//------------------------------//
// Number 14 
// Story: Springtime; Ponyville. 
// by the frank 
//------------------------------//


This bright and sunny April day, Pinkie Pie was alone. She gazed from her window to the streets below.

Pinkie had decided years ago that she was never going to let anypony share her quarters, at least not on a permanent basis. She was always there for her friends, of course. Nopony should have any doubts about that! A select few had, over the years, been invited to share her bed. Most of the time, though, this room was Pinkie's fortress against the world.

That does sound a bit harsh, and she never used that word herself in public. It was only with herself that she referred to her place with that word, because Pinkie never wanted to offend anypony, at least not intentionally. Some ponies wondered why Pinkie never seemed to find her special somepony. There were a lot of reasons. First of all, Pinkie loved being in love. She loved the feeling of butterflies, the thrill of the first kisses, the tense feeling of being apart... But she hated the everyday life part afterwards. Therefore, her relationships lasted about three or four months, then she broke it off without regret, stayed alone for a while, and found somepony new.

Second, Pinkie Pie loved the world. If she had to spend too much time with just one pony, the others would be sad not to have Pinkie Pie.

The third reason was the mornings, because whatever relationship she was in, or whatever kind of party she had thrown, she always ended up in her room. She needed her own secluded private chamber, her fortress. Those mornings, she never wanted to share with anypony.

It may seem like Pinkie was some kind of crazy pony, secretly hating everypony else. Nothing could be further from the truth. Pinkie LOVED everypony. Well, except for Gilda, Discord, Sombra, Chrysalis... There was a long list of those she didn't love, but everypony else, she did. To be the bestest party pony ever, and to always be on top and ready, when it was time to rest she needed to relax totally. She needed to fade out. She had tried different things over the years, until she realised that if she wanted to relax, she had to shut herself down completely.

To do that, she needed to be alone. She needed to be secluded behind the walls of her fortress.

The process was simple enough. First, she sat by the window with her journal. She wrote down the events of the previous night: what had been good, what needed to be improved, and what had gone totally wrong, let’s not do that again. She threw occasional glances at the street. She saw Applejack walking to the train station. She made a note to remember to throw them either a "great-you're-back-together"-party or a "sorry-you-broke-up"-party. Hopefully it would be the former, since then the cake would taste better. After that final note, she closed the journal.

After that, she poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down at her table. She took a small sip. When she put the cup down, it shook a bit, and a little bit of the dark beverage spilled outside the rim. Three small drops were hanging on the edge. Pinkie looked at them. The one in the middle was the biggest. Slowly, but surely, it started moving down towards the table. One inch... Two inches... Three inches... And it stopped. There was a small little stain on the cup, probably chocolate, that kept the drop from moving. Pinkie looked at it for a while, then her eyes went to the other two drops. The one on the right had started to move, but it didn’t go in a straight line. Apparently the cup was a tiny bit uneven, so the drop descended one inch... Then a little turn to the right... And then another inch... And another... Now it started to slow down. It was the smallest drop, and most likely it would dry out before it reached the table. Pinkie Pie followed it with her eyes. Another inch... And another one... Nope, it ran dry. Nothing more. Pinkie Pie closed her eyes. The butterflies in her stomach had gone away now, and her brain had started to calm down. The process was on its merry way.

The drop on the far left had started to move now. It was the second largest, and it rolled down in a straight line at a good speed. One inch... Two inches... Three inches... With nothing really obstructing its way, it kept going, and finally reached the table and formed a small puddle. Pinkie Pie turned her attention to the last drop, the one in the middle. It was still stuck at the chocolate stain. Pinkie Pie kept looking at it for a while. When nothing happened, she grabbed the cup, and slowly, slowly she tilted it the side. Not now... Not now... Not now... But... Now the drop got loose. Two inches left to the table. Maybe some part of the chocolate had dissolved in it, because the drop looked a little browner that before. It was also notably slower. One inch more... And another inch... And then it stopped at the lower rim of the cup. It hung on the edge, like it was afraid to fall. It clung like it was afraid of the big blue scary unknown that was under it. Though it knew the fall was inevitable, it still clung to the cup, like a scared child to its mother. Pinkie Pie waited.

Finally, like a leap of faith, the drop released itself from the cup. For a fraction of a second, it fell free and just floated in the air, like a bird or a cloud. For just a tiny moment, it was free, an individual, one unique singularity!

... And then it became a part of the table.

Pinkie took another sip of coffee. It was almost finished now. For the last part, she needed to go over to her bed. That was the most recent add-on to the ritual, and it was simply based on the fact that if she fell asleep sitting on a chair, she'd get a sore neck. The first times she performed this ritual, she was too easily distracted and had to put cardboard over her windows, but that was long ago. As she lay on the bed, she could see the blue sky, and the red rays of the rising sun far to her left. She could hear the sounds of the awakening city. She heard the birds, and the wind in the trees. She could even hear two familiar voices saying, "I love you most!" and "No, ah love you most!", in a mix of affection and irritation.

None of that disturbed Pinkie now. She was at peace. Until she decided to switch back on, she was walled off from the world. It was time for the last part. It was a rhyme, loaded with her personal magic.  She closed her eyes, and then she murmured to herself:


"Leave the past day behind, let the old dreams die

Let the past be the past, Pinkamena Pie

Every day you must paint the world anew

Never let the old fun obscure the new

Meet the newborn day with open hooves

whatever will come, tomorrow never knows." 

With those words, she drifted off to sleep, charging up for another day of fun.