//------------------------------// // Enter Pinkie Pie // Story: Still Alive // by Bombastic Bookpony //------------------------------//          Pinkie woke up, but there was no gradual awakening, no slowly rising out of bed. Nay, because Pinkie did everything fast and exciting! It was a sudden thrust out of her dream (which she couldn't remember fully, but she was pretty sure it had to do with some evil vegetable ghosties. Did she giggle at them? She had a reputation to uphold after all, even in dreams) and into wild thought. She instantly leaped out of bed, landed on her feet, and took her daily deep breath. She was going to need it. Today was going to be special. She wasn't sure why; it wasn't any of the normal Pinkie Sense feelings, like a wiggle of the tail or her tongue curling into a M (a M, not a W, because Pinkie could roll her tongue into a W naturally and if she could do it all the time then it wouldn't be a special Pinkie Sense, silly!). No, it was a new one. She just knew, in the bottom of her heart, today was going to be special. Today was going to change everything! Well, there's no sense in waiting around then! She hopped to her mirror, checking her hair out, making exaggeratedly seductive looks, which made her snicker. "Hair bouncy and fun, check!" She skipped to her alligator bed, where her alligator pet Gummy was just waking up. He stared at her. To the normal eye, there would be no change in his expression, but apparently Pinkie could see some small facial expression as she exclaimed, "Gummy happy, check! Also, rhyme of the day, check!" Finally, she jumped out her door, slid down the railing and into the downstairs where Mr. and Mrs. Cake were starting the day, setting up supplies together. "Hellooooooo, Sugarcube Corner!" She was suddenly between the two, hugging them. "How are my two favorite ponies in town doing?" Mr. and Mrs. Cake laughed at Pinkie's exuberant energy. Mr. and Mrs. Cake knew Pinkie well enough to know when she was happy, as in the max happiness an ordinary pony could achieve that Pinkie was at everyday, and when Pinkie was happy, when Pinkie reached new heights of happiness. It was impossible not to smile when she was like this. "Just fine, Pinkie! No, stupendous!" Mr. Cake answered with a reluctant smile. Honestly, they had been grumpy earlier this morning, but Pinkie just wiped all that away! He loved that mare like his own, and so did Mrs. Cake, so just seeing their dear Pinkie like this always brightened up their day. "And why are you so happy today, dearie?" Mrs. Cake asked, a smile on her face. Suddenly, Pinkie was already at the door. "I don't know! Today is just gonna be great!" "How do ya know? Did your pupils spin in a circle? Mr. Cake questioned. “Or did Gummy raise his left feet three times?" Mrs. Cake supplied. "Nope!" Pinkie cheerfully replied. "I just feel it. Today's going to be awesome! Maybe there's a new pony in town!" She let out a huge gasp. "You guys know what that means, right?" Mr. Cake grinned as he lied. "Oh, I don't know. Does it mean a festival? A dance? No ... Honey, help me out." Mrs. Cake smiled back at him. "A book club meeting? A picnic? Hmmmmm." She playfully tapped her chin. "I'm sorry, Pinkie, I think we forgot. What does a new pony in town mean?" Pinkie cracked up. "Very funny, you guys!" she spoke free of sarcasm. "It means a PAR-TAY!" Mr. and Mrs. Cake 'oooohh'd' in unison.  "It's my day off, right?" Mr. Cake nodded. "Yay! I’ll see you guys soon." She blew kisses at them before leaving the house. Today was gonna be good. Pinkie hung from the top of the pole in town square, surveying the landscape for new ponies. Obviously, a new pony was the source of the feeling she had. A new pony always brought new changes to the town, and this pony was going to bring huuuuge changes! Maybe ... maybe this pony would stick around. Maybe this pony could stand to be around Pinkie for more than a few days, to stay past the obligatory party just to hang out. Maybe this pony would be a friend friend, a friend Pinkie could talk to and share secrets with. A friend who would be there. Not an ordinary friend, because all of the ponies in Ponyville were Pinkie's friends, but ordinary friends never really hung out with her outside of parties or listened to her problems. Wait a minute... this is starting to sound sad. Bad Pinkie! No sad thoughts today! Today will be different! Finally, she found her target, a pony she never saw before, thus meaning a new pony! She was a purple unicorn, with a mane and tail of varying shades of purple. Just like my streamers! The bulk of it was violet, with a small stripe of magenta, and an even smaller stripe of it being, well, purple! Her fur was lavender, her eyes were purple, her cutie mark was a purple star (with sparkly bits around it for extra "oooooohness!"). Everything about her was purple purple purple. She was a pretty purple pony! Pinkie laughed at the alliteration before snaking down the pole, intent on finding out from Mayor Mare where this pony was from, cause it was party time. It didn't take her long, and luckily the pony was still in the town square, making it easier for Pinkie to point her out to the mayor. "Hi, Mayor Mare!" The mayor jumped at Pinkie's outburst. "Hey, did I ever tell you I love your name? Mayor Mare! It's alliteration, it's punny, and it rhymes! I like it!" Mayor Mare rolled her eyes. "While the compliment is appreciated, I assume you didn't start this conversation just for that, Pinkie." "Huh?" Pinkie stared at Mayor Mare for a few seconds, just blinking, before remembering what she was here for. "Oh yeah! There's a new pony in town, and that means it's time to do my duties as Official Party Thrower!" "There's is no position called Official Party Thrower," she deadpanned, "but your parties are a great way to welcome new ponies to our community! Who is it?" "That mare over there!" She pointed with her hoof to the purple pony, isolated nearby a bench. Hey, I exceeded my rhyme quota for the day! Mayor Mare raised an eyebrow. "What mare?" "What? That pony by the bench, silly! There aren't even any other ponies there!" Mayor Mare looked intently, but saw no one. "Is this one of your pranks, Pinkie? Because it's rather subpar, no offense." Pinkie Pie was shocked. Her jaw was open, even though Granny Pie said that let in flies. That's how shocked she was! "She's right. There!" she empathized, pointing harder at the lavender unicorn. Mayor Mare just gave her a stare. "Very funny, Pinkie. Now if you excuse me, I have work to do." The mayor trotted off while Pinkie fumed. "But! But! UGH! Fine! I'll find out on my own!" she yelled before (relatively) calming herself. She turned back to the new mare in town. "Don't worry, Purpley." Purpley was the new nickname Pinkie had come up with on the spot. Not her best, she knew, but she would fix the nickname problem later. "Even if Mayor Mare won't help, I'll give you the party you deserve!" she finished with a stomp of her hoof. But if Mayor Mare wouldn't tell her, then how would she find out where Purpley lived? Suddenly, it struck her. "Stupid Pinkie!" She facehoofed. "Back to the pole, obviously!" The perfect vantage point to observe where Purpley was heading. The perfect plan to procure Purpley's position. Pinkie chuckled before refocusing her efforts on Purpley. Two hours! Two hours and that pony just stayed there! Pinkie was not a patient pony, and two hours was about all she had in her waiting tank. But she swatted aside her thoughts of giving up. Everypony deserves a party!  She would wait until Purpley left and showed the way to her house so she could throw the party, no matter how many strange looks she got, strange looks from Purpley included! She returned her eyes to Purpley's location, but she was gone! Oh no! I failed! I've ruined this good day! I gotta find her! I gotta- Suddenly, a voice cut through her thoughts. "I can't believe I'm doing this. You'd think I would learn, that I'd get used to the disappointment, but here I am anyway. Were you looking at me?" Pinkie looked down, and Purpley was there! She didn't lose her! She still had a chance! Maybe a surprise party was out of the picture, but a normal party wasn't! Her 'parties for new ponies' streak was still unbroken! She dropped down from the pole, extending her hoof. "Hiya, Purpley! I'm Pinkie, party planner extraordinaire! I'm sorry if you were confused by me watching you, but it was for a good cause! A party! It was supposed to be a surprise, but you wouldn't leave so I could see which house you'd go into, that house hopefully being your home. But that's okay, normal parties are just as fun! Whaddya say?" Pinkie beamed, but then she noticed the tears in Purpley's eyes. What did she do wrong? She didn't mean to make her cry. Stupid Pinkie. Yet another pony you've weirded out. You should just go, before you ruin this day any further! "I'm-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry. I'll just go." Pinkie turned around, head hung low, tearing up. But the purple pony stepped in front of her. "Wait," she sniffled. "I'm not crying because I'm sad. I'm crying because I'm happy! You saw me! You saw me!" Purpley choked out, pointing at herself. Pinkie's tears evaporated once she found out she made her happy, but tears still weren't good. "Why wouldn't I see you? You're a pretty pony! You shouldn't be so hard on yourself!" Pinkie tried to place her left foreleg on Purpley's shoulder, but she found her foreleg went through her. "Woah! That's a pretty cool magic trick!" Purpley shook her head as her tears cleared. "It's not a trick, and I don't know if it's magic yet. But nonetheless, you can see me! Do you know what that means!?" Pinkie shook her head. "Neither do I! But now I can finally start to find that out! To find out why I'm like this, and how I can change back!" It was evident Purpley was trying to hold in her excitement, but she failed, instead hopping around, and shouting, "Yesyesyesyesyesyes!" Pinkie hopped and shouted with her, because honestly, it looked like fun. Purpley stopped abruptly. "Come along, Pinkie, was it?" Pinkie nodded again. "We need to talk somewhere private. Other ponies are looking at you funny because it looks like you're talking to the air." Purpley giggled. It was a nice sound. Pinkie wanted to make her giggle more. "It's ok, they look at me like that no matter what I do, Purpley!" Pinkie smiled. “You have a home, right?" "Yup!" "Then lead the way!" "Okey dokey lokey!" As they trotted at a nice pace to Sugarcube Corner, Purpley said one last thing. "By the way, my name's not Purpley." "Then what is it?" "Twilight. Twilight Sparkle." Pinkie turned her head at Purp-Twilight and grinned. "Well, then, it's nice to meet you, Twilight! I have a feeling things are gonna turn out just fine!" And she did. She knew today was special.