Its been three years since my last dream. I usually kept myself up as late as possible, entertaining and amusing myself as long as I could to keep the bad thoughts from entering my head and when it finally got too late, I’d pass out on my bed or beanbag. The result would be a deep, dreamless sleep.
But I hadn’t done that tonight. After dinner, I fell fast asleep in my old bed. The moment I closed my eyes, I was transported back to the day when my dearest of friends threw me a surprise party…
“I cannot believe Dash had to drag you to your own birthday party!” Twilight laughed. “I would never have suspected you of all ponies to need such convincing.”
I smiled sheepishly. “I didn’t mean to be so stubborn,” I apologized. “I just thought…”
“Don’t worry about it,” Twilight interrupted as she hopped on her back feet. She was waving her front legs back and forth in beat to the music. “We all make mistakes.”
“Thanks, Twilight.” I replied while smiling. I skipped on over towards Fluttershy and Rarity. They were each enjoying a slice of cake as Gummy swayed and danced around their legs. Oh Gummy, you’re so silly!
“Hey Pinkie,” Fluttershy whispered. “I hope you are enjoying yourself.”
“I am! This is the greatest, most amazingiest party I’ve ever seen. I cannot believe all the trouble you went through just for me.”
“Oh darling, it was no trouble at all.” Rarity said. “We were all just afraid that you’d find out what we were planning and spoil the surprise.”
“But it all worked out,” Fluttershy continued. “And now we are having the best surprise party ever.”
“Yes we are,” I responded. I glanced around the barn. AJ was helping herself to a cup of punch while Rainbow Dash was sitting on the rafters. She had told everypony that she wanted to catch twenty winks (claiming that she had worn herself out while dragging me here) but I knew for a fact that every time I turned my back, she opened her eyes to watch me. It made me nervous.
What was she up too? Why was she watching me?
A few minutes later, I would have my answer. I was in the middle of a conversation with AppleJack over why there weren’t any pink Apples (I mean, really, there are Red Apples and Green Apples, why no Pink Apples) when Dashie came down from the rafters.
“Hey Pinkie Pie,” she called out. “C’mere, I want to talk to you about something.”
I felt a shiver run up the back of my spine. My tail flicked back and forth and I blinked three times. This meant that something serious was about to happen - something that I probably would not like to experience.
But I couldn’t just turn my back to Dash. If she wanted too, she could just drag me out of the barn by my tail or my mane. Keeping my smile upon my face, I excused myself from AppleJack, to trot over to Dashie’s side. “Hey Rainbow Dash, what’s up?”
She looked over my shoulder towards the others. AppleJack had decided to pay the snacks table a visit and Fluttershy, Twilight, and Rarity were all too busy dancing to pay us any mind. I swallowed nervously as Rainbow Dash led me outside.
The sun had already set and the sky was a beautiful shade of dark blue. I could see the stars dancing and the moon was shining bright. A genuine smile brushed my lips as I admired the scenery.
“Pinkie?” Dash lead me a bit away from the barn and sat herself down in front of an apple tree. In this light, her colorful mane seemed a bit muted making her blues and reds look violet and deep crimson. It was a very nice look for her but one that also made her seem a bit intimidating. “What happened back there?”
I distracted myself by kicking an apple from one hoof to the other. “What do you mean?”
“You know exactly what I mean. What in Celestia’s name was going on back at your house when I came to pick you up?”
The apple suddenly seemed very fascinating to me.
“Pinkie…” Dash said in a more serious tone. “C’mon, something happened and I want to know what.”
I wondered if any worms lived in this apple. I bet, actually, that there could be an entire worm world hidden deep inside the core of this apple. The probably have their own mayor and president and…
“Pinkie…” Dash said again but this time in a much different tone. I had never heard Dash speak to any pony in such a soft, gentle voice before. It was enough to snap me out of my stupor and look up at her. “What happened?”
I could see her eyes in the moonlight. I had never seen that look upon her face before in all my years knowing her. She was concerned. Legitimately concerned, and even a bit scared…
For me…
I didn’t know if I wanted to laugh or to cry. My heart felt all fuzzy warm at the knowledge that Rainbow Dash actually cared about me enough to worry, but at the same time, I knew that I had to tell her the truth and that scared me more than anything.
I walked on over to her and sat down.
“Did I ever tell you about my home?” I whispered.
“No.” Dash replied. “You’ve never told anyone as far as I know.”
That part wasn’t true. I told the Cutie Mark Crusaders a little bit about my past but just enough to scratch the surface. But Dash? Dash was different. She deserved to know the whole truth.
“I came from Rockton, a small community a few miles from Ponyville. It’s nothing like it is here. The trees back home are all dead or dying, there is no grass, no birds singing or ponies dancing…” I closed my eyes. “There was no laughing, no smiling…just rocks…”
“I’ve never heard of such a place,” Dash whispered.
“It’s very small and only a couple families live there. We were rock farmers, my family and I…”
“Rock what?” she raised an eyebrow.
“Rock farmers. It’s kind of like what Rarity does, you know, dig around looking for gems except instead of jewels, we dug up granite and marble, and jade – things ponies could use for their homes or building projects.”
“We weren’t very well off either.” I continued when Dash didn’t comment. “I mean, we had enough to survive, but that’s it. My parents were very traditional ponies too. They kept to the law of the land – my sisters and I were kept out of school in order to work the farm. We were taught to read and write by Mother, but that’s pretty much it. I had no friends and no one to talk to.”
“That sounds terrible,” Dash frowned.
I shrugged. “It’s not so terrible if that’s the only thing you know. I mean, how can I miss or want stuff that I never knew existed.” I rested my head on her shoulder. I felt her tense and I was about to move when she shook her head. “No, its, okay…”
“Thanks…” I sighed. “It wasn’t until I saw your Sonic Rainboom when I discovered how to smile for the first time.”
“Yeah, I remember you telling us about that…but you just briefly mentioned it.”
“Yup.” I smiled at the memory. “I hadn’t seen so many beautiful colors before in all my life. It just inspired me to throw a party for my family so that they too could experience something so amazing. It wasn’t easy and it took all my allowance and savings to get the supplies, but it was worth it.”
“I, uhm, am glad I could help?”
“I owe you more than you know, Dashie.”
She scowled at my pet name for her but didn’t correct me. “But that still doesn’t explain the randomness I saw back at your house.”
I stared at my hooves. “Like I said,” I tried to keep my expression joyous, or at the least, neutral, but I could feel the sadness beginning to creep onto my face. I didn’t want Dashie, or anypony for that matter, to see me like this. This was not who I was. I was Pinkie Pie, the most upbeat, party-loving, smile-a-rific pony in all of Ponyville.
I couldn’t let her see just how much pain those memories brought me. I was a happy pony. I did not want their pity, or worse, have them feel sorry for me.
However, as much as I wanted too, I couldn’t keep this secret from Dash. She was the pony who taught me how to smile. The least I could do was trust her with something like this…
“I had no friends.” I shifted a bit. “I had my sisters, but it just wasn’t the same. Every morning I would see the school-carriage taking the fillies from other farms off to class. How I wanted to join them, even if it were for a single day, but I knew that Father wouldn’t allow it. There was just too much work to be done and he’d be ever so upset if I were to leave.”
I could make out the outline of Dash’s face and mane in the moonlight. She was watching me, listening to me, saying not a word, moving not an inch.
“So…” I closed my eyes tightly. “I made my own friends. Those friends. The ones you saw back at my place. They were the same ones from when I was a filly.” I felt the tears beginning to drip down the sides of my cheeks and I wiped them away furiously. There was no way I was about to let Dash see me cry. This was not who I was…
“So,” I coughed. “So…I grabbed anything I could find. Mother’s bag of flour, some rocks from the farm, turnips from the pantry, and a hoof-full of lint from under my bed. I kept them in those closet and whenever I had time alone, I’d…well, hoist little parties…” My body began to tremble as I admitted this aloud for the first time. “They were the only friends I had and…and when I thought you all left me…I…I…”
I buried my face into Rainbow’s chest and cried. She pulled back briefly before wrapping her hooves around my back. I was, to be honest, surprised that she comforted me as I knew this was not something Dash was comfortable with, but she did. She held me and ran her hoof over my mane as I cried.
And as the tears rolled down the sides of my face, and as my body shook with the pent up pain and sadness, I heard Dash whisper into my ear…
“We’ll never leave you Pinkie…not now…not ever. I promise.”