//------------------------------// // Pinkie Pie's Moving Day // Story: Rest of Their Lives // by babyuknowme13 //------------------------------// It was a peaceful, sunny, nothing out of the ordinary day in Ponyville. The birds were singing, the sun was shining, and no fifty-foot-whatever was rampaging across the town square. It wouldn’t necessarily stay that way for long, but for now everything was peaceful. Today was also the bi-weekly lunch-time get-together the Mane Six had, just to spend time as a group about their goings on. Rainbow Dash would talk about her training regimen, Rarity would talk about her latest designs, Applejack would talk about the farm, they each had a subject near and dear to them to bring up at every meeting. Pinkie Pie’s subject was typically the parties she’d planned for the week, or the ones she was getting ready to plan, or the parties coming up, or perhaps Sugarcube Corner and its inhabitants. That she had not yet begun drowning her friends in party supplies worried them. “Uh, Pinkie Pie, is something wrong?” Twilight ventured. The pink mare startled and looked up into the concerned eyes of her friends. Each of them was giving their own patented Concerned Frowns. Pinkie Pie appreciated the feeling, but she still had a great distaste for the frowning part of the equation. There was only one way to alleviate the concern to allow an eventual return to the smiles though, and that was to talk about the problem. Until that point in the meeting, about two minutes in but who was counting, she’d been absently staring at her plate of cinnamon buns, extra cinnamon, but she’d yet to eat any of them. Now she sat up straight and turned to the first pony who might understand her dilemma. “I’ve kinda been thinking about a change, but I’m not sure how to inform everypony.” She admitted. “What sort of change, dear?” Rarity questioned. “Uuuhhmm,” She put on her best Thinking Face, absently eating a few cinnamon buns, they were great! “I’ve been thinking about moving out of Sugarcube Corner.” “Why dear,” Rarity put a hoof over her beating heart. “What made you consider such an action?” “The Cakes are great, and being around Pumpkin and Pound all the time is the best!” She quickly assured them, before continuing on a teensy eensie bit more seriously. “But I’ve been living with them since I moved here as a filly, and the Corner really isn’t all that big.” She furrowed her brow further, turning her thinking power to ten. “Plus, lately the attic has seemed too small for me.” “I guess I feel it’s just,” She groped for the word. “Time.” “I understand the feeling, darling.” Rarity was quick to reassure her, as Pinkie had hoped she would. “It’s perfectly natural for every young mare to want to step out on her own someday!” “Sure, ain’t no harm in it if you’re ready.” Applejack nodded. “You told the Cakes yet?” “Not yet.” She shook her head. “I guess I don’t know how. I mean, they practically raised me! How do you tell ponies who act like your parents that you want to move out?” “I actually didn’t tell my folks.” Rainbow shrugged indifferently. “They’re kinda, like, free spirits. They were hardly ever home anyway so when I felt like moving out I just did it.” “O-Oh, it was very emotional for me.” Fluttershy blushed. “It’s not really a goodbye forever, but it was really scary to think about living away from her, and I was still very young too. But I knew it was what I had to do for my animal friends, and my mother supported me.” “Wait a second,” Twilight held up her hoof, a hold over from spending most of her life as a student. “Pinkie, how did you tell your parents you were moving to Ponyville? Wouldn’t you do it the same way?” “I didn’t really part on good terms with my father.” She hunched down and her mane seemed to lose half of its volume. “For a long time he wouldn’t reply to any of my letters.” “But my mom and sisters were supportive, and he eventually came around.” Even if it had only been really recently. “Oh, I’m sorry!” Twilight’s wings fluttered in agitation. Pinkie was very good at reading wings, even if it wasn’t a skill most Earth ponies needed. “I didn’t mean to bring up any bad memories.” “It’s okay, I think things are really turning around!” She beamed. “I’m even planning to go back to the Rock farm for a family reunion soon. The whole family will be there!” “That’s good to hear, sugar-cube.” Applejack perked up. “It anything like an Apple Family Reunion?” “Not as big, and the music is usually different, and there aren’t a lot of games, but totally!” Pinkie nodded. “Oooh, but that’s not for another three weeks.” She put on her Thinking Face again. “What about the rest of you? How did you tell your parents you were leaving?” “I moved into the castle after Princess Celestia took me on as her student,” Twilight recalled. “…My parents were pretty excited for me and helped me pack, and they were always visiting so it didn’t really feel like I moved at all.” “Ah was born at Sweet Apple Acres and ah’ll die there, that’s that!” Applejack shrugged, unconcerned. “Can’t imagine living anywhere else.” “I believe my situation is quite similar to Rainbow Dash.” Rarity said thoughtfully. “You are all of course aware of the fact my parents regularly go on vacations and outings, leaving Sweetie Bell in my care.” They all nodded, though it wasn’t a question. Lately Rarity had been less than cordial when telling them about how her parents had once again gone to some resort, using the funds she had made from the opening of the Canterlot Boutique. “Well, it was the same when I was still a filly, although they had a different source for their travel fund. I’d only just graduated from the local schoolhouse and rented the Boutique from its previous owner while they were away.” That had been the most stressful four weeks of her life, juggling finances, her newborn sister, and designing clothes. “They were skeptical of me making it on my own and attempted to convince me to move back, but I was adamant about staying exactly where I was.” She stomped her hoof as if to emphasize her point. “And, as you all know, I’ve done swimmingly for myself!” “But your parents supported your decision once they realized you were doing alright, didn’t they?” Twilight asked. “Oh, not at all, dear.” Rarity sighed regretfully. “Although my store did well for the first year, as well as could be expected at any rate, they didn’t stop trying to persuade me for two more years. Only once I started bringing in enough money to fund their continued adventures did they relent.” “I guess none of us are normal in anything.” Rainbow Dash groaned. “AJ won’t ever dig up her roots, my parents couldn’t have cared less, Fluttershy’s mom was supportive, Twilight’s parents hung around so much it was like she never left,” She ignored a protest from Twilight that she’d been little more than a foal, it was natural for her parents to have stuck around. “Pinkie basically had to run away to follow her dream, and Rarity’s parents mooch off her.” She finished. “I wouldn’t call it mooching!” Rarity gasped. “They can be incredibly trying at times, especially when sales are down and when they go off for months on end leaving Sweetie Bell with me during all seasons and they never apologize for dipping into my account without my permission and they—!” She paused. There were quite a few more things she could’ve said, and indeed had said before, but they weren’t helping her case. “It really ain’t right that they’re benefiting from all your hard work there, Rares.” Applejack tried to be tactful. As tactful as the Element of Honesty could be. “I don’t know how to get them to stop!” She teared up. “Every time they leave Sweetie gets oh so depressed and she’s always missing them, and whenever I try to hint that they could try to take fewer trips or at least less expensive ones they bring up all the things they did to raise us, and even if they’re riding on my coattails and being such an inconvenience I still love them!” “That’s perfectly fine, Rarity.” Twilight hurried over to hug her friend. “But you and Sweetie Bell shouldn’t have to deal with their negligence. If they really love you, I think they’ll understand.” “Oh dear, look at me.” Rarity sniffed, dabbing herself with a handkerchief. “Getting so worked up about something I already knew, especially when we’re supposed to be giving Pinkie Pie advice.” “It’s okay, Rarity.” Pinkie gave a Small Reassuring Smile. “We can give you advice too!” “Yeah, like gettin’ them off your approved account list.” Applejack said seriously. “Once they’re off it, corner’em and give’em a stern talkin’ to about using your bits.” “I believe I must.” Rarity cringed. She’d have to have a talk with Sweetie first, just to give the filly a head’s up in case they tried pressuring her like they’d done Rarity all these years. “What about me?” Pinkie inquired. “How do I tell Mr. and Mrs. Cake that I want to move out without hurting their feelings?” “Uhm, if I could make a suggestion?” Fluttershy nervously spoke up. “The way I did it, I asked my mother if I could speak to her privately and explained my reasons, being closer to the ground and my animal friends.” “She did want me to prove that I’d know what to do when I was alone, so I showed her the available listings in Ponyville, I reminded her that I’d been saving my bits up since I first got my cutie mark, and I proved that I could make a living by acting as a pet salespony and growing herbs.” She continued. She was aware that everypony was staring at her, but coming from her friends it didn’t feel aggressive or accusatory. “A-After that, we both got very emotional but she fully supported my decision and told me I could come back anytime, even if it was just to visit.” She finished with a sigh of relief. “Okay!” Pinkie looked at her notes, a colorful rendition of Fluttershy and a pony she pictured as Older Fluttershy With A Hat sitting at a table. “Ask to speak to them privately, explain my reasons, and prove I can live on my own! Got it!” “Have you taken a look at the local listings? How much do you have saved up in your account?” Twilight felt better now that they were on literature footings and looked ready to run to the library for references. “Oh, I don’t have an account.” Pinkie informed them, before continuing on as if ignorant to their shock. “Every bit I make from working the register or from throwing a party is hidden away in a lockbox in my room!” “But, Pinkie, why don’t you use a bank? Banks generate interest for your investments, they’ve got enough anti-theft spells to stop anypony from stealing their bits, and they’re quickly becoming the best way to store your money without anypony you don’t want getting it.” Twilight was shocked and disturbed. She’d had an account set up for her before she’d even been born, almost on the same day banks had been invented, and couldn’t imagine not using it. Keeping large quantities of bits on hoof gave her the shakes. “I know all that,” Here Pinkie uncharacteristically blushed. “Nopony ever taught me how to set up an account and I was too embarrassed to ask.” “No reason to be embarrassed.” Rainbow snorted. “I didn’t have an account until two years ago, and I didn’t have five awesome friends to help me out then.” “So you girls will help get me set up at the bank?” Pinkie grinned ear to ear. “That’s a relief because my lockbox filled up a while ago, I’ve been using Mason jars since!” “How much ya reckon ya got?” Applejack asked. “About two thousand eight hundred and forty two bits.” She answered. “Sweet Celestia!” The cowpony gawked. “An’ you’ve got all that sitting in your room?” It was probably a good thing nopony ever expected a party pony to make a lot of money, that many bits would’ve made a tempting target for thieves. “Well,” Twilight coughed into her hoof, the signal that a lecture was about to begin. “There is a main type of account, with four sub-types attached to it.” Pinkie brought out her notes again, drawing a Hearthwarming tree with a big present and four little presents. “The main type is the Savings Account, that’s where the majority of your bits should go and preferably stay, then you’ll have a fund in case of emergencies.” Twilight teleported a chalkboard and several books into the dining room. “A Savings Account generates interest depending on how much is in there. The first two sub-types attached are the Future Foal Fund Account and the Loved Ones Fund Account. The FFFA is an account you should start up if you have any intention to have foals someday, just put a few extra bits inside whenever you can so you’ll never have to worry about how you’ll be able to afford their education or health costs.” Pinkie drew a little pink foal with a poofy mane next to one of the little presents. “The LOFA is usually inactive, meaning you can’t draw or put in funds like you normally would.” She explained. “This account is where any extra bits left in your Savings account will go when you die, to be distributed to your friends and family as expressed by your Will.” “Yeah, I had to rewrite my Will for one of those after we beat Tirek.” Rainbow Dash spoke up. “All of you girls are in it, including your families.” “Really? I didn’t know you had written a Will darling!” Rarity said in surprise. “I signed up for it when I first made an account, instead of the Future Foals one.” She shrugged. “I don’t plan on ever having foals, but even back then if anything had happened to me I wanted whatever I left behind to go to Flutters here.” “Rainbow Dash!” Fluttershy gasped. “You never told me this!” “I knew you’d get upset and tell me I was worrying about nothing.” Rainbow defended herself. “But It’s the smart thing to do if you want to be a stunt’s pony. There’s no telling if I’ll get hurt or worse, lots of Wonderbolts get hurt during their shows.” “Anyway, after Tirek I remembered about it and switched it so all of you are in it.” She flicked her mane out of her eyes. “That’s sweet, sugar.” Applejack nudged her playfully. She turned to the rest of their friends. “Ah don’t have a Loved Ones account, but ah do have the Future Foals one, two of’em actually, since that’s as many as ah reckon ah’ll have.” “I actually have both.” Twilight blushed. “I don’t know if I’ll ever have foals, I haven’t really decided yet, but I wanted to be prepared in case I ever make that decision.” “Very responsible, darling.” Rarity agreed. “I have both as well, although my Will may need updating, I haven’t looked at it since I first wrote it.” “Ahem,” Twilight coughed again. “We’ve gotten a bit off topic.” She turned back to the board and Pinkie picked up her notes again. “The second group of sub-accounts are the Parent-Child Account and the Charity Account.” She began. “The Parent-Child Account is for when your foals are old enough to start their own accounts, it gives them a taste of what the future has in store without pushing all the responsibility of a Savings account on them, it also prevents them from spending more than what you have approved in order to teach them finance management.” “You can’t withdraw any bits from the Charity Account, all the money you put into it will go to a randomly selected charity group at the end of each quarter.” Pinkie drew herself and a swaddled foal next to one little present, and a care package next to another. “As for how we’ll divide your bits, that depends on which accounts you want to sign up for.” Twilight faced her again to hear her input. Since this was ultra mega super important, Pinkie put on her Thinking Face and furrowed her brow and stuck out her tongue. That was turning the thinking power to eleven! “Definitely Future Foals and Loved Ones,” She nodded seriously, though the effect was somewhat lost by her poofy mane flip-flapping every which way. “Um, how much do I have to put into the Charity one?” “Not a lot,” Twilight assured her. “Every little bit counts so you don’t have to worry about putting bits in if you can’t afford it.” “Okey dokey Lokey!” She wiped off her Thinking Face, using it too much in one day made her mane overheat. “And after that I’ll go to Town Hall to look at the listings!” “Well, before you do that you should decide what sort of house you’re looking for, sugarcube.” Applejack slowed her down. “How big, the yard, how many rooms, stuff like that.” “Oh!” Pinkie reluctantly put her Thinking Face back on. “Hmm, three rooms I think, but I can handle two. Hmm, I don’t mind if the yard’s not too big because there’s lots of places for little foals to play in town. What else should I think about?” “How long you’ll be staying there, for one.” Rainbow groaned. “When I first moved here I couldn’t afford the Material Cloud for my home right off, so I rented in town. I made the mistake of renting a place bigger than I needed because I didn’t think it would take that long to save up the bits I needed, but it took me twice what it should’ve because I had to pay so much in rent.” “Well, I think I’d like to stay in my future home forever and ever, so I guess I’d do Rent-To-Own!” Pinkie considered. “How do I do that?” She turned expectantly to Twilight. “First you contact the pony who owns the property, then you negotiate the final price of the property, then you break down how much you’ll need to pay each month and see how long it’ll take you to pay that amount plus 10-15% interest in order to gain full ownership.” She summarized. “Not all places do Rent-To-Own, but ah know Rapid Fire does.” Applejack suggested. “He makes a lotta bits buying and selling property like that, his family’s almost as rich as Filthy Rich’s family.” “Wowza, that’s a lotta bits!” Pinkie giggled. Their first trip was to Sugarcube Corner to get Pinkie Pie’s money. None of them had a saddlebag big enough to fit it all, so they divided it between three saddlebags. At the bank they sat down to help walk Pinkie through the paperwork. “Name? Pinkie Pie. Age 20. Tribe? Earth.” She stuck her tongue out as she wrote. “Dependents?” “That’s anypony who depends on your income.” Twilight explained. Pinkie nodded and checked the No box. The paperwork didn’t require much personal information beyond that, so it didn’t take long for her to move on to writing a Will. That had to be done privately, although a lawyer pony was available if she had any questions and to witness it. Pinkie Pie first put her five best friends, it was only right and they all meant so much to her, next she wrote in her parents and sisters and the Cakes. She would have to update it when she finished paying off the property and when she started a family, but for now everything she owned would go to somepony she cared about in the event of her untimely demise. Once that was finished Rarity had to return to the Boutique and Applejack had to get home to do the chores, but everypony else accompanied her to Town Hall. There were four listings that had everything she needed and were available for Rent-to-Own. Rapid Fire owned three of them, so they visited him first. She eventually signed a deal, with Twilight as her witness, that every month she would pay eight hundred bits to rent a three bedroom house with two baths. The price was even knocked down because it needed a few repairs that Pinkie figured she could ask Applejack for help on. In two years she’d be able to fully pay off the 20,000 debt and the extra ten percent. She had a property, she’d already paid two months in advance, now all she had to do was talk to Mr. and Mrs. Cake. “Good luck, Pinkie.” Each of her friends gave her a swift hug before dropping her off. “Let us know how it goes.” “I will, thanks for all your help today!” She smiled at each of them and went inside. It was getting late now, those who wanted baked goods had already bought them so all that was left was to put today’s earnings safely away and pack the goods not bought into a care package to be donated the next morning. Pumpkin and Pound Cake were sitting in their playpen, winding down after a long day of play. Soon she’d have to put them to bed, a trial every night, but for now she went straight to Cup and Carrot Cake. “Mr. and Mrs. Cake, could we talk privately please?” She thought that sounded polite and serious enough. For some reason most ponies didn’t take her seriously, even when she was trying really hard to be serious. “Of course, Pinkie.” Carrot quickly agreed. “Is something wrong? You were gone much later than we thought you’d be.” “Uh, well, not exactly.” She suddenly didn’t know which way to go. She panicked and quickly pulled out her notes again, but it didn’t say exactly how to do this. “Pinkie dear, you know you can tell us anything.” Cup gently drew her over to a table and brought out dinner that had been kept warm on the stove. Carrot took his cue to gather the twins and put them in their high chair. “I know, I’m just not sure how to do it!” Pinkie huffed, but the frustration couldn’t stay on her face for long. She Seriously gathered up her options and took a deep breath. Finally, she was ready. “Mr. and Mrs. Cake, first I want to say thankyouthankyouthankyou for taking care of me for so long!” She whipped around the table to give them both a hug, and then of course Pound and Pumpkin both wanted their own hug so she had to give one to them too. “But, I’m not a little foal anymore, and I’ve decided it’s time for me to move out.” She peeked through her lashes, not sure when she’d closed them but afraid to see the looks on their faces. They didn’t look upset though. It wasn’t a look she’d seen very often, but to Pinkie it was almost as good as a Happy Smile. Mr. and Mrs. Cake looked pleased and proud of her, even if their eyes were a little misty. “Oh Pinkie Pie,” Cup Cake led the charge to give her a hug, but Carrot was close behind and wrapped them both in his firm embrace. Hugs had to be given to Pound and Pumpkin to afterwards, but it went a long way to soothing all of Pinkie’s worries. “We always knew one day you’d want to strike out on your own.” Carrot said softly. “And we just want you to know, if you ever need anything, we’ll be right here.” Now even Pinkie had to wipe a few tears out of her eyes. Maybe this is what Fluttershy had meant by getting emotional. “Do you need any help getting started?” Cup Cake fretted. “Do you have enough bits to rent a place?” “I do, I even talked to Rapid Fire today.” She pulled the necessary papers out of her mane. “See, there’s this place just one street away, with three bedrooms. I even paid two months in advance for Rent-to-Own!” “I’m booked solid all this month and most of next month with parties, so I’ll be able to support myself fine!” She bit her lip. “And I’ll still work the register and be your go-to foalsitter, so you’ll see me every day!” “Just know, we love you so much!” Cup Cake squeezed her tighter. “If you need any help or get lonely, you come straight to us, understand?” “I understand, I love you too!” She sniffled. It took a while to renovate a new Super Secret Party Cave beneath her new house, but overall it only took two weeks for Pinkie Pie and Gummy to have everything packed and ready to move. Pinkie threw herself a Welcome to My New Home party and invited everypony in Ponyville, and soon life settled into a new norm that included paying her own taxes and trotting to Sugarcube Corner every morning. The more things change, the more they stay the same.