The gang didn’t know what to do now they had been kicked out of Pinkie’s home, and it started to hit home that she wasn’t joining them. Twilight felt hopeless as she kept going over that Pinkie wasn’t herself. She needed Pinkie, her friend that was always cheerful, that could make almost anypony smile, and she wasn’t coming along. Twilight was scared, and she felt like she failed already. She felt sick knowing that Dark Blitz had already won and Equestria was doomed. And she had failed on the very first day of playing the game Dark Blitz had made, and it added a feeling of embarrassment. Twilight looked at the ground thinking about how to fix this, how to get Pinkie to join them. Just then Fluttershy pointed a hoof, yelling,
“Look! In the window, it’s Pinkamena.”
Twilight looked up at the window and saw Pinkie; she was holding something in her mouth. She opened the window, took the item in hoof, and threw it out. Applejack watched it glide down, and grabbed it up in her hooves when it came close enough.
“It’s a paper plane. But why though?”
Twilight rolled her eyes
“Applejack, unfold it and see if it says anything.”
Applejack unfolded the paper, opening it out fully, before her eyes lit up.
“Well I’ll be. Twilight, you were right, there's a note in the plane; ‘stick around till nightfall and I’ll sneak out and join you guys. I really want to go, I’ve been going crazy stuck here all the time, just ask Madame La Flour, she will atest to that. Wait by Morty, I’ll meet you there. From Pinkamena.’” AJ finished, but blinked, scanning the note again. “Umm, who’s Madame La Flour?”
Twilight had a vague recollection. But rather than bring it up, she smiled.
“Who cares? Pinkie’s going to join us! Unfortunately we have to wait for nightfall so let's go and hide on the other side of Morty.”
They did as Pinkamena’s note said and waited till nightfall. They passed the time, only keeping track through a magical hourglass, as it was impossible to tell if it was actual nightfall from the constantly changing sun and moon.
~~~~~~~~~Hours later~~~~~~~~~
“That’s it, I’ve had enough. Twilight she ain't comin’. Lets just go, we’ve been here for hours.”
Twilight looked at her, her eyes slightly pained.
“No, we’ll wait for Pinkie no matter what. She's our friend and she wouldn’t lie. She’ll be here soon I-I just know it.”
“Twilight, Ah’m sorry, but you’re crazy; that rock head ain't comin.”
Just as Applejack finished her sentence, they heard somepony yelling.
“I’ll be right there, just wait ok.”
The group looked over in the direction of the shouting, and they saw Pinkie. Twilight smiled, and her smugness came across both her muzzle and her voice as she turned to the orange mare.
“And you wanted to leave.”
Applejack rolled her eyes and huffed.
“Whatever, she better hurry up ‘cos we gotta’ hit the road soon.”
Jogging the remaining distance, Pinkamena approached them all.
“Ok, I’m here. Let’s get going on this trip before anypony realizes I’m gone.”
Before they could even move they heard a boring monotone voice coming from behind.
“Pinkamena Diane Pie, where are you going? It’s two am. You should be asleep getting ready for tomorrow’s harvest.”
Pinkamena turned her head around and saw a gray pony with a light purple mane and tail. She looked at her and then put on a puppy dog face and said
“Maud, please don’t tell anypony. I really want to go on this trip with these ponies. Besides the purple one’s a princess. So don’t tell mom or dad.”
Maud looked at her with her plain face, her voice coming out the same as always.
“Are you sure you want to go?”
“Yes.” Pinkamena nodded.
“Will it make you happy?”
“YES!” Pinkamena nodded harder, almost jumping into a pronk.
Maud stared at Pinkamena thinking over what she said, while the tension was building in the air. She walked over to Twilight and looked her in the eye; turned back to Pinkamena.
“Ok, I won’t tell mom or dad, so go have fun.”
Pinkamena smiled and walked up to her. She hugged tight, saying thank you; Maud turned back to Twilight and droned,
“Listen, keep Pinkamena safe Princess. She is my very favorite sister, so she better get home safe and happy.”
Twilight looked Maud in the eye and spoke in a confident tone
“Don’t worry Maud, I will.”
“You had better. Goodbye Pinkamena.”
As Maud starting heading back to the farm house; Pinkamena walked up to Twilight and elbowed her on the shoulder.
“Haha good acting right. I always get what I want from Maud. I know everything will be ok even if she tells mom and dad. I’m her favorite sister, as she told you, so getting her to give me what I wanted was easy peasy.”
Twilight looked shocked by that statement, it made her uneasy.
“What do you mean? She loves you and cares about you, don’t you even care?”
Pinkamena looked at Twilight and blinked, before her tone became cold and harsh,
“I don’t really care that much, princess. Stay out of my family affairs.”
Twilight’s eyes widened.
“You really aren’t the Pinkie I know.”
Pinkamena moved to be muzzle to muzzle with Twilight.
“It’s Pinkamena, not Pinkie.” She backed off slightly. “Besides, I don’t know you personally, but I do know how to play my sister. I still love her, just in a different way. That ok, princess? So let’s just go already, and forget the whole thing.”
Twilight didn’t know how to feel about Pinkie right now, but she did as she said and started walking in the opposite direction to the farm house.
Leaving the now purple and vibrant landscape of the rock farm with Pinkie in tow,
Applejack broke the icy tension between them all,
“Well I’m Applejack, the yellow pegasus is Fluttershy and the alicorn is Twilight Sparkle, princess of something. I don’t remember of what though”
Twilight rolled her eyes as Pinkamena looked over them again and started jumping towards the east; the opposite direction of where they were going and said
“Ok glad to meet you all but let's go. I want to get this quest over with so when I get back home I can eat some rock stew.”
Twilight called to Pinkie.
“Ummm Pinkie, I mean Pinkamena, we’re going to Cloudsdale now, we need Rainbow Dash. So we need to get you and Applejack a way up there, and that means we need a hot-air balloon. So we're heading to Ponyville, and that's in the opposite direction of where you’re going. ”
Pinkamena looked around and said
“Oh I knew that. So which way Twilight Sparkle?”
Twilight yelled in a jovial tone,
“To Ponyville, I’m sure the pony running the hot- air balloon will let us use it.”
So the four of them started walking to Ponyville, a stepping stone on the road to getting Rainbow Dash.