The door slammed open, and the Queen glanced up after straightening a fork and spoon. The alicorn knew who it was anyways.
“Hello Fluttershy,” she greeted. The pegasus looked annoyed. She glanced around the lavish room and yanked a chair out from the mostly clear dining table, save for a few slices of bread. Fluttershy sank down into the comfy seat.
Silence reigned as Twilight struggled to figure out how to address her friend. She was the first one here, and it would seem impolite not to talk to her. Twilight took a seat at the head of the table, adjusting and realigning the silverware, plates and napkins on the table with her levitation. It didn’t take her long to finish; the violet alicorn was able to fix multiple things at once.
“So…um…why are you so…annoyed?” The alicorn spoke cautiously. Might as well get straight to the point.
Fluttershy kept quiet for so long that Twilight was about to repeat her question, convinced the pegasus had not heard her.
“I hate ponies that don’t treat their animals properly,” She muttered at last.
Twilight glanced down at her plate, unable to look at her friend. She felt a stab of guilt for assigning her friend the job of monitoring the pet logs, but she quickly shoved that aside. It was for Fluttershy’s benefit! What else would she do in the system? This was the job best suited to her cutie mark. Besides, Fluttershy needed to get over her feelings. She was being hindered by them. This was her job!
“Why do we even have—” The question died in the yellow pony’s throat. Fluttershy glanced up at her alicorn friend with a slight trace of fear in her eyes.
Twilight knew what she was about to ask. Why do we even have the pet logs? Why do we require every household to have a pet?
Why would she even ask that? The answer was obvious: it was for the ponies own good! There had been many scientific studies showing that pets in the home had a calming influence. Twilight had told Fluttershy this many times; she couldn’t have forgotten.
Does she doubt me?
Twilight’s train of thought ran off the tracks and was abandoned as the door swung open for the second time tonight. The alicorn turned around in her chair to see a one-eyed pegasus enter.
“Hey guys,” Rainbow Dash said, sitting next to Fluttershy.
“Hi Rainbow,” Twilight welcomed the pony. Fluttershy only looked at the fellow pegasus.
“What happened, Fluttershy?” Dash began, but her question went unanswered as the door swung open for a third time. This time, two ponies entered from a different door.
“Hey AJ, hey Rarity.” The cyan pegasus raised a hoof.
“Ooh, what a lovely dinner you have prepared for us, Twilight!” Rarity exclaimed, examining the silverware whilst taking a seat. Applejack sat next to her.
“Hey Twi,” Applejack said.
The alicorn narrowed her eyes. “Twilight.”
“Fine,” Applejack said, looking a little annoyed.
The five mares chatted amiably amongst themselves, save Fluttershy, who kept quiet. Queen Twilight was hesitant to begin until everyone had arrived.
“Where is Pinkie Pie?” The alicorn asked, raising her voice so all her friends could hear her. The earth pony had plenty of time to get here.
Various shrugs and mutters of “I don’t know” reached Twilight’s ears. Rarity looked down uncertainly.
The white unicorn raised her head and spoke up. “Well, Twilight, you see…the limit of one party a month is getting to Pinkie…and she’s…she’s quite…how do I say this…annoyed with you right now.”
“How annoyed?” Twilight pressed.
“Um…,” Rarity looked uncomfortable, “she…was…telling me how much she…hated you.”
The regal alicorn almost crumpled as the immense amounts of doubt poured into her mind, but she quickly shoved it out before it could affect her.
This is for the good of Equestria, Twilight reasoned. Only one celebration per month was a perfectly logical decision. After all, we couldn’t party forever. Then nothing would get done!
It’s Pinkie’s fault. She needs to learn to accept that fact and move on with her life. It’s her fault.
“I will talk with her,” Twilight said as the waiters brought out their appetizer.
As the waiters left the five mares waited for the Queen to begin the meeting.
“So, Equestria is fine as a whole. There are rumors of a rebellion, though, although they are unconfirmed and are from untrustworthy sources. The economy is well; everything is well except for that minor disturbance.” Twilight finished her miniscule speech. Everypony nodded in agreement except for Rainbow Dash, who looked annoyed.
“Do you know anything more about the rebellion?” Rarity asked.
“All I know about them is that they want to overthrow me, and the group calls themselves the Rebellion. They apparently lack creativity with naming. But all of this is unconfirmed. It could very well be a rumor a filly told their classmates for attention.”
“Fluttershy, you will go first,” Twilight said after making sure the discussion on the rebellion had finished.
“Okay,” The pegasus mumbled. Having been caught in the middle of a bite, she frantically chewed. Rainbow couldn’t help it and let out a laugh. Fluttershy swallowed.
“Aside from the occasional pony neglecting their pet or killing it, I’d say everything is fine. Everything is fine, just a normal day for me to see two dogs that died of starvation, a cat that was being abused by its owner, and a tiny bird a foal had taken and crushed it to death. Yeah, just a normal day.” Fluttershy had maintained the same quiet voice level the entire outburst, but every pony could tell she was upset.
Twilight felt the all-too-familiar guilt crash in. I should have assigned Fluttershy a different job. This is too hard for her. Maybe she needs a break. The pet logs aren’t the best system. It only leads to the torture of animals. You’re just a cruel monster who just likes to hurt her friends and the wildlife and the ponies—
No! It’s for everyone’s good. It’s for Fluttershy’s good. It’s for the ponies’ good. It’s for everyone’s good.
Rainbow was glaring at the queen with an intense anger in her eyes, but when Twilight looked at her, she glanced at her plate.
The queen was a bit shaken by the doubts and Dash’s reaction, but she proceeded. “Applejack, Rarity?”
“Everything’s fine, Twilight. Not much has happened with us except the execution in Ponyville of Sun Glimmer and Bee Bop a few days ago, but that went smoothly. There aren’t any spies in the castle, no infiltrations, none of that,” Applejack responded.
Twilight nodded. Applejack and Rarity have been securing Equestria for a long time now as a pair. They are very good at what they do, unlike Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, who can’t even handle theirs. Everyone else is keeping up just fine, but they can’t seem to work any longer. “Rainbow Dash?”
Rainbow remained silent for a few seconds before speaking. “It’s fine. It’s all fine,” she said sarcastically, but the alicorn chose to ignore that.
“Okay, next is—,” Twilight was interrupted by the cyan pegasus.
“Twilight, I’m really annoyed with you right now. Are you even processing what if happening? It’s like you’re just running through some mental checklist, just seeing how fast you can get through it.”
“Do you even care about us? You didn’t seem to care at all about Pinkie. You just brushed it aside. No discussion. No ways we could figure out how to talk to her. Nothing. It seems like you don’t care what happens to us, as long as we keep doing these jobs you’ve given us! You just went on with your schedule when Fluttershy told us why she’s annoyed. You didn’t try and talk about it, much less attempt to fix it! Do you even care? These dinners we have, they aren’t so we can get together again and meet up, no! You just make sure we’re all continuing to do things the way you want it. No one is allowed to question you. I mean, have you ever asked us about our lives outside of our jobs, Twilight? The answer is no. You haven’t.”
“Twilight, friends are supposed to care about each other. You don’t care about any of us!” Rainbow said, slamming her hoof on the table and storming out.
Silence fell over the ponies, the quiet in stark contrast to the volume of the pegasus’s outburst.
Fluttershy rose from her seat. “I think I’m going to go,” she whispered, leaving the room.
An interminable wait passed as Twilight waited for the two other ponies in the room to decide on a course of action.
Applejack and Rarity looked uncomfortably at each other, and then back at Twilight. They quietly exited.
The violet alicorn was left alone in the room.
She felt like crying. She did care! She did care! She just—
Why didn’t I pause for Pinkie’s concerns, or Fluttershy’s anger?
I didn’t want to. I wanted to get through what we were supposed to talk about. Rainbow’s words echoed in her mind. It’s like you’re just running through some mental checklist, just seeing how fast you can get through it.
Am I too controlling? Am I uncaring? The doubt poured in again, and this time the Queen couldn’t throw it out.
The door opened behind her, and Twilight whipped around, half-hoping it might be Rainbow Dash.
It was just one of the staff. Twilight sighed, disappointed.
“What is it?” She asked.
The young mare squeaked, startled. She was obviously new, Twilight observed, judging by the way her eyes kept flickering back to meet Twilight’s blank, glowing white ones.
“I-I assume d-dinner is cancelled?” The earth pony asked, looking like she was about to faint. Twilight nodded, and the mare frantically backpedaled out of the room.
Queen Twilight felt absolutely awful right now.
“Rainbow Dash?” A mare poked her head in the door. “I’ve got a letter for you.”
Rainbow looked up to see a cross-eyed mare holding a letter out. “Thanks, Derpy,” she said as she took the letter in her hooves.
The gray pegasus grinned. “No problem, Rainbow Dash!” She shut the door on her hoof, and Rainbow watched as she reopened the door, sheepishly smiled at the fellow pegasus, and reclosed the door.
Dash put the letter on her desk. Sitting down in the chair, she opened the letter.
Dear Rainbow Dash, the letter read in Twilight’s hoof-writing. Great. Hopefully this didn’t have to do with the dinner a few days earlier.
I’d like to inform you that you and Fluttershy will be monitoring the Everfree Forest together for the next few weeks. The formal letter will be arriving shortly, but I just wanted to give you a heads-up.
-Queen Twilight Sparkle
Rainbow groaned. This was her way of revenge for what occurred at their last dinner together. Monitoring the Everfree would absolutely, positively, suck.
I shouldn’t have said anything. I should have known I was going to get in trouble.
The pegasus felt defeat wash over her. Might as well start packing.
The house groaned like it had just been stabbed as the Queen entered. Her guards waited outside.
She glanced around. The abode was practically about to collapse, and a foul stench reached the ruler’s nose. The windows were closed, and a few beams of light strained to penetrate the dusty floor. The interior of the house was shrouded in shadow except for a light Twilight couldn’t see the source of. The light illuminated the left side of a very angry mare sitting on the floor in the living room. She was a dark pink, and her hair was as straight as a pencil. Her hair had been that way every since the one-party-a-month rule. Surrounding Pinkie was an assortment of various objects.
“Hello…Pinkie Pie,” The alicorn was surprised to see her friend in this state.
Pinkie Pie didn’t acknowledge her, but leaned down and whispered something to a piece of wood that looked like it used to belong to a wagon.
“Pinkie Pie?” Twilight asked after a good wait.
The mare looked up at her. “Yes?”
Her eyes suddenly derped, and she held up a prism in her hooves. “We’ll never join you! Don’t even bother asking!”
Pinkie switched back to her original position. “Pegasus, she’s not that evil. We can at least talk with her.”
She switched again, this time picking up scrap of cloth and speaking in a Canterlot accent. “Well, I’m not going to discuss our matters with her.”
“Then you can stay quiet,” the earth pony said, speaking in her normal voice now. She looked back at Twilight.
“Don’t mind Jewel and Pegasus,” she whispered quietly to the alicorn, leaning in. Twilight recoiled in response.
This flat-haired Pinkie was scary.
“What were you saying?” The earth pony asked.
“I was going to ask you a question. Why weren’t you at the dinner?”
Pinkie recoiled, looking at her friend with a hostile expression. She switched and picked up the wagon wheel.
“Why should we tell ya? It’s none of ya business.” She spoke in a country accent.
Like Applejack, Twilight thought.
“Yeah,” Pinkie agreed with the wagon wheel fragment. “Why should we tell you?”
“Pinkie, tell me why.” The alicorn repeated sternly.
The earth pony remained silent.
“Pinkie.” The queen had enough of her friend’s silent treatment.
“Do you remember when we defeated Nightmare Moon?” The mare’s voice was a whisper now. “You--you’ve all changed so much from then.”
“Why can’t we all just be like we were back then?” Pinkie’s voice was so soft Twilight had to strain to hear it. The alicorn took a few moments to decide upon a response.
“Pinkie, we can’t just go back. It’s hard for the ruler of Equestria to also be a librarian.” Twilight said finally. “You have to accept reality.”
The pink mare thought upon this, and then spoke. “Twilight, I mean you’re not the mare I became friends with all those years ago.”
Twilight’s eyes opened wide. “Do you mean we aren’t friends?”
“No, no. I just feel like I’m closer to them now.” Pinkie gestured to a feather, a wood fragment, a prism, a ripped book cover, and a scrap of cloth.
Her eyes crossed again and she held the book cover up this time. “Yeah, and we have the magic of friendship with us! We can defeat you!”
The magic of friendship. Memories of Twilight and her five friends defeating Equestria’s enemies came back to her, but she shoved it out. That doesn’t have anything to do with the current situation!
Pinkie leaped over to the feather and moved it while she spoke. “Um…Paper…I’m not sure I want to do any defeating,” The mare said in a shy, timid voice. “That looks scary.”
She switched back to the prism. “Well, I’m not scared of you!”
Pinkie moved back to her base position and now spoke in her normal voice. “And I don’t really like only having one party a month. Twilight!” She leapt up, looking the Queen straight in her glowing eyes with her nose uncomfortably close to the alicorn’s. “That’s for all of Equestria. There are poor innocent fillies and colts who can’t celebrate their own birthdays! And I have to pick which one to give a birthday celebration to!”
Twilight paused. That does seem a little unreasonable when you think about it that way.
Rainbow’s voice spoke in her thoughts. You’re just an unfair monster.
I’m not unfair. I’m not unfair!
The pegasus spoke again. You don’t care about any of us!
I do care! I care for Pinkie Pie! I care for my friends.
“Pinkie, I’ll allow just this one month to have two parties. Only two. And if this goes well enough, there is a slight possibility of two parties the next month.”
The mare almost fainted from excitement. “Oh my gosh! Thank you Twilight! Thank you Twilight! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” She continued her praise of the alicorn as the Queen mumbled you’re welcome.
“I have to go now,” Twilight said.
Pinkie Pie sighed, disappointed. “Aw, I wanted to talk with you!”
Rainbow’s word echoed yet again in Twilight’s mind. I mean, have you ever asked us about our lives outside of our jobs, Twilight? The answer is no. You haven’t.
I already gave Pinkie two parties per month. That’s enough for her. I don’t even have the time to sit around all day and talk!
Twilight shook her head, taking a last glance at Pinkie.
“Okay. Bye, Twilight!”
“Goodbye, Pinkie Pie.” The violet alicorn walked to the door. As she was departing she heard Pinkie speak to her object ‘friends’.
“Guys, did you hear that? This is so exciting! Two parties a month. We should almost have a party to celebrate this!”
“Wouldn’t that take the spot of one of the parties, thus ruining the prize of having two parties?” Pinkie was voicing one of the objects, either the feather or the torn book cover. Twilight couldn’t remember which voice belonged to which one.
“Oh, yeah, that would. Thanks for pointing that out, Paper!”
“No problem Pinkie!”
“Anyways, let’s get to planning those parties!”
Twilight left the house feeling satisfied that she had proved to Rainbow, even if she wasn’t here, that she wasn’t an uncaring monster, and deeply disturbed at the fact Pinkie was chatting with inanimate objects like they were real.