her head in the pillow.
"And as I understand...none of you knew what this word meant." He spoke as if he was still trying to get full picture of what happened, even though Blinkie gave a very clear explanation.
"...no." Pinkie quietly whispered, her voice strained and cracking.
Mr. Pie slowly shook his head. "I suppose you wouldn't. Really, it's my fault for not teaching you. You're older now, venturing out all by yourself..." He stopped there and sighed. "But you are still so young at heart. You were sheltered for so long. Too long. I should have told you about these kinds of things." He closed his eyes in grief.
"But what IS it?" Pinkie wanted an answer. The answer. The answer to why everything was happening like it was. Her whole world was spinning out of control and she had no idea why. She had already gotten sick, and now she wanted off of the ride.
The elder pony stopped for a moment to think. He sat leaned back to an upright position and looked off into the distance. He looked deep in thought, trying to find the right words. Finally he spoke.
"You know when you get mad, Pinkie? Frustrated, furious, angry. Those times when you just get so overwhelmed with emotions, you don't even know what to do with yourself."
Pinkie hadn't really felt that angry before, being a pretty easy going pony, but she had felt overwhelming joy before. Many times. She had a basic understanding of what he was saying.
"When you get so angry, you just want to scream? I know from experience sometimes screaming isn't enough. Sometimes, there's a need to swear.” He let the word hang in the air. It collapsed on top of Pinkie like a pile of farmed rocks.
“There’s many different kinds of swearing, with many different meanings, but they all reflect the same value: the lowest form of spoken language." He turned away from Pinkie.
"It’s turned into something of a joke, now. Some think it's harmless, even fun. They're just words, right?" He turned back and narrowed his eyes, looking solemnly into hers. "I don't have to tell you about the consequences of swearing in the wrong place at the wrong people."
This only reminded Pinkie of just how badly everything had gone and made her feel like crying again. She sank even lower into the bed. Mr. Pie saw this. Some moments passed.
"Pinkie, why did you think it was such a good idea to keep using that word, even after your sisters said no?”
Pinkie shrugged. "It felt good,” she said plainly. “Every time somepony said it...I would get this sudden feeling. It felt so funny, so good! I just…wanted to spread it to everypony. I wanted them to feel good too!"
"But they didn't.”
Craning her neck, Pinkie stared into her father’s eyes. “Dad,” Her voice cracked. “What’s wrong with me?”
In his long years of farming rocks, Pinkie Pie’s father had succumbed many an injury -whether it be the introductory injuries one inadvertently obtains from inexperience of farming such hard material, or an accident sustained by falling rocks. But nothing hurt him more than the pain he felt in his heart when those words fell from his daughter’s lips.
He hesitated in his response, completely unsure what to say. Pinkie had always been the odd sort, he knew that, but she always got her chores done and kept them all smiling. What was happening to her… was beyond him.
“There’s nothing wrong with you…” he said finally. He hesitated to continue. Mr. Pie was a simple rock farmer, and certainly no philosopher. He gathered every ounce of wisdom of his years and said what he believed were the correct words.
“Pinkie, you’re young. This word is something new, and you just don’t understand it. However, things will change as you grow up, and one day you’ll come to find that you won’t have this feeling about that word anymore.”
Pinkie made no motion he heard her, although indeed she had. His words circled in her head and made her think. Was he right? Could all this just be a phase?
Her continuing silence brought Mr. Pie down along with her. He had nothing else to say. With a sigh, he stood up. "Well, there are chores to be done and rocks to be farmed…” He slowly made his way to the door. Stopping and turning around, he said, “If you feel so heavy about all this, there is something that should at least lighten your load.”
Pinkie picked her head up a bit.
"Words are words.” He continued, walking back to her. “Swearing is no different. Their meaning is heavier and they have much more devastating consequences, but are not impossible to fix." He placed a hoof on her shoulder. "Pinkie. You must apologize. If not for your sake, for then the ponies you have hurt.”
This made Pinkie think for a moment. "Will that make everything better?" she asked.
Mr. Pie kept his silent solemn state for a moment before replying honestly, "I don't know."
Pinkie stuck her head back into the pillow and let it swallow her head. Seeing not much else he could do, Mr. Pie turned to leave, when he remembered something.
“Oh, and Pinkie?” he said.
Pinkie lifted her head back up to see her father waving a small white brick in his hoof. She tilted her head in confusion.
Pinkie’s hoof trembled as she knocked on the door three times. She could still taste the soapy bubbles in her mouth. She much preferred sweets. She stepped back to look at the house she had been told was the place the small yellow filly resided for the summer. It was quite small and serene looking, like it belonged to somepony’s grandmother. Pinkie’s heart was heavy, thinking back to what lead her up to this moment. She sighed. Shaking her head, she filled herself with the desire to make things right. Even if the yellow filly did not accept her apology, she had to try.
The front door opened to reveal a small elderly pony. Her shrivelled white hoof slowly pushed the door wide enough to let her faint old eyes see the pony before her. Pinkie went to speak, then stopped short, as she just realized she was unsure of exactly who she was looking for, which just made her feel worse. But she continued on and ventured a guess.
“Hello, my name is Pinkie Pie. Is your granddaughter home?” she said.
The kindly old mare smiled. “Oh, yes. Come in, come in,” Despite her small size and advanced age, the elderly pony was surprisingly fast, and she was already gone across the room by the time Pinkie entered the house.
“She’s in her room,” said the elder pony, “Down the hall and last to the left.”
Pinkie walked slowly. She was breathing heavily and her steps were small. It was unlike her to feel nervous. Pinkie came to the last door on the left of the hallway. Taking a deep breath, she knocked. A few seconds later, the door opened a crack with a small squeak of the hinges. A large blue eyeball peeked out through the crack and stared at Pinkie. Immediately, another squeak was heard and the blue-eye slammed the door. Pinkie stepped back in retaliation and lowered her head.
“I probably deserve that, you know,” she said.
Silence.
“Listen, I know I’m probably the last pony you want to see right now, but just hear me out, okay?” Pinkie spoke just loud enough for the pony on the other side of the door to hear. With no response, she continued anyway. “Look, I’m… sorry. I’m sorry about the way I acted. I know now that what I said was… wrong. I acted wrong and inappropriate and I’m sorry.”
Pinkie looked up at the door, hoping it would swing open and reveal a smiling and forgiving filly. When nothing of the sort happened, she continued. “I understand if you don’t want to forgive me. What I did was-” She stopped. “I just want you to know that I’m sorry…”
The continuing silence from the other side of the door made Pinkie begin to worry. What if she didn’t believe her? She had scared the little pony pretty badly. Pinkie began to wonder what was going on on the other side of the door. The little filly was probably worried. Did she believe her? She probably thought that Pinkie was lying, that she would do it again. Pinkie had to make sure she knew she was being honest.
“I promise,” She said louder, “I’ll never do anything like that again. I’ll never say that word for as long as I live.” Tears began to form in the corners of her eyes. Her mind swirled as she raced to think of what to do. Words are words… Then, a light flicked on, illuminating the darkness. Focus appeared in her eyes. She lifted her right hoof and motioned it in a cross shape over her chest as she said,
“Cross my heart, hope to fly… Stick a cupcake in my eye!” Jabbing her hoof into her right eye, Pinkie Pie fully and honestly vowed never to swear again.
The silence went for some kind of record as it continued. But in that silence, Pinkie Pie could faintly make out the breathing of the pony pressed against the other side of the door. This confirmed she had heard all that Pinkie needed to say, and that was enough. Pinkie was about to leave, when she remembered something important.
“By the way, I-I baked you an apology cake…” Reaching behind, Pinkie whipped out a large vanilla cake words I AM SORRY sprawled out in large pink frosting. “I’ll just leave it here.”
But as Pinkie bent down to leave the cake in front of the door, the door opened. A big blue eye peeked back out at her again. This time, however, the door did not slam shut again and instead opened wider to reveal the rest of the pony attached to the eye.
Pinkie closed her mouth and took a step back. With a worried look, she bowed her head low to the ground and apologized one more time.
The other pony just watched. Her eyes flickered between the cake, Pinkie, and the cake again. “You… you really baked a cake?” she asked, “Just for me?”
“Of course,” Pinkie said. Her words were soft.
Seeing no imminent danger, and that the apology and the promise were sincere, the yellow pony stepped out of her room. “Um, thank you,” She shifted her weight awkwardly to one side. “I… accept your apology.”
Lifting her head up, Pinkie smiled. That was the best news she had heard in a long time. “I really didn’t mean to upset you. I would love to be friends with you… if you’ll give me another chance.” She said.
A small nod from the other filly made her smile. With permission, Pinkie embraced her new friend, though not too hard, she made sure.
“Again, sorry… that all this happened.” Pinkie said sheepishly.
Letting go of Pinkie, the yellow filly said, “I think we just got off on the wrong hoof, that’s all.” She smiled meekly.
“Well then. Let’s start over, shall we?” With a wide grin, Pinkie introduced herself, “My name is Pinkie Pie. What’s yours?”
The Cutie Mark Crusaders sat in stunned silence as Pinkie concluded her tale. Sweetie Belle and AppleBloom smiled at the heartwarming story, while Scootaloo had one eyebrow higher than the rest.
“Wait wait wait…” Scootaloo waved her hooves, apparently not grasping the full concept. A couple of questions hovered above her head -questions that had had only grown as the story continued.
“So, what was with all that tongue business?” she asked. Ever since the beginning of the story, she had wondered and wanted to ask, but politely held her question for afterwards.
Pinkie simply snickered. “Haven’t you figured it out yet, silly?”
Scootaloo’s blank stare indicated she did not. Pinkie rolled her eyes playfully.
“That was my Pinkie sense!” she exclaimed.
Scootaloo furrowed her brow and tilted her head slightly.
Pinkie explained. “You know how my tail twitches when something is gonna fall? Or how my eyes flop then my knees shake and my eyes flutter when a door opens? Well…” She gestured her hooves, waiting for the pieces to click in. Once they did, Scootaloo rolled her eyes in a sarcastic manner.
The other two crusaders shared a look.
"Anyway, I never want to hear swearing again." Pinkie was serious again. "I don't want to see you girls trying for a cutie mark in swearing! Because I'm pretty sure there isn't one!" She was ninety-two percent sure.
They nodded. The Cutie Mark Crusaders had learned something that day. If Twilight Sparkle was there to summarize this as a friendship report, they were sure she'd say something like, ‘Actions and words are the foundations of relationships. The right words can forge wonderful friendships, but vice versa, the wrong ones can destroy them and break apart ponies. It's all in the way you treat your words. Think before you speak. The good words mean a lot. Bad words mean a lot more.’ Yeah, that’s probably what’d she say, Sweetie Belle thought.
"Thanks, Pinkie Pie." Sweetie Belle said, standing up. "I sure learned something."
"Yeah me too." said AppleBloom. "Ah for one am never gonna swear again." No matter how much my big sis might do it, she added mentally.
Scoots stood up last. "Yeah. Me too, I guess. Sounds lame now anyway." She coolly blew off swearing as well. Maybe Dash was wrong. Turning to her friends, she added, "I guess we have some apologies to make, huh girls?"
Sharing a look, the two nodded in agreement. There were more than a few ponies that had heard them before Pinkie had. Time to repair some relationships… But just when they all were about to leave a cloud of dust, a hoof grabbed each of them. Holding up the three fillies up, Pinkie swung them around back to head level.
"Ah ah ah! Girls, you're forgetting something!" she said smugly.
The three looked at each other in confusion. Pinkie reached into a small drilled hole in the bottom of Sugar Cube Corner near where she sat, where she stored these kinds of thing around, just for such an emergency. Pulling her hoof back out, she presented them with three little white bars of soap.
Their eyes widened and they all gulped at once. A dark smile washed over Pinkie's face.
"Time to clean some dirty mouths!" she cackled.
AppleBloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo all screamed in unison,
"NOOOOO!"
The End.