“What do you w- GAH!”
stumble backwards and fall onto my back. A tall, white horse stood before me. It had wings on its back, a horn on its forehead, and a gold crown crested in its flowing hair of multiple colours. The hair waved back and forth, staying level, strange considering there was no breeze.
“Who are you?” I said, still laid across the floor.
“May we come in?” The mare spoke softly, but firmly too.
“Yes of course- wait, we?”
She strolled into my living room, admiring the décor and furniture. Alongside her was a Grape coloured pony, a white one with a deep purple mane, and orange one wearing a Stetson, a light blue one with rainbow coloured hair and a yellow one with long, pink hair. They all had the same, unrealistic and oversized body features like pinkie, accept the white one, who was just abnormally thin. My mind reached back to when I was in the store, suddenly, it clicked.
“You’re Celestia. Princess Celestia, aren’t you?”
She turned to me sharply.
“Correct. How might you know?”
“I saw a figurine of you in the girls’ toys aisle”
She looked confused. She looked to the floor for a moment. When she gazed back up at me, she had less serious face, and spoke more gently.
“We understand you hold the Element of Laughter in this home”
“What’s the ‘Element of Laughter’?”
“Pinkie Pie, Mr Anderson”
“How do you know my name?”
“I know a lot about this world. Maybe even more than you do”
I noticed the other ponies glancing at each other, blank expressions on their faces.
“Who are they” I asked, pointing to them.
“They are the other elements of harmony, Applejack, the Element of Honesty, Rarity, the Element of Generosity, Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness, Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty and my dearest student, Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Magic”
“What do these elements do?”
“They are the 6 forces that keep harmony among ponies, preventing all kinds of hate from arguments to war. Things have been in chaos since Ms Pie disappeared”
Celestia turned from me to face the mirror behind her.
“Not long ago, Twilight was formulating a potion that could enhance one’s abilities. Rainbow Dash here stole the prototype and ended up creating a Double Rainboom, across the skies of Ponyville-”
I began to laugh.
“Is there something funny, Mr Anderson?”
“Seriously? Ponyville? That’s the most unoriginal name for a pony town ever!”
I stopped, as they all stared me down.
“As I was saying, Mr Anderson, Rainbow Dash was going so fast that when she crashed into the floor, she fell through the warp into another dimension. Another world. Twilight managed to make a second version of the potion and gave it to Pinkie Pie, which enhanced her ‘4th wall’ abilities so she could travel between worlds, somehow. She rescued Rainbow Dash, but also accidentally warped between worlds just as the potions effects wore off”
“Ok, ok, I get it. Forget the sob story, why are you here?”
“We have arrived to collect Pinkie Pie, Mr Anderson”
I gulped. I had to think of a way to keep this stalling up until Pinkie was awake. I began to sweat. My eyes darted across the room, back and forth, looking for something to keep them distracted. Suddenly, I heard creaking floorboards from upstairs. I let out a sigh of relief. She stumbled downstairs and rubbed her eyes. She walked over to me and leaned in close. I began to stroke her mane, trying to comfort her from
what happened earlier.
“What happened?” She said to me.
“My sister, Amy, she was surprised when you jumped out at her, and she, well… knocked you out. Only for her own safety, of course, for she knew you could have been a burglar” I replied, with a queasy smile. I knelt to her level and looked into her eyes.
“I’m sorry” She said.
“Don’t be, it wasn’t your fault, it was just a mistake”
I stroked her mane over to one side and smiled at her again. She smiled back and giggled slightly. She looked over to the ponies and before she could open her mouth I began to speak.
“Pinkie, these are our guests, they… well, they-” I paused. “They want to take you away”
“Who are you? Why are you here?” Pinkie spoke quite loudly.
“She doesn’t remember us, girls” said Twilight.
“Why do you want me?” Pinkie was breathing heavily.
She stopped for a moment and looked to the floor.
“What did I do?” She whispered, a few tears rolling down her face.
“You don’t belong here, Pinkie Pie, you need to come back to Equestria, with your friends and family. It’s been 3 days, they’re getting worried, come on” Celestia slowly approached Pinkie as she spoke.
“But I don’t want to go! I am with my family!” Pinkie shouted through her tears. She looked to me, with an angry expression.
“Please, Dad! Do something!” I just stood, watching her.
Pinkie bolted upstairs into her room and slammed the door. All the ponies, including Celestia, had widened their eyes beyond belief.
“Did, she just call you, Dad?” said Twilight. They all began to exchange looks, confused more than ever before. I decided to pitch in.
“Look, maybe, I your world, it’s been 3 days since the accident, but I’ve cared for her for 3 years. When I found her, she was just a filly”
Twilight stroked her chin, thinking deeply.
“Perhaps a side effect of the potion could have been age reversal; Rainbow Dash had aching in her wings after the potion wore off. It would also explain the memory loss, as she literally hadn’t lived through them yet” She said.
Twilight looked back up at me.
“Did Pinkie Pie have her cutie mark when you found her?” Twilight asked.
“What, the balloons on her flank? She had that, yeah”
“That means she should remember her family back Equestria, but we’ll figure that out once we get her back”
I sit on my couch, surrounded by pastel coloured ponies, thinking. My questions about Pinkie Pie were still circling. As I thought deeper, I realised they had all been answered.
What was she? The Element of Laughter.
Where did she come from? Ponyville, Equestria.
Why was she here? A magic potion.
Who does she belong to? Well, no-one, really.
No-one except me. I looked up once again, the other ponies hushed as I glared at Celestia.
“Is something wrong, Mr Anderson?” She said, sarcastically.
“Please, Princess, just let her stay, she wants nothing but to live a life of tranquil with me”
“I’m sorry, Mr Anderson, but Ms Pie is needed elsewhere, she’s the reason ponies aren’t miserable all the time, and one of the vital elements of a powerful force that has proven… useful in past events” She came over to me, and sat down with me. She put her fore leg over my shoulder, trying her best to comfort me.
“You’ve been an exceptional father, Nathan. You had no idea what she was, or where she came from. She could have been feral, vicious, rabid, anything! But you took her in from the cold and you cared for her. You loved her with all your heart and we are so very grateful for that, but you know, deep down that Pinkie Pie doesn’t belong here. She needs to come back to her real home”
I sniffled. Tears had already begun to roll down my cheeks. I hadn't even noticed myself balling up. Even over my own whimpering, I heard creaking floor boards. I knew what was going to happen. Pinkie came to the bottom of the stairs, a piece of paper in her mouth. She slowly walked over to me and Celestia, looking me in the eye the whole time. She gave me the note and whispered:
“Don’t read it yet, wait until they take me away”
She continued over to the other ponies.
“I’m ready. Just do it” Pinkie said.
Celestia got up and her horn began to glow. She knelt down and touched Pinkie’s forehead with it. The room filed with a bright white light. All was silent, and I heard a faint whisper:
“I love you, Daddy”