//------------------------------// // Just another day // Story: Just another day // by SecretAgentPlotTwist //------------------------------// Beep-beep Beep-beep Beep-beep Beep-“alright fine!” I slammed my hand down on my alarm’s snooze button and then, almost instinctively, I turned it off so it didn’t start beeping again while I’m doing my mascara. Specific example, I know, but it’s still the main reason I do my best not to forget. Messing up your makeup like that is not something you ever want to do more than once, which is probably the main reason I almost screamed the second time it happened. I moved my night mask up onto my forehead and let out a little sigh. I carefully got out of my neatly tucked-in bed as my eyes quickly adjusted to the ray of light coming through between the blinds. Stretching both my arms upwards, I let out a little yawn before pulling myself up from bed and made my way towards the window. With a firm tug on the string, the window swept open and the room was filled with light. I quickly glanced at my calendar, and with a sigh, I turned back to the window. I was indeed looking at the sunrise of a Monday morning. Well, I guess there is no use avoiding the inevitable; and, if I’m honest, Monday mornings are a lot better than they used to be. Plus getting up early does mean I get to enjoy the sunrise, which I did for a couple seconds, but soon began my daily rituals. And if you want to look the part of a fabulous fashion designer, you need quite a few rituals. By making good use of time, I had dressed, brushed my hair, and had applied my makeup to a very high standard; if I do say so myself. After all that, I headed downstairs after a well deserved moment of admiration towards my mirror; which I had factored into my schedule. In the kitchen, I set about getting ready for the day with breakfast. Luckily, neither I nor Sweetie Belle have anything particularly difficult for breakfast. I simply have some yogurt with toast, while Sweetie Belle has natto on rice, which is still pretty easy to make. I started boiling her rice and put the kettle on to make tea. I then opened my fridge to get to my yogurt, and after taking a teaspoon out of my drawer to eat it with -yes I know I should use a normal spoon now I’m an adult, just don’t tell anyone- and I poked my head out the doorway to check if Sweetie Belle had got up. Sure enough, I heard her banging about upstairs as she bounced around to get ready for the day. A small smile appeared across my face as I wondered how someone can possibly make that much noise putting on clothes. I walked back into the kitchen and sat down at the table to eat my yogurt, keeping part of my mind on ‘don’t let the rice burn again’ duty. As I enjoyed my breakfast, I found myself feeling quite glad that both I and Sweetie Belle are morning people. It means I’m not constantly pestering her to get up, and we can actually have pleasant conversations together at the dinner table. Sure she wasn't perfect in the mornings, she’s still normally rushing out the door because she lost track of time. Once I had to stop her because she almost ran to her first day of the school year with toast in her mouth. Probably trying to be the main character in one of those animes she likes; I swear they all start like that. That reminded me, I should really put my toast in the toaster. I got up to finish preparing our breakfasts. Once everything was finished, I put Sweetie Belle’s food out ready for her before sitting down with my toast and tea. I contemplated getting another one ready for our company but after considering it might get cold, I decided against it. Soon enough, I was greeted by my little sister with a surprise hug from behind, which did make me almost spill my tea, but the hug was too nice for me to get mad. After enjoying a bit of sisterly affection she joined me to eat her breakfast and we spent a couple of minutes engaged in small talk while we ate. “Well then, Sweetie Belle,” I added, “don’t you think it’s time you head off to school? You might miss the bus.” “What?” She looked at me with pleading eyes. “But I haven’t even got to see Pinkie yet.” “Sweetie,” I said firmly, those eyes weren’t going to work on me; I was in full ‘responsible guardian’ mode. “You know Pinkie doesn't come round as early on Mondays so sometimes you won’t be able to see her.” “It’s not fair,” she stuck out her lower lip. “You get to spend time with Pinkie all morning and I only see her for a couple of minutes.” “Oh please,” I chuckled, “I don’t know how much free time you think we adults have. I have to open the boutique early and Pinkie has the early shifts at the Cake’s shop. We get an hour, hour and a half tops after you leave.” She folded her arms in annoyance. “That’s still a lot longer than I get to see her.” “Sweetie. No. Go to school.” She pushed out her lip as far as she could manage and slumped over, but reluctantly got her bag and headed into the hallway to put on her shoes. Sure, I may have seemed a bit harsh, but we have this conversation every Monday now. Then I heard the sound of the door opening. “Pinkie Pie!” I heard a very happy Sweetie Belle shout from the hallway. “Hey Sweetie Belle, I was worried I would miss you.” “I was worried I would miss you to.” “Awh, don’t you fret, I wouldn't let you go to school without a big Pinkie hug.” “You’ve missed me before,” Sweetie counted with a hint of grumpiness. “Yeah, but I always give you an extra big hug the next day to make up for it, don’t I.” “I guess,” she said, still grumpy. “And to show you I care, I brought you something to make up for that.” There was a slight rustling from what sounded like a bag of sweets. “Just don’t tell Rarity.” “Thanks Pinkie, you’re the greatest!” Sweetie thanked her, with all sense of grumpiness gone. “I try my best,” She replied cheerily. “Now I’ll see you tomorrow. Right now, you need to head off to school. Goodbye, work hard and don’t forget to have fun.” There was a couple seconds of waiting while Pinkie waved goodbye and took off her coat. But sure enough, she walked through the door with a big smile to greet me, which I returned. She was wearing a simple pink t-shirt that poked through her zipped hoodie and a pair of tight American jeans. All in all, a very nice, casual look for her. “Wow Pinkie,” I began with a smile, “fancy seeing you here, what a surprise.” “Well you know me, I always like to keep you guessing,” she joked back. I chuckled and got back up to put the kettle back on. “You want your usual?” “Yes please, but saying ‘usual’ makes it sound like this is the local coffee shop,” she giggled. “Local coffee shop?” I gasped theatrically with my hand placed on my chest. “I’m offended, aren’t I glamourous enough for this to be a five-star coffee shop?” “My apologies.” She bowed in forgiveness, and then raised her arms to give her performance. “You make it sound like I’m a billionaire, and you’re the best drink maker money could buy.” Her uneven stare and arm flailing became too much for me to keep a straight face at; I broke down into a laugh which Pinkie was only too happy to join in with. This was probably the reason I never managed to make it as an actress. Never could keep my calm in theatre studies, always laughing in the comedies and crying in the dramas -which actually made me quite good in dramas- but I was always on-point with costume and makeup. After recovering my composure, I returned to the kettle as Pinkie made herself comfortable in her usual kitchen chair. A moment passed and she started humming a tune as she swayed her head from side to side. Wait, what tune was that... darn that’s really annoying me now. I know I’ve heard it before, I just can't quite place it… No, wait, it’s the opening to that anime Sweetie Belle is watching at the moment. Urgh, just when I thought I got that blasted tune out of my head. But it is quite nice that Pinkie and Sweetie like the same show so they can talk about it together. They get on really well actually. Well, Pinkie gets on with everyone, and somehow knows everyone. But she’s really hit it off with Sweetie in particular, and now they’re surprisingly close. Not that I’m jealous or anything, I’ve started watching those animes simply because I wanted to; not because I feel threatened by Pinkie. Sweetie's my sister, we have a special bond. I’ve been with her all her life and nothing's going to change that. I just really need to hurry up and finish that blasted anime. But, in all seriousness, I am actually really happy that they’ve become close. It means having Pinkie come over in the morning isn’t awkward for either of them and, instead, they enjoy it. I think Sweetie even looks forward to it. In fact, I would go so far to say that Pinkie is someone she really looks up to. I think Pinkie would love to know that. “So, Pinkie,” I said turning to face Pinkie with the now finished Teas in each hand, “there’s something I wanted to say about you and Sweetie.” “I’m sorry Rarity, you heard didn’t you.” She gave me a sorry bow. “I gave Sweetie some sweets without asking your permission.”. “Oh Darling, don’t worry about that,” I reassured her. “That’s fine, you can do that every once and a while, it’s when you start promising her a load of sweets next time she comes to Sugar Cube Corner that’s bad.” She leant up from her little bow to reveal a slightly embarrassed smile. One that I couldn't help but grin at. I placed her tea down on the table in front of her and sat opposite side of it to so I was facing her. Pinkie picked up her tea to take a sip and her face beamed at me, which meant I had made yet another good tea. “Well anyway,” I continued, “what I was going to say was that Sweetie seems to have taken quite a liking to you, she really looks forward to you coming round.” A small blush appeared on her face as she relaxed into her chair a bit more. “Well, I really like spending time with her too. She’s an energetic and lovely kid, not to mention she has good taste in anime.” “Hmm, she is indeed lovely most of the time, but keep in mind she’s on her best behaviour when you’re around,” I chuckled. “I also enjoy it when we’re all together in the morning. But I think she’s starting to see you as a member of the family.” Pinkie hid the lower half of her face behind her mug, but I could still see her now huge blush. I couldn’t help but laugh at the sight. It’s a lot of fun to cause someone who’s normally insanely confident and outgoing like Pinkie to go sheepishly quiet for a couple of seconds. “Urm, well, I think that’s probably a bit of a stretch. I mean apart from when she comes to Sugar Cube Corner, we don't see each other outside the twenty minutes before she goes to school. We’d have to spend a lot more time outside that for her to think that.” Well, when she puts it like that, I suppose she has a point. Pinkie never comes round after school so they don’t actually spend that much time together. It’s a real shame now that I think about it. I know Pinkie would love to spend more time with Sweetie and I think it’s pretty obvious that Sweetie would jump at the chance to see more Pinkie. I also have lots of fun whenever I’m with either of them and would like a chance to have more of that. In fact, I’ve just had a brilliant idea. “Then why don’t you?” I said with a smile. “We could all do something together after she gets in from school, I know she’d love that idea.” Pinkie took a second to think, then she beamed at me with glee. “I’d love to, it sounds like a lot of fun. When were you thinking?” “Hmm, well I know it’s short notice, but how about you come with us to the ‘Union Anniversary Festival’ tonight, if you haven't made any plans that is.” “That sounds great, I normally just help out at one of the Chinese food stands, but I’d love to enjoy the festival this year with you two.” “Then it’s decided,” I said satisfied. “Do you want us to come round or shall you come round mine?” ... “Coming,” I called to the door as I made sure my Kimono definitely wouldn’t fall off when I moved too fast in it. The things I do for fashion. That said, it looks stunning. The light purple is pleasing to the eye and the white flowers elegantly wrap around the chest in a way that screams perfection. I opened the door and revealed a very excited Pinkie wearing… exactly the same clothes as this morning. “Heya Rarity,” she said with a smile. “Loving the Kimono, it looks great on you. I wish I could pull off purple as well as you.” “Hello Pinkie,” I replied with a confused look, determined not to talk about what I was wearing just yet. “Not that I don’t love your fashion sense Pinkie, because I do, but shouldn't you be wearing your traditional clothing for an event like this?” Pinkie shrugged it off with a chuckle as she walked in. “You want to wear a cheongsam on a chilly march evening, be my guest. But I’m perfectly happy in my cosy jacket.” “I guess, but I can’t understand how you can turn down the chance to wear such a beautiful dress. But that may be just because I’ve never had an occasion to wear one.” “Silly Rarity,” she said, putting her arm around my shoulder, “you don’t need an excuse to wear something. Wear whatever you want, whenever you want. Trust me, you feel much better about yourself.” “I don’t think I’ll feel very good about myself if everyone's looking at me, wondering why on earth I’m wearing a cheongsam. Not everyone thinks the same way as you.” I sighed. “And besides, wearing something like a Kimono wouldn’t feel as special if I didn’t only wear them for festivals.” “They also don’t feel special if you never wear them either.” “Pinkie!” We both turned just in time to see Sweetie run, as best she could in her kimono, towards Pinkie. She unwrapped her arm from my shoulder and knelt down slightly to receive Sweetie’s running hug. Sweetie squeezed with a tightness that Pinkie returned. “Now that is the best way to say hello to someone,” Pinkie said as she began to let go of her. “Wow, aren't you the most adorable thing, that Kimono looks great on you.” “Thanks,” she replied with a slight blush. “Rarity made it for me.” “And she does not disappoint,” She said with a little smile towards me. I don’t, do I. “She certainly knows what suits you, the pink with white flowers goes perfectly with you.” She’s also right there. “But you can not simply stay inside to hide this beauty for only our eyes, that would be selfish,” she continued with a dramatic tone. “We must go out to the world -and by that I mean the festival- to show them that we have the best looking lady in all the land with us. Onwards, for glory!” Pinkie pointed to the sky through the doorway dramatically and Sweetie ran forward and out into the street, giggling the whole way with Pinkie close behind her. Well, that’s one way of getting her to hurry up. I chose to head off in a more composed fashion. I looked through my purse to double check I hadn’t forgotten anything before walking outside to greet them. They were running around the pavements together playing some kind of game, it brought a smile to my face seeing them have so much fun together. Pinkie is too good with kids for her own good. As I made it to them, Pinkie leapt towards Sweetie and picked her up slightly to twirl her around before putting her back down. She then wished her better luck next time, which I guess means she won whatever game they were playing. She then greeted me with a little smile and we made our way to the festival side by side, with Sweetie running around ahead of us slightly. While keeping one eye on Sweetie, I relaxed a little knowing that Pinkie wouldn’t be in ‘run around with Sweetie’ mode all evening. That would be exhausting to keep up with. “Well, I’m certainly glad I didn’t wear a cheongsam tonight,” Pinkie said blissfully. “You can not run in those things, they’re so tight around the legs. During one of my visits home, I once had to wear one for a whole day of ceremonies. It got so annoying I cut up the side of the dress so my leg could poke out, my mum almost had a fit.” We shared a laugh at the story. “That sounds like something you would do. I would have shouted at you too for ruining such expensive clothes.” “Ruin? It looked brilliant with that modification. Trust me, you would have approved.” She gave me a confident look. “I’m sure I would have,” I chuckled. “And if you can run around while still looking fabulous then who am I to complain. And I wouldn’t want to miss you having fun with Sweetie because of fashion.” She gave me a reaffirming smile which I couldn’t help but grin at. “But in all seriousness,” I continued, “I’m really glad you and Sweetie get on so well together. Our parents are always off traveling so the only adult she’s had has been me. And while I do everything I can, I’m still just one person. So I’m really glad that she has someone else to look up to, especially someone as nice and kind as you.” She gave me a warm smile and a little blush that she didn’t hide. “Thanks, Rarity, it means a lot to me.” I returned her warm smile. As nice as the moment was, we were almost at the festival and we needed fun and energy for that. “This is exciting isn’t it,” I said, “I haven’t spent the Union Festival with a friend since I was little. And being Japanese while spending it with a Chinese friend kind of represents the spirit of the union.” “Yep, and the Chinese girl is just here because she can't afford to come by herself,” She said with a chuckle. “Ooh, controversial,” I joked back. “What can I say, it’s the old Chinese nationalist in me.” “Indeed, you follow all the great Chinese traditions, like refusing to wear cheongsams and bringing party poppers to a traditional family wedding.” “I am indeed a shining example to all nationalists,” she said, putting her hand on her chest. “Also, every party should have confetti, regardless of where it is.” “We’re here!” Sweetie screamed in excitement. We all stopped for a second to take in the grand site, they had really gone all out this year. Stands filled the field with beautifully decorated lanterns above, lighting up the interconnected passageways that were filled with people. In the distance, you could see the fairground rides lit up with red, yellow, and white lights. The smell was equally amazing. Food stands littered the area and filled the air with the sweet and spicy smells of food from India to Malaysia. The smell of Sweet and Sour chicken was exquisite, the Thai spices were superb, and the Vietnamese dipping sauce caused my mouth to water...I just noticed how hungry I was. “Well I think we should look for somewhere to eat first,” I said with a calm tone. “What do you two fancy.” “Can I have some candy floss,” Sweetie asked. “I mean for our meal.” “So do I,” she said hopefully. I responded with a disapproving look that us older sisters are experts at. “I could go for some Korean food,” Pinkie chipped in. I found that to be a good idea, so I responded with a nod. I honestly would have gone with anything as long as it was close. Luckily, with Pinkie leading the way, we did find a Korean food stand pretty quickly. I’m pretty sure she has some kind of special smell tracking ability. Which I was perfectly happy with because I now had some food thanks to it. It was very tasty food as well. The stand was very impressive from the cooking equipment to the decorations, they were certainly trying to give of the impression of professionalism. I especially liked the “Korean votes now” posters and the rock guitars which gave it a distinct 60’s feel. “Mmm, I absolutely love Korean food,” Pinkie said between mouthfuls. “Yes, I’m rather fond of it as well,” I agreed. “This specific Korean food is probably some of the best I’ve had.” “Oh the street food is amazing, but I know this place in town that makes the best meals, the buldak will blow your mind,” She said using her hand mime her head blowing up. “Well, you certainly make a good sale, you’ll have to show me it sometime.” “Sounds like fun,” she said with a smile. After we finished our meals, the three of us started looking around the fair: playing games, trying snacks, and frankly just enjoying each others company. Pinkie and Sweetie seemed to be doing most of the game playing and food eating -I was watching my calories- but I was having equally as much fun watching them. While I was watching one such spectacle, Pinkie and Sweetie playing a little archery game, I noticed one game stand in which you had to throw a ball at a display of cans to get a prize. But it wasn’t the game that grabbed my interest, it was one of the prizes, a big fluffy bear that reminded me a bit too much of my childhood bear. I lost it in a freak accident when I was little. It all started on a Tuesday… no wait I can't go into it now, but I will say it was incredibly traumatic. I started walking towards the stand, I checked the price for a go and how many cans I would have to knock over to get that teddy bear. All in all, it seemed doable. I started to open my purse to look for some coins but I hesitated. This was ridiculous, I was a grown woman, I had no need for that teddy bear. If I got that teddy bear for myself, what would the man at the counter think, or anyone else for that matter. Nope, I wasn't going to embarrass myself here. “What you up to Rarity?” I turned to see Pinkie standing behind me with a curious look on her face. Next to her was Sweetie, holding a little, stuffed horse toy which they must have won from their game. “Oh, nothing,” I spurted out. “I just noticed that the teddy bear over there reminded me of my old one, so I came over to get a closer look.” Sweetie smiled at me, having bought it, but Pinkie wasn't convinced. She must have seen me looking through my purse. But then she smiled and stepped forward. “Is that the one you mean?” She said pointing to the teddy bear. I nodded and she handed the man some money. “I’m gonna get it for you.” “You have three tries to knock over as many cans as you can.” He stepped aside as Pinkie raised her throwing arm with the ball in it. “Miss, “Miss, “Miss, sorry ma'am, that’s all your balls.” Pinkie walked away from the stand; back towards me and Sweetie. Her smile was gone and her hair seemed deflated somehow. It stung to see her like that, and what made it worse was that she was trying to do something really kind for me. Wait, you know what, she did do something really nice for me. “Hey, Pinkie.” I put my hand on her shoulder and looked into her eyes. “Thanks.” “But I didn’t do anything,” she protested with a sniff. “Yeah you did. You tried to win that game just for me, for as stupid a reason as ‘it reminds me of my old teddy bear.’ That’s one of the sweetest things a friend's ever done to me. “Yeah Pinkie,” Sweetie joined in with a smile. “One day I want to be as good a friend as you.” Pinkie's sad face was replaced by a blushing one as her lost smile reemerged. “Thanks, you two are too nice.” We quickly moved on from that little event and got back to enjoying the rest of the festival. It was a shame about the bear though. If I had done it myself I know I would have won the prize. You wouldn’t know from looking at me, but I have a surprisingly good arm. But I wouldn’t have wanted to carry it around for the rest of the evening, so it was probably for the best. We eventually made our way down to the fairground rides and Sweetie immediately found a ride she wanted to go on. Because it was one made for children, we decided to let her go on by herself while we waited for her, after making a couple of quick visual safety checks of course. But when we went round the to the waiting area, I noticed something quite peculiar. “Is that a tank?” I wondered out loud. “Wha?” Pinkie said, following my eyes. “Oh yeah, wow, they actually managed to get one.” “Pardon?” “Oh, sorry, I was talking to the person organising this event recently. She was telling me about trying to organise the army to bring a union tank as an attraction.” She grinned. “She was worried that she might have to give up on the idea because of how difficult it was proving, but I guess she managed it.” I looked at her with a confused look for a second, but then chuckled. “Is there anyone in this town that you don’t know?” “I didn't know the owner of the stand with that teddy bear.” She shrugged. “That’s true.” “Know his brother though, nice guy.” I rolled my eyes, I can’t understand how she keeps track of so many people, or where she gets the time to meet them. But I was still curious about that tank though. “Come on, let's have a closer look while Sweetie's still on the ride.” I grabbed her arm and wandered closer to the tank while still making sure not to go out of view of the waiting area. When we arrived I noticed that there were soldiers waiting by the tank, four of them in fact, full uniform and everything. There were three men and one woman soldier. The men were talking to a small group of young girls in kimonos. While the girl was sitting on the other side of the tank looking rather bored, occasionally glancing at one of the men with an annoyed look. Despite how silly all the women looked, getting so flustered by some men in uniform, I did feel a little left out. “What do you say we go and have a little chat with the soldiers before Sweetie’s ride ends,” I said with a sly smile. “Never know, we might get lucky.” “No thanks,” Pinkie said with a shrug, “I’ll pass.” “No? But why not? Don’t you find a soldier's uniform even a little attractive?” “Erm, not really. One of my sisters a soldier so there’s no fantasy there.” “Oh, I see… but surely because it’s a man in uniform it doesn’t count?” Pinkie hesitated. “No, it’s still weird.” “Fair enough then.” Going over there wouldn’t be any fun without Pinkie so I decided against doing it myself. “It wouldn't matter anyway, it looks like the ride's slowing down; we better head back.” We started making our way back to pick up Sweetie. “You never told me your sister was in the army.” “Yeah, it’s not really my favorite topic of conversation,” she said hesitantly. “But it’s nothing new, she’d been training for the military since as long as I can remember. She’s my oldest sister, I trust her to keep safe, but even then…” The walk back turned silent, and silence with Pinkie Pie is never good. I decided against bringing it up again, this was obviously a very sensitive topic for Pinkie. It’s funny to think when I first met Pinkie I didn’t think anything could bring her down. When Sweetie got off the ride and ran towards us Pinkie's smile immediately returned as she gave her a hug and Sweetie talked about how amazing the ride was. But before she could go into too much detail, she let out a little yawn. “Getting a bit tired are you, Sweetie?” I said. “It is getting pretty late, maybe we should call it a night.” Sweetie started to protest but I was feeling pretty tired myself. Pinkie, on the other hand, was full of energy. “Why don’t we just see the firework display and then call it a night,” she said with a hopeful smile. “Plus I have the best idea about how to watch them.” “Yes, fireworks!” Sweetie said excitedly. “Can we watch them Rarity, please please please please?” “Hmm.” It would’ve been a shame to miss the fireworks, they were starting any minute now. I also didn’t want to disappoint Pinkie, especially since she had Sweetie’s support. “Alright, we can watch the fireworks. What’s this great idea you have Pinkie?” “I’m glad you asked,” She said with a grin. “We are going to watch the firework display from there.” With a confident grin, she proudly pointed to towards the center of the festival. I followed her arm and I found what she was looking at, and smiled to myself. Sweetie must have too because she gasped and gave a little jump with excitement. I couldn’t help but wonder why I didn't think of it myself, watching fireworks from a Ferris wheel is such a nice idea. “The fireworks are going to start any minute now,” she continued, “If we head over there now we’ll be able to see most of it while we’re going round.” I gave Pinkie a warm smile and we all started making our way towards the Ferris wheel. Upon arriving, we were pleasantly surprised to see there wasn’t much of a line, so within a couple of minutes we had reached the front and we started to get on. Even though it was a bit bigger than average wheel, it still had the seats instead of the carts. This did normally mean that the first half of the rides view wasn’t very good, but I wasn’t going to complain. Pinkie sat down on the left of the seat and I sat down on the right with Sweetie happily squeezing into the middle of us. A couple seconds later we were moving up backwards slowly, very slowly. Pinkie wasn’t joking when she said we would get to see the majority of the fireworks from up here. I thought we’d get to see the morning sun as well before we got off. I rested back into my seat, I just hoped the firework display wouldn’t start before we got to the top or we might miss it. I turned towards Sweetie, who seemed satisfied with the fact we were going up so high, and smiled at her. I then looked up to Pinkie, who was looking over her side to the ground below her. I thought that it would be a good thing to do the same. I peered over my side onto the festival below; it was a flawless sight. The bright lights that seemed to dance above the busy stands laid in direct contrast to the dark and quiet woods just next to the festival. After a couple of minutes of admiration, I looked up a little to the nearby houses, I would be able to see my house from here if it wasn’t so dark. Wait, when did we get up so high? I looked around to find we were almost at the top of the Ferris wheel. I must have spent longer enjoying the view than I thought. I leant back and rested, the fireworks should start any second now. I looked over at Pinkie, who was still enjoying the view herself, and smiled to myself. The lights below bounced off her coat to illuminate her figure. She looked beautiful. I feel like I don’t tell her that enough. Despite her messy hair, her many ‘It’s much more important to be pretty on the inside’ monologues, and her refusal to wear a cheongsam, she was absolutely beautiful. In that moment, Pinkie turned and met my eyes. She gave me a warm smile, as if she knew what I was thinking. Then we heard the first firework go off, and then another, and then the noise was everywhere. “Wait, where are they?” Sweetie Belle asked in a confused tone. Pinkie, who was now looking around furiously, couldn't answer her. Then, when Pinkie looked behind her, she stopped moving. “They’re behind us, the firework display is on the other side of the Ferris wheel, just out of sight.” Oh no, this was terrible. Pinkie was so pleased with this idea, now she’s going to be sad again. Why on earth didn’t you think this could happen, now the ‘perfect end’ to the evening has been ruined, and Pinkie's going to think it was all her fault. It was during that chain of thought that Pinkie started laughing. “Can you believe that?” she said between her laughing fits. “Out of all the things that could have happened, this is definitely one for the history books.” I looked down at Sweetie. At some point, she had joined in with Pinkie and was now laughing hysterically. I looked from one to another a couple of times and giggled, then I laughed a little, and before I knew it I was laughing hysterically with them. We may not have seen the fireworks, but I wasn't focused on what we were doing. All I wanted to do was to spend time with the people I cared most about. I mean Pinkie has other nights available, maybe I can fit her perfectly into my evening routine. To be honest, I'm not really sure what my feelings towards her were exactly, and frankly, I didn't really care. I was just happy to take things as they came with Pinkie. Sure, it was a little scary, but that was drowned out by excitement. Indeed, this was definitely one for the history books.