Lyra waved as the cart careened past her down Ponyville’s main road, and her greeting was snatched from the ears of the intent mare in the yolk. The same went for all the other ponies who noticed the flying Pink blur speeding crazily through the centre of town: Berry Punch zoomed past to the left, Cloud Kicker passed low overhead, Time Turner dived for cover at the last second, Rainbow Dash called a greeting from a low cloud...
The cart skidded to a halt. “Hey Dashie!” Pinkie Pie called out in a sing song voice, waving animatedly at her cerulean friend. Rainbow flittered down with a playful barrel roll, and perched on the side of Pinkie’s cart. “Heya, Pinks! What’s with all the...what is this stuff, exactly?” She asked, looking at the random assortment of gizmos, decorations and ingredients that filled the vehicle.
Pinkie jumped out from under the yolk, sat proudly on the edge of the wooden cart, and began pointing out each of her treasured artefacts. “These are my ultra-secret Emergency House-sitting Supplies! There’s my concentration clock, some special scintillating streamers, a particularly palatable pudding...” Pinkie continued listing off the large collection of strange items, each alliteration worse than the last, until Rainbow Dash finally managed to cut in. “Whoa, Pinkie! I’m sure those daffodils ARE delicious, but did you say ‘house-sitting’? Like, looking after somepony elses house when they’re away?”
Pinkie nodded excitedly. “Yeah, yeah! Zecora needs to go to Canterlot to order some special herbs and she asked me to look after her cottage! It’s gonna be a blast! Hey, Dashie, you wanna come spend the night? It’ll be super crazy fun!”
Rainbow Dash Raised an eyebrow. “You’re house-sitting... for Zecora?”
Pinkie Pie nodded excitedly.
“You’re spending the night there.”
“Uhuh!”
“On your own.”
“Yep!”
“In the Everfree.”
“Yepperoony! So you wanna come, Dashie?” Pinkie just about bounced off her perch in excitement.
Rainbow Dash gave Pinkie an incredulous look and flittered up into the air, “Uh, no thanks Pinks, I’m still trying to work the kink out of my back leg after your last sleepover. And, uh...are you sure you’re gonna be okay? On your own?”
Pinkie deflated slightly, then perked up and exclaimed maybe a little too loudly, “Of course I’ll be fine, Zecora has potions and magicky stuff all over the place, what could go wrong? Anyway gotta go see you tomorrow bye!” And with that, she kicked the side of the cart, and the vehicle resumed its chaotic progress through the centre of town, its yolk skittering loosely in front of it, Pinkie still perched upon the cart itself.
Rainbow Dash gave a low whistle as she watched the apparently self-propelled vehicle nearly take out half the farmer’s market before disappearing in between the buildings.
*****
Twilight had just finished writing a report on the nature of grown energy crystals. She hadn’t been asked to, but she always liked to have a few spare reports lying around in case somepony asked. After all, the effects of magical radiation around energy crystals was indeed an amazingly interesting subject, considering the mysterious ways it could affect a pony after long exposure. And, of course, Twilight had somewhat personal experience with a pony so affected.
She stretched, stepping away from her filing cabinet, and made her way to the front door. A bit of sunlight would do her the world of good. It was such a perfect day after all. A peaceful smile spread in anticipation of the glorious sunny day outside as she opened the door and took a deep breath.
“Hi!”
“WHOA!!” Twilight backpedalled away from the huge blue eyes not a quarter-inch from her face, “Pinkie, don’t do that! You’ll give me a heart attack!”
Pinkie just giggled into her hoof for a moment as the young unicorn rebalanced herself before chirping , “You look like you’ve seen a ghost, Twily! Don’t worry, I’m sure he flew away. I just wanted to ask if you’d like to sleep over at Zecora’s house with me tonight! It’s gonna be crazy fun!”
Twilight leaned around and saw Pinkies’ laden cart. She gulped. “Gee, Pinkie,. I’d love to, but I think I’m still trying to repress some memories of that night at Sugar Cube Corner,” seeing Pinkie’s face fall, Twilight quickly amended, “I’m joking, Pinkie, that sleepover was really fun...but next time leave the cutlery out of the party cannon. Anyway, I’ve got a paper to file and some serious transmutation studies planned, so I’m afraid I really can’t make it.”
Pinkie lowered her head in thought, then quickly bounced up, “Okey-dokey-lokey, I’ll see you tomorrow then!”
With a completely incongruous bang and a puff of confetti, Pinkie and her cart were gone.
Twilght sighed and looked over at her recently filed paper. With a thin, dry smile, she mumbled, “Speak of the devil...”
*****
The Everfree Forest was just as dark and foreboding and uncontrolled as it usually was. Heavy hanging boughs clogged with dense evergreen foliage, overshadowing the path that barely managed to carve a way through the clinging undergrowth. And yet, in spite of the ferns and vines attempting to wrap themselves around her hooves, or the heavily laden cart yoked to her shoulders, Pinkie Pie bounced. She bounced long and far and very happily, her very presence the antonym of everything the forest embodied. Even the sunbeams seemed to follow her as she hummed a happy little tune to herself.
Pinkie only ceased her bouncing when she bent and sniffed at the blue flowers lining the constricted path, just barely avoiding touching her nose to the deceivingly sweet-scented petals. Pinkie wouldn’t risk not being able to talk again, but she could at least enjoy what the flowers had to offer, right?
It was a good thing her friends weren’t there to see her, because, wow-wee, would Twilight loose some screws if she saw Pinkie doing that! Pinkie hopped away from the flowers, chuckling at the mental image of Twilight on fire again - that pony...
*She sure can be annoying sometimes, can’t she?*
Pinkie barely even heard the thought as it floated past her, her mind already away in greener fields.
Or, more accurately, a specific field. The rare open spaces in the Everfree were all the more beautiful for their scarcity, but still unnatural. Bedding grounds for the large monsters that roamed the woods, they were yet another deceptively pretty sight to pony eyes: sights that should always be avoided. And Pinkie had just hopped straight through one, seemingly unaware of the danger. It was a mistake many ponies made, assuming that Pinkie Pie was truly air-headed, almost ignorant of how the world really worked. She didn't mind though. Nopony laughed at anypony they had to take too seriously. But the fact of the matter was that Pinkie knew that the family of manticores that lived in this clearing were away on a migratory holiday and that they wouldn't mind her passing through their home. So long as they never found out, that is.
*If only the others could realize how much you know...*
But again, Pinkie let the thought float away.
*****
Zecora’s cottage, buried as deep into the forest as ponies dared go, was a cheery kind of building. All the kooky hanging vines and dark hidden shadows were mysterious, almost as if creatures were hiding in wait for her, but, to Pinkie, there was no fear. She knew there were no monsters. In her mind, pastel images of her friends leaping out and surprising her with a sleep over party played over and over again, exciting the illogical anticipation with her. But she knew they weren't there either.
She knew because she didn't feel alone.
She knocked on the Zecora’s door, calling out into the dingy interior, “Hello-O-o, anypony here?” Receiving no answer did not deter her: Pinkie spun her cart around at the door and bounced up and down in the yoke, tipping all of her weird and wonderful things out across the floor of the deserted cottage. Once bouncing in one place became boring, Pinkie somersaulted over the cart, using it’s bed as a slide to make her way into the silent bower as flamboyantly as possible.
With a raucous “Yippee!”, Pinkie slid into her own pile of miscellaneous items, scattering them throughout the room, and promptly lay there giggling into her hoof. She rolled slightly to the left, taking some weight off the slightly bruised portion of her back. Just because she jumped around all the time didn't mean she was extra-tough or anything, she was just willing to put up with it if it meant she, and more importantly, those around her, were having fun.
*They don’t realize how how much effort you put into doing what you do.*
Pinkie smiled knowingly and called out, “I knew you were here! Come out silly, we need to put all this stuff away! We can have a sleepover later, hmm?”
There was no reply.
Pinkie shrugged. She was just shy, after all. Instead of calling out again, she bent and began collecting items from the floor: her Dandelion-daffodil Delight, and a shovel -- which made no sense...a senseless shovel. Yes, that works -- and began stacking the goods in appropriate places. the back and forth was boring, but nopony likes clutter, even if nopony was here.
“You should just leave it, you know.”
Pinkie chuckled lightly to herself before swinging her head up to peer across the room. She cocked head to the side and grinned. “There you are silly-billy! Come on, help me. With two of us, we’ll be done so quickly even Rainbow Dash would be surprised!”
There was another mare in the room. Her coat was coloured one shade beyond perception, her mane falling in a style that only just managed to defy description. The only things truly clear about her were her blue eyes and her contempt.
“Pinkie, nopony else will even SEE any of this. Why bother cleaning it up? Why bother bringing it in the first place?”
Pinkie pirouetted amongst her belongings and lightly explained to her company, “Well, at first I was going to invite my friends, but Dashie still has a sore leg after we tried to shoot her out of my party cannon that one night, and Twilight was busy reading and repressing memories - maybe that means keeping a scrapbook? - And I know that AJ is busy with the zap-apple harvest this time of year, and Fluttershy is Fluttershy. So I brought all this stuff for you and me to play with!”
The other mare raised an eyebrow at Pinkie, who continued to dance around the room. “PInkie, if anypony knows what repressed memories are, its you, if only because its the one thing you never tried to do.”
Pinkie stopped dancing and sat heavily in the centre of the room, casting her eyes up at the mare before her. “I know that. But its no fun knowing things that aren’t going to make other ponies smile. That’s what we do now, remember?”
The other mare sighed a long-suffering sigh, and asked, “Do I have to?”
Pinkie nodded emphatically.
The Other Mare’s head dropped the the floor as she regarded something that looked suspiciously like a bear trap. “You brought all of this for me, did you?”
Again, Pinkie nodded, her face lifting.
“Okay,” The Other Mare relented, “Lets get this lot cleaned up.”
Pinkie Pie jumped up towards the ceiling, crowing happily, before stooping to pick up another of her strange possessions. Before she picked it up, however, she looked back at her fellow pony, checking on her. She was bending over...something on the floor, picking it up and placing it on a nearby shelf with a lacklustre attitude. Pinkie snorted affectionately before returning to her own task.
*****
PInkie sat over the large cauldron that graced the centre of Zecora’s abode, stirring the gently bubbling contents, checking the consistency of the gooey substance within every now and again with a quick dab of a hoof. She hummed snatches of song to herself, chuckling as she pulled the concoction from the coals. With one final test, she called out happily, “Soup’s on, everypony!”
“Applejack still does it better.” The Other Mare snarked as she sauntered over, sniffing cautiously at the brew.
“Of course I know that, Silly! But it never hurt a pony to try something new, right?”
A blatant snort was her answer. “Of course it has, it’s nearly killed you more times than you would ever care to admit. And you can stop calling me ‘Silly’ all the time, it’s...demeaning.”
Pinkie Pie snickered as she poured out two bowls of her pretend-witch’s brew soup, “What would you rather I called you?” She held out one of the bowls to the Other Mare, “Oatmeal?”
The Mare in question took the bowl, quietly whispering, “You haven’t called me ‘Oatmeal’ in months...”
Pinkie bopped the Other Mare on the nose, giggling. “I know, because you’ve been being silly, Silly! So I called you Silly!”
The Mare spun away and stomped off one of the few corners of the room, “...I preferred Oatmeal...”
*****
The sun went down suddenly out in the Everfree. One minute sunbeams were streaming across the room through one of the few openings in the canopy, and the next, Pinkie was watching the stars wheeling overhead.
“They are beautiful, aren’t they?” The Other Mare asked quietly from her cot in the corner.
Pinkie nodded absently, absorbed in the seemingly dancing celestial bodies above. “Why don’t we play anymore?” She asked suddenly. “I brought tonnes of games and fun stuff with me so we could, but you’re just sitting away from me again.” Pinkie looked at the Other Mare, but saw no reaction.
“Oatmeal?”
“What?!”
Pinkie walked over to the shadowed cot, looking down at the curled-up figure therein. “Do you still look at the stars when I’m asleep?”
A pair of shimmering eyes rose to meet her own as The Other Mare answered barely loud enough to be heard. “You know I do...”
“C’mon then!” PInkie sang out, pulling the cot over and sending its occupant sprawling, “Come and play with me outside in the moonlight!”
Pinkie bounced out the door, the soup and her paraphernalia forgotten in her rush for her spur of the moment game. A long-suffering sigh escaped the lips of the Mare in her wake.
*****
Pinkie hid in her hollow tree trunk, completely invisible to the outside world. She had even masked her scent to deter tracking, had covered her tracks with leaves. Most ponies knew that when Pinkie wanted to be somewhere, she found a way to be in the middle of it, but few realized that when Pinkie wanted to disappear, she did it almost literally.
The hidden pony heard snuffling around her hidey-hole, followed by three sharp raps against the soft, brittle wood. She had been found. Energy built up during her time of inactivity burst forth within her, sending Pinkie soaring out through the top of the hollow trunk like a vertical cannon, erupting with a perfectly unplanned clutter of confetti. “Yay, you found me!”
The Other Mare stood at the base of the stump, looking balefully up at the pink mare, even as she arched through the air and tumbled to the ground in an orchestrated tangle of limbs. The sheer comic nature would have left most ponies rolling in mirth.
The Other Mare snorted, looking bored. “Pinkie, this is pointless, you know I’ll always find you, and you’ll always find me. Why even bother hiding?”
“Because its fun! And friends love having fun with each other, right?”
The Other Mare looked up sharply. She planted her hooves into the loam, readying growl at the Pink Mare, but Pinkie cut her off. “Aww, come on Oatmeal, why don’t you ever want to play with me anymore? We used to play together all the time. Why don’t you want to be friends with me any more.?”
The Other Mare wavered , then looked away. “Pinkie Pie, No matter how good you are at ignoring yourself, you know this: The only pony you could never make friends with, was me.”
Pinkie pouted., then threw her hooves in the air and landed flat on her back, staring up through the hole left in the canopy when the tree whose stump she had been hiding in had collapsed. Waving her hooves idly about in front of her eyes, she said, “We used to play, out during the day even, when other ponies were about. And then we just...stopped.”
The Other Mare shook her head and sat down. “You grew up, Pinkie. You made those friends of yours. Now you act like you don't need me anymore, so I just stay out of your way.”
Pinkie looked over at the dark mare standing in the shadows and snorted, “Oh no you don’t! You warn me about bad things all the time! You help me when I need it. You keep me safe.”
“I keep US safe.”
“You’re still my oldest friend. I won’t let that go. I’ll never let YOU go.”
The Other Mare shuffled awkwardly in the dark. “I’m going to go away eventually, Pinkie.”
Pinkie just smiled and returned her eyes to the night sky. “Will you play with me?”
“Pinkie, I already said-”
“But look, Oatmeal. Look up.”
The Other Mare grumbled, but took a tentative step forward, looking up at the night sky. “Stars. I see stars Pinkie.”
“Your stars. They were always your stars. I play in the sunlight, but you always preferred the dark. So lets play in the dark, and have fun. Together, like we used to on the farm. What do you say, Oatmeal?”
The Mare sighed, and looked down. “Give me til the count of ten.”
Pinkie squee’d and pulled her mane over her eyes, counting loudly, “One, two, three, four fivesixseveneightnineTEN! I’m coming!” She cried out, leaping to her hooves and running in random circles, pretending to herself for just a moment that she didn’t know exactly where the Other Mare was.
*****
Pinkie stretched low to the ground, bending nimbly at her waist and shoulders, crawling forward like a cat, silent as a breeze. Pinkie was doing what Pinkie did best.
She was going to throw a surprise...well, not party, but close enough.
Before her lay a high pile of dead brushwood. Brambles and long-fallen branches blocked her path menacingly, holding her back. Her blue eyes cast about rapidly about the obstacle before finding her entry point: a break in the gloom, a hole in the bramble wall. She bunched up her hindquarters beneath her and, with a settling wiggle, sent herself soaring through the hole and into the open night sky. She barely even gave the ground any consideration as she felt the moonlight trace across her body. Then, with a perfect tuck-and-roll, she hit the ground and stood up tall, words of victory ready on her lips.
Only to find herself alone in the deserted clearing. She looked around worriedly. Pinkie only ever felt alone when something was nearby, but so far, the clearing was empty. She was surrounded by soft green grass bathed lightly in the glow of the moon and stars, just barely showing the dozen or so hollows spread across the covered ground. In fact, this clearing looked rather familiar...
A low growl emanated from the inky shadows of the forest, a great pair of eyes blinking cat-like in the darkness, and for the first time in months, Pinkie regarded the darkness in fear.
She scrambled to her hooves, trembling as she retreated slowly. She whispered into the air around her, “O-Oatmeal? Are you there...?” But she heard no response.
Suddenly a cracking sound filled the glade, and Pinkie felt the Other Mare shaking her body violently. Pinkie dove to the side, heeding her warning, just in time to avoid the giant paw smashing into the ground inches from her. Pinkie spun and hid in the crook of a tree-trunk, seeing the bulky form slide out of the darkness, shaking branches free of its mane like mere cobwebs, its long insectile tail whipping through the night air fast enough to whistle. The huge head swung about, its eyes locking onto the small shadowed form hiding against her tree.
And then Pinkie moved. Her vision swirled, colours leached from the already dull night, and she felt herself spiral effortlessly away into the sky. Into the shadows that never were.
Below her, she saw a Pink Mare step fearlessly from the darkness and into the light, her perfectly straight mane whipping up in her angry dash. The Mare planted her hooves widely, and stared the massive beast down with a violent glint to her eye.
“Oatmeal?” Pinkie cried out, “Oatmeal! Stop, get back! He’s just angry that you hid in his field, just run away!”
“No Pinkie,” The Pink Mare called out, “He meant to hurt you! I’ll never let anypony hurt you...”
Before she could reply, the beast grew tired of the staring match, and swung a paw at the tiny pony beneath him. She didn't duck. She stood her ground.
Pinkie stared in horror as the paw descended on her friend. “Oatmeal...!”
The paw never reached its target. It hovered, inches from her nose, stopped in time, its owner equally frozen in a scowl of anger. Sound ceased. The night could have gone on forever. But The Pink Mare turned and looked up at Pinkie, and huffed annoyedly. She looked back at her enemy and whispered, “Nopony hurts my Pinkie...” She raised one forehoof, almost lazily, pulling it back and launching it forward with strength built from unknown years of work, play and anger built up unrecognized, aimed for the frozen face of the creature who had become her prey.
Pinkie watched in horror, willing herself to end it before it was too late. She screamed out into the night:
“PINKAMENA DIANNE PIE!”
In a flash and a swirl, she found herself standing alone in the field, watching as the Manticore scurried back into the forest, clutching its damaged jaw. She looked down at her own bleeding hoof.
And she cried.
*****
Knock knock knock
Twilight opened her eyes blearily to the sight of an open book. She had fallen asleep studying at her desk, barely moving since yesterday.
Knock knock knock
Well, no time like the present. The unicorn dragged herself from her seat, stumbling across the floor to the front door, and nearly walking straight into it as she did. She fumbled telekinetically for the door handle, grunting as she pulled it open to greet her guest. She rubbed her eyes sleepily and took in the pony before her.
“Oh, hey Pinkie. I thought you were at Zecora’s - Oh sweet Celestia what happened to your hoof?!”
Before her stood a bedraggled and haggard pony, leaning awkwardly off her damaged limb, her face lit with a smile that never could reach her eyes.
“Hey Twilight. I...I need to talk to you about somepony...”