I stood and watched Pinkie Pie as she stomped around her room at Sugarcube Corner, flinging her belongings into various drawers and cupboards. Her foal, Chocolate, stood with her forelegs over her crib, a confused look on her face. As well as myself, the rest of Pinkie's friends were there. Hell, even Discord was there, having just pledged to use his powers for good.
"I can't believe the nerve of him," Pinkie snarled, "lying to us like that! How could he be so callous?"
"Ace only had Equestria's safety at heart," I offered, "so it's only natural he'd want to protect it. And given what Discord did the last time he got loose, it's only natural that Ace would want to keep a close eye on him. So surely you can forgive him for telling one little white lie about being on his side?"
If looks could kill, then I would have died a thousand deaths from the way Pinkie glared at me. I had no idea she could look so intimidating, especially when her mane and tail were straight. Truth be told, it was rather unnerving made me shy away nervously.
"If you knew what I knew," she said coldly, "you wouldn't be so quick to defend him. But I made a Pinkie Promise not to tell, so don't bother asking. The fact is that this is just one more in a long list of lies, and I've simply reached the end of my tether."
"If I may be so bold," Discord interjected, "there are at least two of us in this room who have lied to you in the past and have been forgiven. I, of course, am one of them."
"And I'm the other one," John said, "given my previous job."
Discord nodded.
"I said to Fluttershy that I would reform," he said, "but only so I could stop her using her Element on me. Yet when I realised that I actually appreciated her friendship, which I still do, I was quick to change my ways for the better. You all forgave me then."
"And you already know my story," John added, "so there would be no point in me telling you it again.
Discord raised a claw.
"I don't know your story," he said, "so could you tell me?"
"I was talking to Pinkie," John replied, "but to cut a very long story short: I used to be a spy back in the world I came from. I was assigned to keep an eye on Geo to find out what, if anything, he knew about Ace. To do that I had to become his friend. At first I was lying about being his friend, but then he found out about who I really was and soon made me realise that I wanted our friendship to be real. In the end, I took a beating to prove that it was."
Pinkie looked at us blankly.
"I don't know what Ace has done in the past," I said, "but since you promised not to tell us, then I can only assume that it was something really bad. So if you can forgive him for that, then surely you can forgive him for this?"
"I guess you're right..." Pinkie muttered, "I guess I should forgive him. After all, he's done much worse than this."
"Good." I replied, "Then let's go back to the lab and find him. Once you forgive him you can go back to being one big happy fa—"
"You said I should forgive him," Pinkie snapped, "but you didn't say anything about getting back together with him."
"I thought that getting back with him was implied." I retorted.
"I will forgive him for lying to me," she said, "but I won't get back with him. Not this time. I don't want my daughter growing up thinking that being deceitful is the way forward in life."
"She won't," Rarity interjected, "because you will be there to steer her along the right path."
"But if I stay with Ace," Pinkie growled, "then we'll have a conflict of interests. On one hoof you have me with my happy-go-lucky attitude, willingness to help my friends, and my positive outlook on life. But on the other hoof you have Ace with his deceitful ways and, above all else, his uncanny ability to lie and make it sound like the truth. So who do you think Chocolate is going to listen to when it comes to making the right choices in life?"
"You're over-thinking this, Pinkie." Rainbow Dash said gently, "It'll be a few years before Chocolate is at that stage, and hopefully you and Ace will have worked things out by then."
"But what if we haven't, Dashie?" Pinkie deadpanned, "What if he's still lying to me about Celestia-knows-what?"
"Ah have ta agree with Pinkie." Applejack said, "Ace was so darn good at lyin', even Ah couldn't pick up on it. How ironic — the Element o' Honesty didn't see a lie."
"You see?" Pinkie said, "If a living lie detector like AJ can't pick up on it, then who knows what else he's hiding? A man with so many secrets can be dangerous, and is not the sort of man I want bringing up my daughter."
"But Pinkie," I started, "maybe you should—"
"No!" she screamed, "We're done here. You've tried your best, but I've made my choice. So either respect my decision, or leave. I am not going back to Ace, and that's final. As for forgiving him... well, since he's at fault here then he can come and find me. But if he wants to stay cooped up in his lab then that's no skin off my nose."
We all looked at each other nervously. We knew that there was not going to be any way of making Pinkie do something she didn't want to do, and we sure as hell weren't going to force the issue.
"Okay Pinkie," Twilight spoke for all of us, "we respect your decision, and will support you no matter what."
To further emphasise her point Twilight trotted over to Pinkie and gave her a hug. The rest of us followed suit and soon Pinkie was the lucky recipient of yet another Elements of Harmony group hug. As we separated, Pinkie's mane and tail slowly inflated back to their normal level of puffiness and she beamed from ear to ear.
"You're all such great friends," she said, "so let's have a party to celebrate that!"
She produced her Party Cannon from underneath her bed and fired it, decorating the room in a plethora of balloons and streamers. As she rushed off, presumably to get food and drink, we all looked at each other and let out a collective sigh.
We knew that this wasn't over. Pinkie was hiding something, but only time would tell if she would reveal it to us or not. In the meantime we decided to simply enjoy the impromptu party, if only to show solidarity for our friend.
***
John lazed on the couch with Applejack across his lap, idly running one hand through her mane while scratching behind her ears with the other. But despite the attention, Applejack's mind seemed to be elsewhere and she sighed.
"What's wrong, AJ?" John stopped his motions, "Is there something on your mind?"
"Ah'm just worried about Pinkie is all," she replied, "she seemed real upset earlier when she was talkin' about Ace an' his lyin'. It makes me think that somethin' awful happened ta them and they don't want anypony findin' out."
"Secrets," John swallowed nervously, "have a habit of coming out in the end. Whatever they're hiding, we'll soon find out. Though given how Pinkie was, I'd be inclined to say it's a doozy."
"So ya reckon we need ta be prepared fer anythin'?" Applejack asked, "Or maybe somethin' really bad?"
John shrugged.
"I don't know, hon." he said, "But I guess being prepared for the worst wouldn't hurt at all."
"Ah guess..." Applejack replied, "Anyway, Ah'm goin' ta bed."
"I'll be up in a minute," John said. "got a little bit of cramp."
Applejack gave him a peck on the cheek.
"All right," she said, "Ah'll see ya in a minute or five."
She trotted upstairs, leaving John on the couch. Sitting up, he buried his face in his hands before dissolving slowly into quiet sobs.