I had gone back home, not even bothering to pick up the paper I had missed, shut myself inside, and sat on my bed, fuming. I wanted to be angry with Trixie for being so callous after making, what I had thought to be, good progress. For even the merest of time-spans, she had actually been kind with me, hospitable. She had treated me like I was welcome in her book. And now she had thrown that out the window, without even giving me the chance to explain myself.
All I felt, however, was miserable for having dropped out of her good graces so speedily. She had had someone to talk to, someone to spend time with, and I just ruined it. It felt like that sort of thing always happened to me. If there was anything, even the smallest of things I could do for her to make up for it, I would do it in a heartbeat. At the moment, though, I just wanted to be alone.
I’m not sure how long I sat there, brooding. It could have been hours. All I know is, eventually, as the sun began to set, there came a knock at the door. I ignored it at first, but it redoubled after a moment, and I had a feeling whoever it was would not just go away.
“Who is it?” I asked, in a croaking voice.
“It’s Spike! Can I come in?”
Spike? I hadn’t spoken to the little guy since I came back from Canterlot. It would have been rude of me to refuse him after that.
“Sure, Spike, hang on.”
I got to my feet and opened the door. Sure enough, the little dragon was standing at the door, gazing up at me. He looked out of breath, and had the look of someone with urgent news.
“Are you ok? You look like you‘ve come down with something,” he said, concerned.
“I’m fine,” I said, though I probably did look pretty miserable. “What brings you out here?”
“Rarity sent me,” he said. “She wanted me to bring you to the boutique. Pinkie’s being fitted into her new dress, and when that’s done, she’s going to take us to the Pie family rock farm!”
I was jerked out of my emotional state instantly at these words. We were going to see Pinkie’s family at last?
“R-Really?” I asked, astounded. “I knew she said after cider season, but it feels so soon!”
“I know, right? Come on, we’d better hurry!”
“Right, right! Lead the way!”
And Spike hurried off at a brisk jog, as I, after locking the door behind me, took care not to overtake him with my strides.
***
As I ran with Spike, my mind pounded with this news, even managing to push aside the recent disaster that had been my talk with Trixie. It was time! It was time at last! We were finally going to meet Pinkie’s family! I’d been looking forward to this ever since Pinkie wrote to them!
At last, we arrived, breathless, outside the Carousel Boutique. The door swung open, and Fluttershy poked her head out. She must have been acting as a lookout for our arrival.
“There you are!” she said, relieved. “Wonderful timing! Come in, come in!”
We stepped inside. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight were all talking excitedly, clustered around Rarity’s display podium, where a screen had been drawn. I could see Rarity’s silhouette behind it, but the other pony behind it couldn’t possibly have been Pinkie. There was no Pinkie frizzle to see. Rarity appeared to be running a brush through the pony’s long mane, a mane that looked too tame to belong to Pinkie.
“Did we miss it?” I asked Twilight. “Who’s Rarity working on?”
“Pinkie, silly,” said Twilight, amused.
“Oh, come on, Twi. I’ve spent almost 3 weeks around Pinkie, and the Pinkie I know looks nothing like the pony Rarity’s working on.”
“Oh, you’ll see,” said Twilight, in a teasing voice.
At last, Rarity peered out, wearing her work glasses.
“Ah! Dave! Thank goodness you made it. Good job, Spikey-wikey!”
She gave Spike a glowing smile, and I saw a sappy grin make its appearance on the little dragon’s face.
“Fillies and gentle-colts,” said Rarity, grandly, “I thank you for your patience, and am happy you could make it to this momentous occasion. I, myself, am quite atwitter at what lies before us. Our dear Pinkie Pie…is ready for her homecoming. Voila!”
And with a surge of her magic, she pulled the screen aside to reveal…
…But it couldn’t be.
There was absolutely no way.
And yet, it was still, unmistakably Pinkie Pie…
She was wearing a dress of shimmering sky blue, sparkling like a sea of stars, with sun yellow at the sleeves and hem, the latter of which fell to just above her hooves. Come to think of it, it was colored the same as her cutie mark balloons. The collar was bordered with soft, white lace. A pink ribbon was tied around her waist, ending in a bow at the back like the sashes on kimonos. But the biggest change was her mane. It was no longer poofy and messy. It was sleek and straight, and tied into an elegant bun at the back of her head. I wondered how on Earth Rarity had managed to tame it, but I could see, besides a hairbrush, several bottles of what looked like shampoos, conditioners, and hairsprays. There was even a smell of something sweet, candy-like. Peppermint? Cotton candy?
She looked…oddly shy, as if conscious of how different she looked, but all of her friends were gazing at her in amazement. I, for one, had never seen her so…cleaned up. She was…pretty.
Rainbow Dash was the first to break the silence.
“Wow, Pinks! You look great!”
“Really great,” agreed Twilight, beaming. “Rarity did a wonderful job!”
“You look beautiful, Pinkie Pie,” said Fluttershy.
“Never thought I’d see the day,” said Applejack.
Pinkie glanced around at them all, still smiling shyly, and then her eyes fell on me. Caught off-guard, I spluttered out,
“Y-You look…I mean…Wow, Pinkie. Just, wow!”
Pinkie’s smile broadened.
“Thank you,” she said. “Thank you, everypony. You have no idea how much this all means to me. I’m so happy I could just…”
And her whole body tensed, as if she were about to spring like a jungle cat, but Rarity held out a hoof to stop her.
“Ah-ah, Pinkie! Not in that dress. I made it with you in mind, but it’s not made for your exuberant behavior.”
“Oh. Right,” said Pinkie, with an embarrassed chuckle. She then turned back to us. “Well, everypony, are you ready?”
“Ah’ve got my wagon loaded up with Apple family vittles,” said Applejack.
“And we’re prepared to be ourselves,” said Fluttershy.
“Oooh, great!” said Pinkie, practically shuddering with excitement. “Let’s go-go-go!”
And she hopped down from the podium, leading the way out the boutique, walking with a slower, more deliberate gait than I’d ever seen her use. Applejack paused for a moment to hitch herself up to a small cart filled with pies and other baked goods before rejoining us, her speed undeterred by the new load. I still couldn’t believe it. We were on our way to see the Pies at last…
***
To my slight disconcertion, it was not, after all, a trip that could be made on foot. Pinkie told us that her farm was south of Ponyville, and the quickest way was by train. I went along with the others to the train station, feeling like I could have been told this sooner.
If the fact that we had to go by train was bad enough to me, the length of the trip itself was even more of a bitter pill to swallow: a whole night’s worth of riding until we could reach the stop nearest the farm. When I found this out from Pinkie, my anxiety must have clearly registered for Twilight, as she went back to the library lickety-split and returned with two more Daring Do books, and had even managed to bring Flying with the ‘Bolts, which I still hadn’t finished yet, both packed into a saddlebag. Good thing Twi had thought ahead and knew how I operated. I thanked her gratefully and joined the others at the ticket window.
I kept more to myself in the car we chose, immersed in more of Daring Do’s escapades as I heard the girls laughing over a card game Pinkie had brought with her, and I occasionally heard a crackling and popping. Twi told me Spike had brought popcorn kernels with him for us to snack on, but was not happy about being the roaster. In all fairness, it didn’t taste too bad. There’s something to be said about dragon-popped popcorn.
Time passes pretty slowly on long train rides, but it passes all the same, and soon gave way to night, Despite the fact that I didn’t usually sleep while traveling, I had to admit it wasn’t so bad sleeping on a train; the compartment bed was pretty cozy. Then again, I also had to admit that Rainbow Dash snored loud enough to warrant a restraining order from the dead, so it was a while before I drifted off...
***
Even after we got to our station stop the next morning, which looked as though it had been carved out of stone, it took quite a while for us to finally reach our destination, as it was situated a mile or so from the platform. Still, it was easy to notice it as we got closer. The land became duller, grayer, the color seeming to fade away. If it kept up like this, it might go into full sepia tone.
Surprisingly, the one most affected by this drab change of scenery was Applejack. I had expected Rarity to say something about how garish it must have seemed to her, but all the farm mare said was, in a regretful tone,
“Must be rock farm country. No apple trees would grow out in this soil…”
“That’s why it was made a rock farm,” said Pinkie, knowledgeably, “because nothing else would grow out here.”
“Then how did you eat?” Rainbow asked. “You didn’t just munch on those rocks, did you?”
“Of course not, silly. Not just the rocks. There's a village not too far away where Mom or Grammy went to buy groceries. I was still young, so I didn’t see much outside the farm before I left for Ponyville.”
It still baffled me how Pinkie left her home and came to Ponyville as a filly. Even when she was younger, she was unpredictable.
We suddenly pulled to a stop. Pinkie had halted dead in her tracks, staring ahead as if a ghost had sprung out of the ground and had begun dancing the Charleston in front of her. We directed our eyes to where she was staring.
There, up ahead, was a wide stretch of dull gray land, bordered by a wooden fence, and containing not only a farmhouse, a silo, and a windmill, but mounds and piles of differently shaped and colored rocks, including one huge boulder that seemed to have pride of place. It looked absolutely dismal, but Pinkie was rooted to the spot, eyes wide.
“It…it hasn’t changed a bit,” said Pinkie, in a quiet voice. “It’s just like I remember it!”
Her voice was alight with joy, her eyes glistening with tears. She shuddered, as if she were about to explode like a firecracker.
Suddenly, she gasped and, without warning, shoved us behind an enormous boulder that was sitting off to the side of the track we had been taking. Utterly perplexed at her behavior, we peered around to see what was going on.
A group of ponies was exiting the farmhouse, all of them Earth ponies. Even from our distance, I counted off 5, and I couldn’t have been surer that these must have been Pinkie’s parents, two of her sisters, and her grandmother. Of course, if I hadn’t known Pinkie’s past, I would have said you’d have to be out of your mind to think they were related to her.
Pinkie’s father reminded me very much of an Amish farmer, meaning no disrespect to them, of course. He was an earthy brown with gray sideburns, wearing a black hat and a collar with a tie. He looked stern and stiff.
Pinkie’s mother, on the other hand, was light gray with a bluish-gray mane done up into a bun. A pair of spectacles was perched on her snout.
Pinkie’s sisters (I couldn’t tell which was which) were her size, though slimmer in build than their pudgy pink sibling, probably from living their lives working the farm. One was purplish with white, straight-cut bangs, the rest of her mane cropped short in the back and swept to one side of her face, while the second was the same shade of gray as her mother, her very long, dark-gray mane covering one eye.
Pinkie’s grandmother was a stark contrast to the rest of her family. Her coat was a faded pink, close to Pinkie’s own shade, her white mane done up in curls. Like Pinkie’s mother, she too wore spectacles on her snout.
I glanced at the others. They were looking as amazed as I was at the thought that these somber ponies were Pinkie’s family. Pinkie, meanwhile, looked terrified and excited at the same time, and I could hear her muttering,
“Oh, gosh, oh, gosh, oh golly-goshy-golly-gosh! What do I do? What do I say?”
“For starters,” said Twilight, “you can come out from behind this boulder and greet them.”
“B-But-”
“No buts, Pinkie,” said Rainbow. “This is what we set out to do, and we’re not going back now.”
Rainbow got behind Pinkie and began trying to push her along from behind, Pinkie digging her hooves into the dirt to try and stop her.
“Be careful, Rainbow Dash!” hissed Rarity. “That silk is rare, and I don’t want any dirt getting on it!”
Rainbow didn’t seem to hear, however, as she gave another push, and Pinkie tumbled out into the open, looking petrified. She turned to look at us. Everypony else was making little ‘go on’ motions, so I did likewise, giving her an encouraging smile to boot. Pinkie gulped and began walking toward the group of ponies in the field.
The sister with the long mane looked up from where she had been nosing a yellowish rock into a pile of similarly-colored ones. She titled her head at the sight of Pinkie, then hurried over to her sister, tapping her on the shoulder. She looked up with an irritable sigh.
"What is it, Marble?" she asked.
She had a rough, boyish voice that seemed to say 'don't mess with me if you don't want to get hurt'. Marble, as the first sister was so designated, whispered in her ear. The other sister looked over at Pinkie, eyeing her suspiciously. She had very prominent eyebrows.
"Ok, I'll see what they want," she said. "I'll be right back."
She approached Pinkie, and I could now see her cutie mark: half a lime hovering over two white rocks. Ahh, so this one must be Limestone. That cutie mark was a bit on the nose, if you asked me.
“Hey there, stranger,” she said. “What can we do for you?”
Pinkie said nothing, but, judging by Limestone's face, whatever expression she wore disconcerted her.
“Are you all right? You look like you’re about to start crying.”
Finally, Pinkie said, in a trembling voice,
“Limestone. It’s me.”
For a moment, Limestone looked uncomprehending, her brows furrowed, but then, slowly, very slowly, her eyes widened, and her mouth fell open.
“Pinkie?” she asked. “Is that really you?”
Pinkie nodded energetically, and Limestone’s open mouth turned to a wide smile, and she threw her forelegs around her sister, Pinkie hugging her in return. I turned to look at the others. They were looking gleeful. It was going well so far.
"You silly filly!” Limestone laughed, breaking away to look her over. “You didn’t have to get dolled up just for us!”
“I wanted to,” said Pinkie. “It felt right, after so long. Oh, Limestone, it's so good to see you!"
"Right back at you, little sis," said Limestone.
She then turned and yelled out across the farm,
“Mom! Dad! Marble! Grammy! Look who dropped in!”
There was a stampede of hooves, and the four remaining Pies hurried over to see what the commotion was about. Pinkie’s parents didn’t appear to recognize their daughter in her new getup, but Marble and Grammy proved much sharper to the occasion. Marble’s mouth fell agape just like Limestone's, and then, tears in her eyes, she embraced her sister, shouting,
“Pinkie! I missed you so much!”
"I missed you too, Marble," said Pinkie, hugging her right back.
Mr. and Mrs. Pie gasped, and now Grammy Pie approached, and we could see her lip trembling. Marble backed off, still smiling widely.
“Bless Celestia,” Grammy breathed, in a creaky voice. “It’s my little Pinkie Pie!”
“Grammy,” said Pinkie, her voice choked, and she threw herself into her grandmother’s hooves, as the aged mare kissed her granddaughter’s forehead.
From somewhere behind me, somepony was blowing their nose noisily. I turned around and, sure enough, the offender was Rarity. Everypony else was getting teary-eyed, but she was going all-out. Applejack was patting her back, and I turned back to watch what was going on.
Mrs. Pie had now approached Pinkie, who was finally released from her grandmother’s embrace. She looked Pinkie up and down, and then, with a teary smile, put her hoof under Pinkie’s chin to tilt her head up.
“You’ve grown so beautiful, Pinkamena. I’ve missed you every day you’ve been gone.”
“Oh, Mom,” Pinkie sniffled, and she embraced her mother tightly.
Only her father hadn’t moved. The brief look of shock when Pinkie had identified had passed, and he was looking stony-faced again. I had a feeling he was trying to pass off the little moment of weakness he had had.
Pinkie let go of her mother and turned to him. He stood resolutely on the spot, not saying a thing. Mrs. Pie gazed sternly at him, but he did not move.
“Are you mad at me, Dad?” asked Pinkie, in a timorous voice.
(Oh, please, God, not now. Not when we’ve come so far.)
“Mad?” Mr. Pie finally asked, gazing steadily down at his daughter. “Mad? You leave home when you were not even full-grown, you fail to write, you don’t visit, and now you think it acceptable to show up, wearing a fancy outfit, hoping that this shouldst make amends?”
'Shouldst'? What age did this guy think he was living in?
“Igneous!” reprimanded Mrs. Pie, sharply.
“Cloudy Quartz,” said Igneous, in a warning tone, and Cloudy Quartz backed down, still glaring at her husband.
I could see that Pinkie was trembling, and I felt a strong urge to go over and give this guy a piece of my mind. This was his daughter, his daughter, for Pete’s sake. I looked at the others, and saw that they were all looking anxious of what might come next.
Finally, Igneous said,
“I shouldst be angry with you, young lady, but…”
Pinkie looked up. Igneous' stony face was trembling, his eyes filling with tears.
“But I’m just too glad to see you home again. Thou were our little ray of sunshine, Pinkamena. I’ve missed you so much.”
Pinkie gave a happy gasp, and, just as we sighed with relief, there was a noise like a party favor, and Pinkie’s carefully-combed mane suddenly sprang into the frizzy mess we all knew and loved. I could hear Rarity give a slight groan. She must have spent ages putting her mane in order.
“Oh, Dad!” squealed Pinkie, and she embraced her father tightly, as he hugged her close.
I had to mentally retract my desire to bawl this guy out. He did have a good heart, after all.
“I’m so sorry it’s been so long,” Pinkie said, finally breaking away to address them all. “There was so much I wanted to tell you, but that wouldn’t fit in a letter. We’ve got so much to catch up on!”
“That we do, my girl, that we do,” said Grammy.
“We wanna hear everything!” said Limestone.
"Mm-hmm!" said Marble, emphatically.
“Our door has always been open for you, Pinkamena,” said Cloudy Quartz.
“Oh, but first,” said Pinkie, “you’ve gotta meet my friends! I brought them along to meet you all!”
Perplexed, the Pies looked about, expecting to find us out in the open. Pinkie giggled.
“Everypony, this is Twilight Sparkle!”
Twilight gave a start, as if this was her cue for a stage performance. She stepped out from behind the rock to smile at the surprised Pies.
“Applejack!”
Now Applejack stepped out, wheeling her cart of baked goods with her. She grinned at the fellow farm folk.
“Rarity!”
Rarity made her appearance, primping her curls primly as she smiled benignly at the Pies.
“Rainbow Dash!”
Rainbow soared upwards and landed back down beside the others, winking at the Pies.
“Fluttershy!”
Fluttershy timidly stepped out, shyly smiling, trying to hide behind her mane.
“Spike!”
The Pies gasped as Spike stepped out and waved to them. They obviously were not expecting a live dragon.
“Aaaaaaand Davie!”
Now I stepped into the open, waving at the even more stupefied Pie family. Marble and Limestone looked amazed, Grammy and Cloudy Quartz stunned. Igneous, however, had become stony-faced once more, his glare icy. He pointed a hoof at me.
“Him? You calleth that thing one of your friends, Pinkamena?”
The others looked at me in unease, and I felt an unpleasant feeling in the pit of my stomach. Nothing good could come of this, especially when I was referred to as ‘that thing’…
“Of course he is, Dad!” said Pinkie, surprised. “Why not?”
“Why not?” asked Igneous, sharply. “He's a human, Pinkamena! A human! You knoweth what’s said of their kind!”
Oh, great. He sounded like Ironmane, and another of him was so not what I needed at that moment. Pinkie shot pensive looks between me and her father, looking conflicted. She couldn’t have seen this coming.
“Oh, honestly, Igneous!” said Grammy, indignantly. “Do you still believe in those old stories? Look at him! Does he look dangerous to you?”
Even in the midst of my unease, I inwardly thanked Grammy for putting in support for me. Grandmas could be really cool, sometimes.
“There’s a reason he appeared in the paper, Mother,” said Igneous, grimly. “Is there anything to dispute about that?”
I felt as if I had swallowed ice. I had appeared in the newspaper? What could I have possibly done to be featured? I didn’t even remember being interviewed. Maybe I should have read my paper back at home.
“A wild and crazy animal, that’s what he is! Just as I always suspected of his kind!” Igneous was bellowing, making the rest of his family cringe.
Now I really wanted to know what I had done to make it into the paper, while at the same time, dreading what I might read.
“I won’t have him on my farm! Do you hear me?”
It was clear everypony had heard him, as no one spoke up to contradict him. Pinkie’s friends were looking devastated. Everything had been turning up roses, and now the good feeling had come to an abrupt halt.
Then, all of a sudden, Pinkie spoke up, and her voice was full of cold anger.
“I was a ‘wild and crazy animal’ back when I was a filly, Dad. I used to make you smile by being ‘wild and crazy’. Are you saying I’m not welcome, too?”
Igneous looked very much taken aback, as did all of us. I had never heard Pinkie sound so angry before, and this was her own father she was talking to!
“What? No, Pinkamena, of course not!”
“Davie is my friend, Dad, and if you can’t accept him, just because you think he’s a bad human, just because of what you saw in some newspaper, then-”
No! Pinkie was going to forego her family just for my sake! I was not about to let that happen. Who cared if I couldn’t visit this old rock farm? It was Pinkie that mattered, not me!
“Pinkie, no!” I said, sharply, making her wheel around to look at me in surprise. With some difficulty, I said, as I looked at Igneous, “It’s obvious I’m not welcome here. I can accept that. You’re the one who matters here, Pinkie, not me. If your family wants me to go, then I’ll go.”
“But-” began Pinkie, and she looked distressed.
“It’s ok, Pinkie,” I said, kneeling down to face her. “This is your day. You get to spend it with your family and your friends. You shouldn’t call everything off just because of me. That would be insane. I’ll back off. The rest of you deserve to have fun, even without me.”
Pinkie still looked unsure, still hurt by the fact that her father had excluded me. Everypony else was watching me closely. I caught Twilight’s eye, and she smiled and mouthed something like ‘very big of you’.
“I want it made, clear, though,” I said, louder, facing Igneous, “that Pinkie took me in when I was alone and lost. I may be banned from your property, but I’m going to stay her friend. Is that understood, Mr. Pie?”
He didn’t answer, but kept looking at me in silence. I turned back to Pinkie.
“Now, promise me something, Pinkie.”
“Mm?” she asked, looking me straight in the eye.
“Promise you won’t let the fact that I’m not here ruin your time here. This trip was all about you, not me. I’m just glad to have been able to glimpse your family. Also, tell me everything about what happens. I’ll be wanting to know. Can you do all that for me?”
Pinkie finally nodded with a smile.
“Good,” I said, and, not caring if Igneous saw or not, gave her a hug, and I felt her nuzzle my cheek. “Now go along. You and your folks have a lot to catch up on.”
Reluctantly, Pinkie turned and rejoined her friends and family. The others looked at me sadly, looking as if it was a cruel injustice that I couldn’t come with them.
“It’s ok, everypony," I said. “I’ll see you all when you get back to Ponyville. Have fun, all right?”
They nodded, though still looked reluctant to just let me go like that. They were interrupted, however, by Cloudy Quartz asking,
“That dragon of yours, Miss Sparkle. Is he tame?”
Spike looked outraged, but whatever he was going to say in response was quickly interrupted by Twilight, who used her magic to literally zip his mouth shut.
“He’s a perfect gentlecolt, ma’am,” Twilight assured her, “and will be on his best behavior.”
With that, the pack of ponies made their way into the stretch of farmland, toward the farmhouse. At the door, Pinkie turned to take one last look at me. I smiled and waved, and she did the same, before going inside with the rest of them, the door closing behind her.
I was now left alone in the barren rock land of the Pie family farm, and it was gonna be a long, long way back home...