Pinkie’s eyes fluttered open as the morning sun entered her window gently bathing her in its warm light. She closed her eyes and pulled her calendar into her mind’s eye to check the date and the events on her to do list. Mentally checking off ‘wake up’ and ‘make sure you’re breathing’. she checked the next item on the list before getting out of bed. ‘Smile’
She tossed her legs over the bed landing on all fours with a clop. She began some basic body stretches beginning at her hind quarters and moving up to her neck before groaning and trotting to the mirror by her wardrobe to look at herself.
Curly pink hair? Check. Happy smile? Check. Clean teeth? she peered into the mirror at her mouth and exhaled on the glass and raised an eyebrow as her reflection covered its mouth and shook its head before returning to it’s job as her reflection.
“That’s a nopers-scopers. Thanks other me,” she said turning and pronking to the bathroom as her reflection waved her off, a clothespin on her nose. “Mirror me is so strange sometimes.”
“Bye Gummy, see you tonight,” she said leaning close to him speaking softer, “it’s our first date and I might be late,” she said winking to the gator that was looking vacantly at her from the bed. She skipped to the bathroom, exiting shortly after, ready for the day.
She descended the stairs, ready start her day. I’m so excited for tonight, I can’t wait.
“Good morning, my little friends,” Fluttershy said as she exited her front door, a pouch full of seeds around her neck. She wore a smile and her words were laced with happiness. “Little friends that I hold so dear, I have a story for you to hear,” she started as she opened her wings and took to the air, a few feet from the ground as she tossed a hoof full of seeds to a tree’s base, “I found a pony I hold so dear. Never have I felt this funny… Little squirrel; I’ve found my special, somep~ony!”
She reached out and a family of squirrel scampered from a branch and hopped the short distance to her forelegs, she landed and began feeding other animals as she sang.
“She’s sweet, she’s pink, she really made me stink,” she mused, “she held me close and I realized; she had the most beautiful blue eyes. Like the blue in the sky they shine all day, filling me with a reason to say~
Hi Pinkie, you’re the one. Hi Pinkie, you’re so much fun. You gave me a feeling I never kne~w. I didn’t know I could love, you.”
With a short applause from her animals she accepted their praise before emptying the last of her seeds in front of an upset looking bunny rabbit.
“Oh, hi Angel. Did I tell you the great news? I have a special somepony, aren’t you happy for me?”
With a scowl the bunny kicked the seeds at her and began stomping his right foot.
“Oh, you don’t want seeds? How about a nice carrot? A salad? A carrot salad? What would you like, Angel?”
Angel looked at her, deepening his frown. “Oh, Angel, you want asparagus, right?”
Angel smiled and nodded excitedly. Fluttershy patted his head.
“Okay dear, I’ll go get you some from the house, be right back.”
Several minutes later she returned with a carrot, asparagus, tomato salad in a large bowl for Angel. “Well, this was going to be my breakfast but, I guess I can have oats again.”
Angel was already face deep in the bowl, munching greedily. He looked up to Fluttershy, food bits falling back into the bowl. He spit his mouthful of food into the bowl and pushed it back to Fluttershy before hopping away.
“...Um, thank you?”
“Oh, Fluttershy~?” Pinkie said in a singsong voice, softly from the path ahead of Fluttershy’s cottage.
“Oh, it’s lovely to see you again, Pinkie. Why are you here so early? Oh, wait, I understand. It’s okay, I guess I had plans too.”
“What? Fluttershy, I’m here to take you for a walk, silly. I’m not cancelling our date,” Pinkie said with a stern look before beaming a smile again.
“Oh, well that’s very nice to know. Um, w-where are we walking to?”
“I dunno, I just wanna walk with you. How about to the woods and back?”
“Um, well,” she hesitated, almost intentionally, “very well. That sounds like fun. Ang-”
“Just us, okay?”
“Oh, okay,” she replied, her anxiety was acting up but she wasn’t going to avoid her marefriend over it.
“Great!” Pinkie said loudly beginning to pronk along the path to Whitetail Woods with Fluttershy next to her. “So, ‘Shy, what’s new?”
“Well, it’s early summer so the animals are beginning to take care of their young, the harvests are coming along nicely, and Rainbow Dash said the weather is going to be warm for the rest of the week.”
“Oh, did you hear about the fire the other day?”
“Oh my, yes. Two silly colts were practicing magic and it got out of control. Thankfully nopony was hurt.”
“Except AJ!”
“Oh, that’s right. Twilight miscast a spell, right?”
“Oh did she ever! It was supposed to be a water spell, but it turned into a, um, electric rope spell? Buck Wild bumped her and she jumped, AJ was in the way and bzzzzap,” Pinkie fell to the ground with a frizzy mane, her eyes twirling in different directions, then she hopped to the air and began bouncing.
“Oh, I heard that,” Fluttershy blushed and looked to the ground.
Pinkie poked her head from under Fluttershy’s wing and whispered in her ear. “Dashie and AJ kissed.”
Fluttershy squeed and jumped, watching Pinkie fall to the ground from under her wing and begin trotting casually down the path again. “P-Pinkie, I don’t like when you do that.”
“Well, I know that,” she replied looking back with an honest smile, “but we’re going to be close, I should be able to whisper in your ear whenever I need to.” Fluttershy blinked and Pinkie was gone. Before she could register that Pinkie had vanished Pinkie whispered in her other ear. “There are spies everywhere.”
“Flutters, I’m sorry I scared you so bad. I thought you were upset about the whispering, not my moving around you. I’ll try to not do that so much,” Pinkie asked looking at the treeline, “okay?”
“Um, please don’t. I, I think I nearly fainted. I’d be so embarrassed to have ruined your walk.”
“‘Shy,” Pinkie said stomping her hoof and turning to face the yellow mare, “don’t be so down. You’re the super duperiest mare in the city and being with you is the happiest feeling I’ve had in weeks, now c’mon slowpoke!”
Happiest in weeks? “Wait up, Pinkie,” Fluttershy said loudly as she trotted quickly to catch up. “What did you mean ‘in weeks’?”
“Oh, you heard that?”
“Yes, are you okay?”
“Well, can you keep a secret?”
“Pinkie,” was the reply with a serious look.
“I know you can, I was just checking. You see,” she looked around twice while walking, her head spinning back to the correct alignment to see Fluttershy with trembling eyes, “sorry, I’ll try to be less fun for now. Um, I haven’t really told anypony this, but,” she leaned in close to Pinkie and whispered quietly, this time stopping them both just past the treeline.
“I’m a little crazy.”
“Oh, I know that, but what’s your secret.”
“No, that is my secret.” Fluttershy’s eyes widened as the news sank in. “You see, I’m a party pony and I love to make my friends happy,” Fluttershy nodded, “but when I thought you girls weren’t going to be my friends anymore, I had an episode.”
“Um, an episode? Is this what Rainbow was talking about?”
“Well, I stopped her before she blabbed too much, but yeah,” she sighed as her color faded slightly to a darker shade of pink, “I used to have them all the time when I started throwing parties and they didn’t go as planned. Then I got better, until that day. I didn’t take it well; I started to have nightmares, then I stopped eating for a while, finally I almost…” she looked to the ground and her mane deflated somewhat.
“Oh dear. Pinkie, it’s nothing to be ashamed about. I’ve had those thoughts for years.”
“What?” Pinkie whispered.
“Me too. Um, hurting myself; I used to do it.”
“Why?”
“Because I have problems too. The only thing I know for certain, though,” she lifted Pinkie’s chin so she could look into her eyes, “the world would be a sadder place without me.” Pinkie chuckled. “Seriously. Pinkie, where would Ponyville be if I wasn’t here to be an element bearer? What about taking care of all the animals I do?”
“I dunno, maybe they’d be sick or hurt more?”
“Mr. Bear was going to eat a filly a few years ago,” Pinkie looked to Fluttershy with a surpised gasp, “yes, and most of the fish in the stream would have died from over fishing, unable to spawn upriver. Then the balance would have begun to degrade, life would struggle, and then we’d have to move.”
“Oh, I get it. So,” Pinkie said taking in a deep breath and letting it out, “if you weren’t here then everything would be worse. And that means that if I wasn’t here the town would be like when I got here?”
“Oh yes, I remember that. Everypony only cared about themselves. Distrust was all around, even the Apples had a royal guard to keep robbers away. You came into town and fixed us all, in your own way. You might be a little crazy, but this town needs that.”
Pinkie smiled weakly and took a shaky breath. “It’s so hard sometimes, ‘Shy. I smile all the time, but I feel empty inside. I eat sweets all the time and don’t gain weight. I do impossible things to make ponies happy, but nothing fills the empty place in me.”
Fluttershy sat next to Pinkie and draped a wing over her. “I know. But now, maybe we can fix that. For the first time in a long time, I felt happy with you. You preened me, even though it didn’t last long, it was very filling. Like my cup was empty and you filled it.”
Pinkie smiled for real, her color brightening. “And when we kissed, I felt happy! Maybe that’s what we need, kisses! I’ll open a booth where you give preening and I’ll get kisses and that’ll fix everything!” Pinkie rebounded to her happy self and turned to gallop away before stopping and looking to Fluttershy.
“But then, I’d be leaving you and that would be mean. No, that idea can wait until tomorrow.
Fluttershy giggled and began to trot with Pinkie further into the woods, enjoying each other’s company while talking about happier things, as well as nature in its most vibrant.