//------------------------------//
// In the end 
// Story: Pinkie's Doom Parade 
// by NeuPferdfurt 
//------------------------------//

Twilight Sparkle sighed.

You had to give her friend Pinkie Pie this much - she could be very persuasive if she wanted to be. Maybe it really was a good idea to have some Pinkie-Twilight bonding time… even after all these years studying the magic of friendship, Twilight Sparkle had a tendency to neglect her friends sometimes, without even noticing…  Still, there were a few books she had planned on reading this afternoon.

"So!! What do you wanna play?!", Pinkie Pie exclaimed as they arrived in her room just above Sugar Cube Corner.

"I dunno… Pinkie, you know I’m not exactly into ‘playing’, per se. Haven’t really played ever since I’ve grown into… well, a grown mare."

Pinkie Pie stared at her with a wide grin and fluttering eyelashes.

"…Kiiiiinda like you, actually. Anyway, I’m afraid I’m gonna have to ask you to take the lead this time."

With emphasis on "afraid", Twilight thought.

"Hmmm…" Pinkie frowned. "Let’s see. Uh! I know! We could challenge the Cutie Mark Crusaders to a Siege!"

"A… siege?"

"Yes!! We’ll build a dirt fort, and they’ll have to conquer it. I’ll pack some food, too - they always win these things by letting me starve to death (which takes about half an hour) ."

Twilight shook her head. “We’re gonna build a dirt castle… up here?”

"Naaah, silly! But it’s a good thing we’re here none the less, this way I can get my gear!"

Pinkie leaped towards a trunk at the other side of the room. In a frighteningly short amount of time, she had put on a dirt-stained overall and a helmet. She had also grabbed two shovels and a pickaxe.

Twilight looked over her friend’s back. “Saaay… what’s that, at the back of the chest ? Are those fossils?”

"Oh, yeah. Should have figured you’d like that. Wanna see my collection?"

"You’ve got trilobites, ammonites… is that a fossilized feather? Pinkie, this is amazing! Where did you get this stuff?”

"Heeello, Pinkie Pie (me) ? Dirt Forts? Trench Waterballoon Warfare? Disposing of any colt in town I catch wearing a fedora? I do a lot of digging.”

Twilight felt as if something among the things Pinkie had listed sounded a little disturbing, but a second later, she couldn’t even remember what it was. Something else had already caught her attention anyway.

"Wow… that’s an entire skull!"

"Neat, huh? You get a lot of these if you dig deep enough, but this one is the best I’ve ever found, so I took it home."

She lifted the skull in front of Twilight’s face.

"Notiss de large brainkase", Pinkie said with her favorite teutonic accent. "I bet zey were REALLY smart."

She looked Twilight in the eyes and smiled. “And they’re all dead. They have all been dead for a very long time. Funny how it goes, huh.”

She patted her stupefied friend on the back, put the skull back in the trunk and started heading down the stairs.

"You’re coming? I bet the Crusaders are hanging out at Sweet Apple Acres again."