//------------------------------//
// Rosie Outlook 
// Story: Who is Stars 
// by ff0000 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 2.1, Rosie Outlook, Pinkie Pie's Story


Trixie in her ever-grand wisdom, decided to separate the six ponies. That way, she could get their stories without the others interrupting. The things she did for her friends, the ponies she accidentally-on-purpose hurt with her magic but not really since she was under the influence of some amulet she picked up herself. No need to think about that too much. Trixie felt that this would be an adequate way to spend her time. It was no show or party but everypony would be indebted to her.

First up was Pinkie Pie's chance to tell just what happened yesterday. They were standing out the front door of the library, away from the prying eyes and ears of her friends.

"So Pinkie Pie, tell The Great and Deductive Trixie what is going on. First off, what was taken?"

Pinkie Pie hopped at the answer. "It was a pretty, pretty package! It had a shiny bow and colorful wrapping and everything. There was a card from Princess Celestia!"

Trixie turned up her nose. "Of course Princess Celestia would send something to her former pupil."

"Nope. That's the thing. The present was for Rainbow Dash."

"Really? What was in it?"

"I dunno," Pinkie said with a casual shrug. "The card also said not to open it until the new year. The package went missing before that, however. Last night, the lights suddenly went out and when we managed to find more lights, it was gone! Then we found the strange note this morning."

"Do you know what it means?" Trixie asked.

"Nope. But I do like stars. They're so pretty in the clear night sky. They're like New Year's decorations that just appear by themselves. Maybe since I like stars, I'm Stars!" Pinkie drew her hooves close to her mouth and let out a loud gasp. "What a twist!"

"Trixie will be the judge of that. Now, tell me what happened yesterday."

"Well, yesterday started yesterday, on a cold and stormy night." Pinkie Pie waved her hoof across the sky.

"I'm pretty sure it wasn't stormy here yesterday. And mail is delivered in the afternoon at the latest," Trixie said.

"Alright, you got me! I was a fine day during the morning, and I was hopping along preparing the It's a New Year to Cheer Party, trademarked. It all started like this..."

The day of New Year's Eve was wonderful! Sure, it might have been a bit chilly, and clouds rolled across the sky but that only meant the snow wouldn't melt from the sun. Pinkie Pie was up bright and early, moving along the streets of Ponyville. That night, she was going to throw the best party ever. That's right, every party is the best party ever, so it must always top the last one.  That meant she needed more balloons, more streamers, more confetti, more everything!

Even with so much to do, Pinkie found the fun in just travelling down the street. She bounced down the way, making sure to hit every puddle. Every time the cold water splashed on her hooves, she let out a bubbly giggle as if it was the first time she had experienced it. Higher and higher! Pinkie landed on a large puddle to create an even bigger splash.

The wave got so high, it completely obscured her view. Before it fully crashed, Pinkie was off again. The thoughts of her very special party brought her to the store to refill her current stocks. Twilight had agreed to throw the party at the library. It was the second-most spacious place after the Apple Family barn. That place was too cold during the wintery months, however.

When the party store appeared, Pinkie's eyes lit up like lights. She was in there for a long time and came out with several saddlebags across her back. It was a bit much to continue bouncing, so the happy pony walked the rest of the way to Twilight's house.

A few of her friends were already there, but they felt disturbed, somehow. Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Rarity were all gathered around the table in the center of the main room, however.

"Hey, girls, what's up?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Rainbow Dash received a package from Princess Celestia," Rarity answered.

Pinkie staggered forward a few steps under the weight of the decorations. Everyone else was too distracted to help at the moment. "Ooh, what's in it?"

"We're not sure, dear. The instructions were not to open it until tomorrow."

Pinkie finally just shrugged off all the stuff. She squeezed in between Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle to get a good look at the package. It appeared innocent enough, being a small box wrapped with rainbow paper. Gold ribbons held it together, and it topped with a gold bow.

"Oooh, sparkly." The present was reflected off Pinkies wide eyes.

Rainbow Dash strut over proudly. "This is a package from Princess Celestia to me. But Twilight is being a real worrywart and keeping it here."

"I'm only saying-"

Pinkie Pie shoved her hoof in front of Twilight's mouth. "No fighting. A party is going to be here! It's a wonderful time of the year." She went back to the bags on the ground. A bunch of confetti was tossed into the air with a delightful squeal.

"Oh, did anypony hear from Trixie? She's coming isn't she?" Pinkie asked.

(Trixie leaned forward with a penetrating eye. "Did you really ask about me?"

"Of course I did." Pinkie let out a nervous laugh. "Why wouldn't I ask about my good magic friend that certainly won't use that magic on me? Continuing on with my day!")

Rarity walked over to the beautifully wrapped parcel. She cast a furtive glance over, while batting her eyelashes. "We should just open it and find out what it is. Whatever is inside must be spectacular."

Rainbow Dash waved an arm in exasperation. "I want to, but Twilight won't let me."

"The note did say not to open it until the new year," Twilight pointed out to the folded card sitting right next to the package. That was indeed what it said in golden calligraphy.

Pinkie suddenly squeezed in between the two winged ponies, throwing her arm around both of them. A colorful hat was on her head and a party blowout was in her mouth. She unfurled the long plastic tongue with a squeaky whistle.

After putting the blowout on the table, she said, "Opening a present would make a great start to the new year! So come on, everypony, let's get ready to party! In a six hours! Now get out. I want this to be a surprise."

The others all left, but Rainbow Dash was reluctant to do so. She did after one last glance back at the package on the table. Twilight went upstairs, to her room.

Pinkie Pie put Spike to work in putting up the decorations. It didn't take much convincing since he was most insistent on helping around the library. She set him off to work on the rest of the place while she handled the main room.

Everything was going to look fantastic, fun, fabulous and every other f word that was not four letters long. Pinkie set up a gramophone for music, cleared tables for the food and drinks, blew up balloons with her helium breath and set them off towards the ceiling. Then there was the main banner and all the streamers.

Before finishing up, Pinkie Pie went to see how Spike was doing with rest of the place. Aside from the upstairs, which was Twilight's room and undecorated, everywhere else was looking great! Spike really did a good job. With a pleased smile, Pinkie returned to the main chamber, but that joy was soon wiped away by puzzlement.

Princess Celestia's gift had disappeared. Did Twilight put it away? "Aw phooey. I really thought it was a really nice centerpiece," she said. "Oh well, I'm sure I can come up with something else."

("So you didn't see anyone?" Trixie asked. She leaned in with one eye wider than the other.

"Nope." Pinkie shook her head vigorously, causing her curly hair to sway.

"Then who were you talking to?"

"Myself."

"Ah, naturally. The Great and Talkative Trixie does it all the time. But you also didn't see anyone else? The present was there and gone in the few minutes that it took you to look around the library."

"Hmm." Pinkie sat down with her arms folded. She tilted her head from side to side. "No. I really didn't see anypony else."

"Only Twilight and Spike could have done it in that amount of time!" Trixie shot.

"I don't think they did it," Pinkie Pie blocked. "Twilight was up in her room all while I was decorating. She was just sitting there not moving. Spike didn't do it either. He was too busy helping me! And where would they take it to anyway, unless," she gasped, "they have a secret second library home!

"Besides, the gift came back."

"It what?" Trixie's mouth hung open slightly.)

While the present was gone, there wasn't enough time to worry about it. Pinkie Pie had to pick up the cake. It was the most important part, after all. Then there was the second most important part, the cup cakes. Her special order should be ready at Sugar Cube Corner right about now.

She was drooling slightly all the way back. The sweet scent of fondant, fudge and cake was really hard to resist, but resist she must. They were for everyone.

There was a pleasant surprise that took Pinkie's mind off the cakes. The sparkling present had returned! It felt different, somehow, but maybe it was just her imagination. The rainbow wrapping paper was still topped by a nice, golden bow. It was just a bit duller.

Pinkie zipped over with a bright smile. Along the way, her legs got tangled in some banners. How odd. She knew how to organize for a party and wouldn't just leave them in ponies' path like that. But her attention was too focused on Princess Celestia's present to care. It was in the completely wrong position. It messed with the party energies she had going on around the room. She shifted it to the side, on top of a piece of paper. That was a much better location for the gift, and the paper was a nice base. Now everything was flowing smoothly again.

"Ooh, the space looks wonderful."

Pinkie turned to the source of the voice: Twilight Sparkle. She was coming downstairs with Spike following close behind.

"My first two guests!" Pinkie zipped over and tossed on party hats.

"The party isn't starting for a while, Pinkie," Twilight said.

"It's never too early! Here, have some punch." While speaking, she had already gotten them some punch. "You know, it's really strange but Trixie still isn't here."

"Yeah," Twilight said. "I wonder if she found something else to do?"

"And I had gotten eight shares of everything too," Pinkie said glumly.

Twilight suddenly had both arms on Pinkie. "If Trixie doesn't arrive, will everything portion out evenly?"

"Um, sure?"

Twilight began pacing around. Her drink was floating by her head through use of magic. "Cutting things into seven is so annoying. It's not like we can just do three slices, sixty degrees apart from one another. Maybe we could mush everything up and do it by weight."

All Spike could do in response was slap his own forehead. "This isn't the time to worry about that, Twilight."

(Trixie was staring at Pinkie with an incredulous look. "Does Twilight really do that?"

"Oh, yeah. It really bothers her otherwise."

"The Great and Powerful Trixie thinks slightly less of Twilight now.")

Pinkie Pie collected the party food meant for Trixie. "Why don't we just put it away for now and give them to Trixie once she's here?"

That was a satisfactory solution to Twilight. She took a nice, calming sip of punch.

Soon, everyone else started to arrive. First Rainbow Dash, who immediately checked on her present. Then came Applejack. Rarity arrived wearing a flashy party dress. The last to arrive was Fluttershy, and she was looking way too nervous for a fun party.

"So, we're going out afterwards, right?" Applejack asked.

"Yeah. It will be nice to enjoy the new year outdoors," Twilight said.

Rarity shook her head. "If you insist. I still don't see why you would insist, however."

Rainbow Dash was grinning near her present. "Sure thing, AJ, but only after I open Princess Celestia's present."

"Oh, that." Applejack turned towards the present. She let out a forced chuckle and backed away from it. "Come on, Rainbow, that thing can wait."

"What do you mean?" The feisty pegasus shot a glare over.

Applejack had a toothy, but evasive, grin. "Nothing." Her eyes were clearly avoiding contact with Rainbow Dash's, and sweat was dripping down her face. "Hoo, I am thirsty. I'm going to get some of that there punch." She backed away, still with a wide smile, until her butt bumped into the table. Once there, she scooped a cup and then downed it all in one gulp.

"Right," Rainbow Dash said slowly.

But everypony was having a good time. Spike was dancing with Rarity, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were talking and laughing, Pinkie Pie was trying to get Twilight and Applejack to loosen up. Both of them were really tense. She offered them a massage, but they refused.

There was music, food and a great atmosphere with friends. It was as wild and crazy as it could be without making too much of a mess of the library. How couldn't anypony be having anything other than the time of their lives? But Pinkie couldn't help but feel some ponies weren't having as much fun as they should be for her It's a New Year to Cheer party. She prowled around, staring at her friends. Nope, they were happy. Maybe it was just her imagination.

"Hey, girls," Twilight called out. Her arm was extended towards a simple, wooden clock. It was hanging on the wall and had a small pendulum swinging underneath. Everyone knew what she meant. It was almost twelve and almost the new year, at least according to library time.

Rainbow Dash pushed up her cheeks into a broad grin. "Almost time to open my present!"

"About that," Applejack said, "don't you think it's better if you don't?"

"I think it's a great idea, so stuff it, Applejack," Rainbow Dash shot back.

Pinkie slapped Rainbow Dash on the back, sending her staggering into Applejack. "Come on, come on," she said. "It's almost time for the new year! In Ten, nine, eight!"

Everyone else joined in for, "Seven, six, five, four!" They stared at the clock with wide, expectant eyes. The swinging pendulum brought the next year closer and the current year closer to an end.

"THREE!"

"TWO!"

"ONE!"

"HAP-"

A loud crash shook the walls. Sounds of glass hitting the floor ringed out, and then a great gust of wind blew out all the lanterns in the room. Darkness fell across them like a great blanket. Everyone let out gasps of surprise and yelps of pain as they crashed into each other. All the moving brought down more crashing noises as decorations and books tumbled down. They were being really unfriendly, trying to talk over each other.

"Calm down!" Twilight shouted.

A bright glow, coming from her horn, lit up the room, though it was still rather dim. Shadowy shapes flickered across the walls. A lot of the shelves were messy while much of the decorations have been pulled down. Rarity added her light to the mix.

"What happened?" Fluttershy asked. She was curled up on the ground.

"Someone broke the window," Rarity pointed out. "Who would do something as barbaric as that?"

Twilight looked outside, but all she could see were lights from the rest of the village celebrating. There weren't even any hoofprints outside.

The loud exclamation of, "Hey!" brought her attention back inside.

Rainbow Dash pointed towards the central table. The present had vanished! "Alright, who took it?"

"Calm down, Rainbow," Twilight said. "I'm sure there's an explanation for this."

"The explanation is," Pinkie Pie proclaimed ominously, "that there is no fighting at my party! Everyone hug it out." It was worded more like a command than a suggestion.

("And we all hugged it out," Pinkie said.

"Is that so?" Trixie questioned. The look on her face clearly stated disbelief.

"Of course! Good friends will never fight for long. And then it was morning, and you came along."

Trixie rubbed her chin thoughtfully. It didn't look like Pinkie was going to elaborate any more. The pink pony was just smiling brightly. After giving instructions to wait and not talk to anyone, Trixie walked off. It was time for the next pony's story. There was something about that story that felt off, but there were still other tales to hear.)