//------------------------------// // Friends Forever VII: Warming Laughter // Story: Friends Forever // by Snow //------------------------------// "A unicorn...!" A slew of emotions tumbled from the lips of the lavender Alicorn, with those simple words. It was the seventh time she had repeated it in half as many minutes, her mind a record skipping over that fact even as elegant legs folded. "Seven...." "A UNICORN!" "Eight..." Luna counted, unable to keep a smirk off her face, and a titter from her voice. Then again, she wasn't exactly attempting to do so either. "I know. I know! but for Harmony's sake, she's a-" Twilight responded in exasperation, shaking her head as she cut herself off. Her mind was restless, as indecisive and unstable as a foal angling for a cutiemark after ten mugs of Pony Joe's black coffee, and twice as many donuts. "Twilight dear, be she unicorn, earth pony, or otherwise, Pinkie Pie in any form is still your friend in your heart. You know that. One way or another everything will work out for the best." Calm serenity, as warm as a summer morning filled Princess Celestia's voice, cutting through the miasma of doubt within Twilight's mind, smoothing the edges of her psyche and endowing it instead with a measure of the kind reassurance. "You're right, Celestia... Thanks..." Twilight took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh, expelling the remnants of her inner turmoil in one cleansing exhale. "It doesn't matter if she's a unicorn, or an earth pony, or anything else. We don't even know what'll happen anyway. Barring acts of chaos, Pinkie's always done her best to help and be a good friend. Everything will work out." As if by some cosmic cue, a sound akin to a breath of wind accompanied a soft flash. There, on Sun Dew's neck was a familiar golden necklace, bearing a blue diamond, and on the face of the sleeping filly? A smile, content, and happy. The three mares looked to one another, surprise turning into amused smiles before a wordless nod from Twilight sent her off into dreams once more. After she was out, Luna turned a questioning look to Celestia, who just smiled for a long moment... and shrugged. "Isn't fortuitous timing allowed to occur on this world without me arranging it somehow?" Silence. Silence and darkness. An endless black void of weightless quiet that stretched deeper than the depths of Tartarus. "Is... this a nightmare?" Too quietly Twilight's voice echoed, but only in her mind; the words were swallowed by the dark. "Nope!" With a lurch, the alicorn fond herself rocketing in a direction her senses told her was 'up' at a pace that made her heart pound a mile a minute, which incidentally may have been the speed of her ascent. Wings flared and tried to make sense of this sensation of shooting upward, cork-like, to little effect. Then, with the sound a kazoo being played backward through a hallway full of party favors, Twilight found herself.... shot from the barrel of a brightly colored canon amidst a cloud of confetti and streamers. "SURPRISE!" A bright, excited and jubilant voice called at the top of its owner’s lungs; A neon pink mare with a mane as puffy fluffy poof-filled as a cotton candy cloud, sparkling blue eyes, and a grin that could split the sea. "What the-OOF!" Twilight managed midair... before smacking straight into a post, which rebounded with a rubbery sound and launched her onto a strategically placed cushion. "...Hay?!" She continued, after spitting out a few squares of brightly colored paper. There, standing behind her trusty party canon, was Pinkie Pie, beaming at Twilight in absolute joy as laughter erupted from the teenage filly whose dream Twilight occupying. At least, she severely hoped this was the case. For a long moment Pinkie just stood there beaming to Twilight, that familiar smile full of the combined joy of every pony that had ever seen it, the only sound the chorus of the as-yet-unnamed filly presently on her back and clutching her stomach. "Pinkie...." "Were you surprised? Oh you were SO surprised! C'mon admit it, you were so surprised! In fact I'd bet you were so surprised you were super-ised! Are you super? Of course you are! You're the bestest most wonderfullest nicest-" "Pinkie...!" "-caringest pony EVER!" Pinkie paused, possibly to actually inhale, or perhaps even realized she was being addressed. "Yes, Twilight?" "PI--! Oh... Um.. Why.... how.... What in the hay are you doing here?!" Twilight grasped at the words, completely flabbergasted. In fact her gast was so well flabbered that she found herself starting to smile despite herself. Somehow, this made some kind of sense, in a mind-warping kind of way, and that thought simultaneously made Twilight want to laugh and flee at the same time. "We-e-e-elll.... I got so tired of waiting for you to come get me or call me or whatever it is ended up yoinking the other girls away with these neat little 'WOOBLEVOWRM' sounds soooo I decided to come meet Joy here myself! She's got a great sense of humor and loves parties. In fact..." 'Maybe it's because I haven't seen her in a thousand years.... "- streamers everywhere and then we had this HUGE CAKE I mean like it was so big even I couldn't eat it all and then she was like 'Let me show you something' and then she-" 'Or maybe I've gotten wiser in my lifetime... "-marching band playing a DIDGERIDOO, which is a hilarious word by the way, didja redo? Did grrrr I do! Hehehe. So anyway-" 'But she's starting to make sense' "-juggling tubas on a unicycle in June and that's just crazy! I mean tubas are such an autumn instrument to be juggling in June so they totally had no taste in fine dining whatsoever-" '.... Then again...' "...Twilight?" At some point Pinkie had stopped her monologue after realizing the alicorn was just staring at her, and to Twilight's surprise, smiling. Without responding, (and still listening to the red, golden-maned filly, Joy, cackling, pausing only to breathe,) Twilight stood from where she had landed on the cushion, walked toward a still smiling, but head-canted Pinkie.... and promptly draped her neck over the smaller mare in an affectionate equine hug, nuzzling her. Pinkie blinked a few times. She didn't mind of course, it just wasn't something she was actually used to. Mostly because it had been quite awhile since somepony that tall actually could! Still, after a few moments she leaned her own head up, returning the hug. "I missed you Pinkie." Twilight said, softly and still smiling, the candyfloss mane tickling at her chin. "...I missed you too Twilight." Pinkie replied in one of her rare moments of calm seriousness. Once she might have said something silly to lighten the moment, trying to fill every instant with as much joy and laughter as she could, but thanks to the patience and care of her friends, the hyper mare learned a very important lesson... 'Even though it’s important to laugh with your friends, it's important to listen, and share your heart with them as well.' During this quiet, shared moment, Joy finally caught her breath, and rolled to her hooves, helping herself to some punch as she sat down properly, looking between the two with a mix of expectancy and jubilation. Momentarily ignorant of the other pony, Twilight looked on the last of her best friends after disengaging the hug. "Pinkie-" Twilight began, starting to search for words. She knew from Rainbow Dash and Rarity that they had been watching her, and appreciated what she had done, but she wanted to hear it, had to hear it. She- "Twilight." Pinkie cut her friend off, voice firm, but touched with a smile brighter than the sun itself. "You made Sugarcube Corner the cornerstone of sugarcubes all across Equestria, you kept each and every promise to all of us and beyond. I mean for the love of hot sauce cupcakes! Twilight every year just about every pony in Equestria smiles, dances, plays, sings, and plays pin the tail on the pony. They have so much fun, and it's all because of you, and you did it for me." Her voice cracked, even though she was smiling as wide as she could. "Twilight Sparkle, you are the best friend a pony, past, present, or future, can ever or will ever have." It was at that point Pinkie Pie reared up onto her hind legs, and hugged Twilight around the neck as tightly as she could, which meant it was a fairly good thing none of them were actually awake or it very well w could have been painful. Between the reassurance and the embrace, Twilight felt warm. Warm, inside and out, by the roaring inferno of her friends, both old and new. When Pinkie drew away, she was wearing her element necklace, looking down at it in surprise, then laughing, with Twilight joining in after a moment of confusion. "Sooooo I hate to interrupt but now seems like a good time. Hi, I'm Joy! Pony-party-planner nonpareil! Well, mostly; I thought I was, until I met Pinkie Pie here." Joy's voice drew the attention of both mares, and Twilight was stricken with just how close Joy's voice was to... Rainbow Dash, actually. "Oh RIGHT!" came an exclamation from Pinkie, energy regained tenfold for the brief interlude of sanity. "Twilight this is Joy! Joy, this is Twilight Sparkle!" Pinkie suddenly sidled up beside Joy, faux whispering, "She's a Princess y'know!" That earned another bout of giggles, from Twilight and Joy both. It was infectious! Pinkie, however, just looked sort of confused between the two of them, before shrugging and laughing right along. "P-pleased to me-heehee meet you Joy." The serene, cultured, and even voice of Princess Twilight had long since taken a vacation, and after seeing the company she'd have to come back to, decided to spring for awhile longer, maybe go visit a spa. In its place was a hopeful, almost unsure, and bright bouncy tone, almost too happy to be believed, and vaguely reminiscent of her speech in ages gone by. "So you're a pony who likes to party?" Joy's response treaded the line between enthusiastic and over-excited, "You bet your hooves I do! I love partying, the bigger and wackier the better. In fact I got my cutiemark on my very first-" "PINKAPALOOZA!" Pinkie Pie set off another round from her party canon, laughing in such happiness that it bordered on mania. "I love that word! It's so much fun to say! Pinkapalooza pinkapapinkapinkalooza!" "-Err, heheh, yeah! I got my cutiemark the very first time I could actually be a part of a Pinkapalooza party! So we partied twice as hard cause it then it was a cutiemark party on the day you party your hardest every year! Seeing ponies having fun is just one of the best feelings I can get! Which after talking to Pinkie here, is why--" Despite (or perhaps because of) her good humor, Pinkie just wasn't a pony that one got used to all in one sitting., and Joy found herself giggling at each interruption bearing the fruit of nonsense. One such interruption came in the form of a pink hoof suddenly inserted in Joy's muzzle. "Tut-tut-tut! No spoiling the surprise! Twilight's just gonna have to wait to find out like everypony else!" Pinkie's jubilant, bright voice chirped to cut Joy off, as if her hoof hadn't done just fine. "Um, Pinkie? Who else? And also, please tell me how in the hay you got here without me bringing you." Academic curiosity and disbelief could only be suspended for so long before the purple Alicorn had to ask, for better or worse. "Hmmmmmmmmm....." Hoof still in Joy's mouth, Pinkie shifted her head, brows furrowed as she considered. "....OK!" With a -pop- her hoof withdrew, and the pink mare was suddenly right beside Twilight in the space o a blink. "Well first of all, I'm your friend too silly, so why couldn't I use the same special connection to come visit without you having to call me? Second, you talk in your sleep. Did you know? That's totally how I knew what you were gonna ask! Third, I got sooooo bored of waiting that as soon as Rarity kerpoofled I came to visit Joy here and figured I'd introduce myself and explain what was going on!" "I... you...." Stammering, Twilight couldn't actually fault anything Pinkie just said... even if it was vague on several points... and for some reason that was almost as frustrating as when Pinkie gave completely unhelpful answers. So successfully was she distracted, in fact, that the first of the two questions went completely unanswered without a fuss. "Yep! So here we are! Well 'scept you need to actually get some real sleep in your own head instead of other ponies, believe me it gets weird if you don't! Of course weird can be good like the time I tried this awesome hot sauce that's like made from rainbows or something? Never had a cupcake liquify before but it made a darn good smoothie!" During this exchange Joy just shook her head, and smirked a little to herself, speaking up only after Pinkie had finished. "Yeah, Pinkie and I have a party-pony party to finish. Besides you do look kinda tired, and you're asleep!" "But I'd really like to get to know you Joy! What if-" "Twilight I promise. I Pinkie Pie Promise that I know what I'm getting into. Pinkie's been very forward... even if she gets distracted every other second. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a pie-" "Cupcake!" Pinkie corrected, incredibly seriously. "...Right. Stick a cupcake in my eye!" Joy jabbed herself in the eye, and jumped. "Ouch!" "But-" Twilight interjected, raising a hoof and taking a step toward Joy. "Twilight you silly filly, just trust ol' Granny Pie, you'll have plenty of time to get to know Joy later. Now shoo!" Pinkie Pie gave a wry grin, and on the last word Twilight felt a lurch, once again ascending like a cork with the world around her fading into a blur, and the next thing she knew, light. "What." Luna asked of nopony in particular as her spell... quite simply ended with the distinct sensation of a beep on the nose. She stood, and took a few steps over to Twilight, who at that moment was opening her eyes blearily looking around, looking far too tired for somepony that had just slept from dusk to dawn. "....Pinkie Pie," Twilight responded tiredly, but smiling. Before she even had time to stand up, the Laughter necklace appeared around Joy's throat with not a breath of wind or a flash, but a pop of confetti and a party horn. Both Luna and Celestia, the latter of which had been signing a few more scrolls, shared a look, then peered at Twilight. "Should we wake them?" Luna asked, as if by some unspoken cue. "Not yet... I wanna know what happened to them all but... At the same time I need to sleep and dream some dreams of my own. I feel better than I have in a long, long time, and I can kinda imagine that when I wake up my friends'll be there waiting for me." A yawn punctuated Twilight's statement. "Then go to sleep Twilight. A little longer in dreamland won't hurt them either. We'll wake them this evening when you rise." Celestia brought her head to rest on Twilight's withers in an affectionate hug, one which Luna joined in on her opposite side. "Thanks Tia, Luna. For... everything really. I don't say it enough." Sleep, true, restful sleep, had caught up with Twilight, and was demanding her attention. "You tell us every day -" Celestia began, grinning. "- And every night!" Finished Luna, a smile soft on her features. "Mm..." Another most eloquent and wordy response from the tired mare, who for some reason... felt as if this ordeal had lasted months! "Good morning everypony." It was only the proximity of her sisters that kept Twilight from collapsing into dreams; her own this time, and it was those same two sisters that carried her to her room, and tucked her in. TO BE CONCLUDED. Whaddiya mean 'to be concluded'?! The readers have been waiting bucking forever for you to get off your- Pinkie. -and finish this story! You can't do all the elements and leave- Pinkie! WHAT?! I said you could help. This isn't helping. I'm building dramatic tension and letting the readers speculate over what's happening.... and taking a moment to refresh myself with my own story to make sure the ending I have in mind fits. Oh. Why didn't you say so? THWACK Oooh. That looked like it hurt. Is there a doctor in the audience?