At the time the questionnaire was posted, it was still an open possibility Pinkie was estranged from her birth family. Now that's long disproved - and yet she still lives with a different one. How did this come to pass? What does each mean to her - and she to them? Discuss this or any other aspect of her history from birth to meeting Twilight.

The short answer is that she's an apprentice (of the relatively informal kind - modern Equestria doesn't have guilds) who will probably never actually graduate to journeymare - sort of like how many squires never became knights.

The longer answer is that after Pinkamena got her cutie mark, she would often travel beyond the rock farm as a companion and assistant to her grandmare, who had married a rock farmer but never totally bought into the life herself. These travels gave Pinkie her first exposure to outside towns like Ponyville and their many wonders (like ponies with horns and wings), and she in return put her new talent to good use by entertaining the locals (and any stray colts who wandered by). And in each of these towns Pinkie's grandmare had if not friends then at least acquaintances, and in Ponyville these acquaintances were a couple of bakers named Cake.

No-one was quite clear of the details (just that it had something to do with how they became a couple) but while they were not close to the old mare they clearly liked and respected her, and when she brought a little filly in tow it stoked their desire for children of their own. As the years passed it became clear that said dream would go unrealized (see Question 28). But sadly, while birth can be capricious, it's opposite comes reliably to all mortal ponies - Pinkie's grandmare was no exception, and the Cakes were among several "outsiders" who braved the insular rock farming country to see her laid to rest.

Pinkie was at the time sad not for her grandmare, who she was surely in Paradise no matter what those louts from the village said, but for herself; for it now seemed that while the former could enjoy an eternal playtime the latter was faced with what seemed like eternal labour - a return to her foalhood, except that now she knew what she was missing. And because she hated it in her heart, no matter how hard she worked how could she have any hope of Paradise herself?

What she failed to comprehend was that her parents knew that she did not belong there no matter how much she loved them, and were carefully considering the strangers gathered for the funeral - perhaps there would be one among them they could entrust their Pinkamena to? The Cakes ended up winning on the grounds of actually approaching Igneous and Cloudy to ask after their daughter's well-being - when Pinkie came down from bed the day after the funeral prepared for the first day of pushing rocks for the rest of her life, she found the Cakes still there with an apprenticeship contract waiting for her signature, which she was eventually persuaded to provide.

One thing that was kind of overlooked during this process, however, was that Pinkie Pie's talent wasn't for baking. Oh she wasn't terrible or abysmal or anything else which could be construed as amusing - she just ... wasn't very good at it, especially given the differences between the plain food of her birth culture and the Cake's high-sugar output. Years of dedicated work have improved her skills, but not to the point where she could inherit Sugarcube Corner or run her own bakery at the same level as it, which closes off the traditional options for graduation.

Some ponies who take apprenticeships seriously might question why the Cakes keep Pinkie on, especially now that they have children of their own. There are a variety of of practical answers, from the fact that having foals means needing more help not less to the sheer promotional power Pinkie brings, but the Cakes would never consider giving any of them - even if they didn't still owe her grandmare, even if they hadn't made promises to her parents, Pinkie would still be welcome in their home because she reminds them every day of the feeling they try to convey to other ponies in their baking - the very flavour of happiness itself.

Nice theory. I just assumed they were somehow related.

22. When did Pinkie move in with the Cakes? Is she a worker who rents a room, an apprentice, or is there some other relationship?
Pinie left home not long after gaining her cutie mark. She went to Ponyville first because it was the closest town.

Pinkie seems most like an apprentice to me. She clearly works for the Cakes, but she's much too close to them to be just a regular employee.

She probably started out as a stray they took in out of the kindness of their hearts, right after she moved out of home like others have said. Being a natural fit as a baker, she slowly learned from them, and eventually got her own room as something of an adoptive daughter. She's certainly employed by them, but their relationship is overall as familial as it is professional.

7017000 I think it's simply that Pinkie is more at home in Ponyville and it's more receptive to her talents than if she stayed on the rock farm. Lauren Faust said the Cakes love Pinkie like a daughter, and in the absence of proof either way I'm going to say that it stands. They definitely treat her like family, especially with their saint like patience for her antics.

Pinkie Pie moved in with the Cakes when she came to Ponyville. The Cakes wanted a foal to look after, and Pinkie Pie is by Equestrian Standards still a foal. She works for the cakes primarily in the kitchen. Pinkie does not pay for her room because Equestrians do not give a person money only to ask for it back. She is paid a fair share for her work, and she uses all of it on party supplies. When Pinkie is in the kitchen, she works as diligently as any earthpony. Outside of the kitchen, she works equally hard at finding out how to please her friends with her party plans. All of this helps her keep her mind off of her troubled past.

After getting her cutie mark, her path became clearer. It was certainly clear that she couldn't stay on the farm. She ventured out whenever work slowed down enough to do that. (She is an earth pony, after all. She didn't want to leave her folks hanging when there was still loads of work to be done.) She gradually explored the surrounding area, and wouldn't you know - there's this small town a relatively short distance away. Called Ponyville.

The Pie's were never rich. Now, they aren't poor either. But they live very humble lives by choice. So Pinkie didn't expect any financial support. Heck, she didn't ask for it because the thought never occurred to her. She needed bits, and it was a simple thing to ask around town who would need some help. For a while, that was enough. The odd job here and there, some bits right after work was done. She went back home. Came back some days or weeks later. It wasn't ideal, though. That much became apparent quite fast.

The Cakes offered her an apprenticeship. Her talent didn't relate to baking, yes. But mixing dough according to a recipe is simple enough. Even a pegasus could do that, right? Pinkie gladly accepted. And since the attic was a waste of space and unused anyway, they offered it to her. That way, she wouldn't have to commute to town every day.

Pinkie used most of the bits she made on party supplies. The Cakes thought it was absolutely ridiculous. But they couldn't argue with the results. Her mere presence quickly contributed to raising the spirit of almost everypony in town. It brought much publicity to Sugarcube Corner, too. And she was such a carefree filly, with so much excited, bubbly energy and optimism, it was infectious. How could anypony not like her?

The Cakes certainly grew to like her. A lot. She became something of a surrogate daughter to them.

Officially, she's still an apprentice. She will most likely remain as such for years to come, even though, by now, she's faster in the kitchen than the Cakes could ever hope to be. Not necessarily better. But faster. (Have you seen what she can do with that mane and tail?)

And as a funny sidenote: I think Pinkie has a spark of the divine in her. There was this moment when she consumed all the magic in a certain magical bell, which included chaos magic. I think it might have altered her capabilities, even backwards in time. I think Pinkie is the only other being capable of accessing chaos magic other than Discord. It's a remnant of that instance.

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Most is just a simple, straightforward take (I do tend to perhaps overcomplicate things, or make them too dramatic). But the last part... well, that's certainly intriguing. (Though whatever it's effects, they do seem to have propagated at least a little to her human counterpart as well.)

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Most is just a simple, straightforward take (I do tend to perhaps  overcomplicate things, or make them too dramatic).

I wouldn't call it 'too' dramatic. It basically comes down to personal preference. And even then, things might be more complicated than that. When I construct these things, I approach them from my own experiences and with my own 'logic', which usually leads to some rather unspectacular and unimpressive, but usually somewhat grounded results. But that's just how I create those things myself. I actually quite enjoy the dramatic flairs others use. And I don't have much preference between the two either. Both are good. There is some limit to it, obviously. At some point, the drama becomes exhausting, just as much as the mundanity can become quite boring.

But the last part...  well, that's certainly intriguing. (Though whatever it's effects, they  do seem to have propagated at least a little to her human counterpart as  well.)

She defies physics with a giggle. It's both endearing and headache-inducing at the same time. And I don't think those qualities relate to earth pony magic. Infinite storage within her mane? Getting whatever she needs by pulling it out of thin air? Heck, maybe even her sixth sense. I'm honestly not sure where the chaos magic ends, and where her 'regular' earth pony magic starts. And if this is assumed - that these changes occurred backwards in time -then it's only a minor jump to conclude that these changes could easily have skipped past the boundaries of universes.

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Well, I don't think either of us have gone too far yet. (And for a world which mixes the everyday and the fantastical as Equestria does, it's probably best to have both approaches.)

She defies physics with a giggle. It's both endearing and headache-inducing at the same time. And I don't think those qualities relate to earth pony magic.

Oh, I agree it's certainly something distinct. (Although her earth pony magic might be tied into it in a way that draining it shuts her down, at least for a while.) To be honest, I sometimes speculate at it being something even more alien than Discord... perhaps even not "magic" as scholars understand at all...

(And here we go... even when you go epic for once, I'm somehow going epicer...)

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(And here we go... even when you go epic for once, I'm somehow going epicer...)

Well, someone should! And I'm not going to be that someone. Hmmm. Any concrete theories you want to share?

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I mostly try to keep it a mystery, because it being incomprehensible is part of the point. The effects, I pretty much worked out, but the cause, not so much... except that I did actually come up with something convoluted once. Dunno if I want it as headcanon, but if you really wanna know...

In the very distant future, a project is created to make the perfect afterlife, capturing souls at the moment of death and transferring them to an lucid dream-realm designed for maximum pleasure and fulfilment. However, in order to do this, data had to be gathered on joy, fun and happiness from all sorts of historical era and cultures. Therefore, living probes were inserted into the timelines at various points with the goal of accumulating this data. They have no awareness of their nature, and most of them probably don't even show any signs... but ponies and Equestria are magical enough that the interface between Pinkie and spacetime itself which was used to insert her has become erratic. Perhaps even to the point of spilling over a bit...

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Dunno if I want it as headcanon, but if you really wanna know...

Gotta say, I like the concept. Less cthulhu-eske than I expected.