Love Them While You Still Have Them

by FictionFreek

Intermission: Pinkie Pie - Part 1

As much as she wanted to help, Applejack left Fluttershy to continue trying to get the Pegasus to open up to her. While Applejack had no choice but to sit back and wait for any updates from Fluttershy, now she found that she had her own role to play. Although she didn’t expect it to effect the others like this, somehow Pinkie Pie and Twilight have started to act differently. It was understandable for Pinkie to feel sad for Rainbow losing her father, but she seemed to be taking it a bit too hard. Twilight was also starting to act different, her hair beginning to frizzle was never a good sign.

Applejack had to weigh in which of her two friends were considerably worse at the moment. While Twilight’s hair was slightly frizzled, Pinkie Pie had already gone into a full state of sadness. Not a lot would get Pinkie down, so if she was the way she is now, then something must have stirred up inside the Pink pony that’s causing her to feel sad. The answer was obvious enough; Applejack was already standing outside of Sugar Cube Corner. Applejack pushed opened the door, it was considerably empty, and Mr. Cake was standing behind the counter reading from a book.

“Well hello Applejack!” said Mr. Cake as he looked up from his book and gave Applejack a friendly smile and wave.

“Howdy Mr. Cake” said Applejack as she walked up to the counter.

“Is there anything I can get you?” he said as he placed a bookmark and moved the book under the counter.

“Actually, Ah was wondering if you could tell me something.” Mr. Cake raised a brow. “Ah’ve notice that Pinkie has been a little down lately, do you know what could be the problem?” Mr. Cake let out a sigh as a frown took hold of his face.

“So you don’t know either, huh?” asked Mr. Cake as he rubbed the back of his head.

“Ah’m sorry?”

“She’s been like that since the day Rarity took her from the shop in a hurry. There wasn’t even a very deep explanation, all she said was, and I quote ‘Pinkie, Rainbow, she needs us’ then ran out the door with Pinkie.” Applejack was probably going to have to ask Rarity to take some time to explain the situation rather than leave any listening ponies thinking the worst case scenario. “Is Rainbow okay, I haven’t seen her in a while.”

“She’s fine, for the most part.” Mr. Cake raised a brow at the second part. “But right now Ah’m worried that Pinkie might be hiding something, what happened after she got back.” Mr. Cake tapped his chin with his hoof as he thought back.

“Well…”

---

Yesterday

Mrs. Cake stood at the window of the sweet shop, a worried expression taking hold of her face as she stared off at the distance. She nervously tapped her hoof as she waited for Pinkie Pie to return.

“I’m sure everything is fine, Cup Cake.” said her husband as he placed a hoof on Mrs. Cakes shoulder.

“I’m sorry; I just can’t help but worry. I mean, what if something happened to Rainbow, she’s like a sister to Pinkie.” Mr. Cake pulled in his wife for a hug.

“I’m sure she’s fine.” said Mr. Cake trying to convince himself of it as well. But the fact was he was also worried, just the thought that something could have happened to Rainbow Dash sent chills down his spine.

“You’re right, I shouldn’t worry too much.” said Mrs. Cake even though she couldn’t help it. “I’m just going to wait till Pinkie gets back, and then we can ask her what happened.” She continued as she looked out through the window. Mr. Cake knew that Cup Cake wouldn’t let it go until she found out what happened, so he left her to wait while he went to the kitchen. He needed to do something to keep his mind off of what could have happened to Rainbow.

Mr. Cake decided to prepare a fresh batch of cookies, they were running low anyway. He gathered the ingredients he needed and quickly placed them in the bowl. Eggs, milk, flower, butter, etc, all placed in the bowl to the right measurements. Then he moved it under the mixer and moved his hoof just over the starter button until-

“Honey, come quick!” the sudden yell from Mrs. Cake cause Mr. Cake to press the highest speed on the mixer. The mixer blades spun at top speed causing the batter inside to start flying through the air.

“Horse feathers!” yelled Mr. Cake as he shut up the blender. The kitchen was a mess, but he didn’t have time to clean it up at the moment. Mr. Cake quickly made his way to the other room hoping that nothing was wrong. “What happened?” he asked as he ran up to his wife’s side, she was still looking through the window.

Mrs. Cake placed the tip of her hoof on the glass pointing to something in the distance. Mr. Cake looked in the direction she was pointing until he spotted what she was pointing at. It was Pinkie Pie, she was walking home alone, and she looked far from happy. A flurry of assumptions flashed through both ponies minds. They waited until Pinkie walked through the door before walking up to the depressed mare.

“Pinkie, what happened, is Rainbow okay?” Pinkie Pie slowly nodded as she looked down to her hooves. Mr. and Mrs. Cake both let out a sigh of relief, but as glad as they were to know that the rainbow manned Pegasus was okay, they still had questions. Namely one question, what did happen to cause Pinkie Pie to look so depressed?

“Then, why do you look so-“ Mrs. Cake was caught off guard when Pinkie Pie suddenly hugged her. Being hugged by Pinkie wasn’t new to her, but something about the way Pinkie was hugging her now seemed different.

“I never said this before, but I love you both so much, it’s because of you that I’m able to make so many ponies happy.” At any other time the Cakes would have taken what Pinkie said to heart and would have felt warm inside. But now, with an unknown emergency regarding Rainbow Dash, and Pinkies sudden sadden state, the married couple couldn’t help but feel a chill down their spines.

“Pinkie, please, you’re scaring us now. What happened to Rainbow that’s got you like this?” asked Mr. Cake as he placed a hood on Pinkie’s shoulder.

“I can’t tell you, I promised.” Pinkie said lowly. The Cakes knew how much a pinkie promise meant to her, but was it really worth enough that she’d carry on the way she is now?

“Please Pinkie, I understand how you feel about keeping your promise, but if it’s hurting you in any way, you have to tell somepony.” Mr. Cake tried to explain, but Pinkie wouldn’t budge.

“I’m not hurt, really!” Pinkie said trying to put up a happy tone. “I just, really wanted to get that off my chest you know?” Pinkie said with a smile, but the Cake’s weren’t buying it.

“Are you sure Pinkie, I mean, the last time your mane looked like this…” Mrs. Cake trailed off as she ran her hoof through Pinkies mane.

“Oh, this?” Pinkie said as she touched her mane with her hoof. “I’m uh…just trying a new style is all…” she lied, and they knew it. They wanted her to tell them the truth, but they didn’t want to push her into it.

“Are you sure everything’s okay?” Mr. Cake asked one more time.

“Yes, everything’s great, who want’s cupcakes; I’m going to make cupcakes.” said Pinkie as she made her way to the kitchen leaving behind the two worried looking Cakes.

---

“And that’s about it, we haven’t tried to bring it up again after that.” said Mr. Cake as he finished his story. Applejack wasn’t sure what to say, it was clear that something was causing Pinkie to feel depressed, but the cause is still unknown.

“Is there anythin’ else you can tell me?” Mr. Cake thought for a moment.

“There is one thing. Last night I was walking back from the bathroom when I heard a sound coming from Pinkie Pie’s room. Call me crazy but I think she was crying, but when I knocked on the door to talk to her she told me she was fine. Obviously I didn’t want to leave it at that, but she locked the door and refused to talk about it.” Pinkie never cry’s, at least not as long as Applejack has known her.

“Is it okay if ah take her for a while, maybe ah can try to get her to talk about it,” asked Applejack.

“By all means, she’s upstairs right now.” said Mr. Cake as he motioned Applejack to the stairs. Applejack thanked Mr. Cake and made her way up stairs, along the way trying to figure out how she would get Pinkie to talk about what’s got her down.

“But how do I get her to tell me?” Pinkie wasn’t the same as Rainbow Dash, she tells it like it is and isn’t afraid to show her feelings. Obviously just asking her wouldn’t work, so she needed to come up with another way. Applejack reached the door to Pinkie Pie’s room, when she walked up to it she noticed that it was cracked slightly. Applejack was going to knock, but curiosity seemed to get to her first.

Applejack looked through the small opening at the door; she looked around until she found what she was looking for. Applejack found Pinkie Pie sitting on her bed, her back against the wall and a sad expression on her face. Pinkie was motionless minus the rising and descending of her chest at she breathed. It pained Applejack to see her like that; it would hurt to see any of her friends looking down to be honest. But Pinkie was always the cheeriest of her friends, her mood always being infectious to those around her. It was Pinkie Pies job to make everypony in Ponyville happy.

“Everypony in Ponyville…” Applejack said as an idea hit her as if it was right in front of her the entire time. Applejack knocked on the on the door and saw Pinkie flinch slightly at the sound and jumped out of bed.

“Um, come in!” Pinkie said with a light tone trying to put up a smile in the process. Applejack waited a second before pushing the door open.

“Howdy, Pinkie.” said Applejack as she stepped inside of the room.

“Applejack; is Dashie okay?” asked Pinkie as the smile on her face faded.

“She’s fine, Fluttershy will take care of her, don’t you worry.” said Applejack which seemed to help Pinkie relax a bit. “But there’s somepony else that needs your help.” Pinkie Pie stared at Applejack with wide eyes.

“Really, who?” she asked taking a step closer.

“Ah didn’t catch her name, but she really needs somepony to help her be happy again.”

“Then what are we waiting for, lead the way!” yelled Pinkie, Applejack nodded and began to walk away with Pinkie Pie following close behind. When both mares made it to the bottom step, Applejack gave Mr. Cake a subtle nod before she and Pinkie bolted out the door.

---

Applejack had led Pinkie Pie to the park, probably not the best place she could have thought to bring her, but she made sure they found a secluded part. Eventually Applejack stopped running as did Pinkie Pie who looked around trying to find the pony that Applejack mentioned.

“Well, where’s the pony you were talking about?” asked Pinkie when she didn’t see anypony else around them.

“Over here.” said Applejack as he sat down next to a pond. Pinkie walked up next to Applejack but still couldn’t see anypony.

“Where?”

“Right there.” Applejack pointed at the water in the pond. Pinkie looked in the water trying to figure out what Applejack was pointing at. It took her a while, but she eventually found the pony that Applejack was pointing at. Her mane was lifeless, her fur darkened, and her eyes just screamed sorrow. It was her; Pinkie Pie was looking at her own reflection in the water.

“M-me, I’m the pony that need’s help getting happy?” Applejack nodded “B-but I’m not sad, I’m just fine.” said Pinkie as she placed her hoof on her chest.

“Pinkie, you’re not fooling anypony. Whenever you’re feelin’ low, everypony else that knows you can see it. Mr. Cake told me you’ve been like this since you got back from the station. Ah know you didn’t tell them about what happened to Rainbow’s father, but even somepony like you wouldn’t feel this sad from knowing one of your friends lost a parent.” Pinkie Pie looked down at her hoof while she rubbed her foreleg with the other hoof.

“It’s nothing, really.” Pinkie tried to assure her, but there’s no way to lie to the element of honesty of all ponies.

“Come on Pinkie, if something is making you feel sad; you’ve got to tell us. How can you help Rainbow be happy if you’re not happy yourself?” Applejack didn’t know it, but that struck a chord in Pinkie’s heart.

“That’s just it, I shouldn’t be sad. You, Fluttershy, and Rainbow all lost sompony important and I haven’t, what right do I have to feel sad just because—“ Pinkie trailed off her sentence, a hitch caught in her throat as tears began streaming down her cheeks. Applejack had never seen Pinkie Pie like this, since the day she first met her years ago she had always smiled, expect for one or two times. But that’s when it hit Applejack, she had seen Pinkie almost daily, always making ponies happy, always helping her friends, always in Ponyville.

“Pinkie, when was the last time you’ve visited your folks?” asked Applejack as she arched a brow. Pinkie looked at Applejack for a moment before evading her eyes again as she bit her bottom lip for a moment.

“I don’t know…” she said rubbing her foreleg slightly. “Maybe, six years…?” Pinkie said with a guilt look on her face. There was a part of Applejack that was surprised to hear that Pinkie hadn’t visited her parents in so long. But when she remembered what kind of pony Pinkie is, she began to understand it. Pinkie Pie would always make time for others, she would do everything she can to make others happy. At the end of the day, Pinkie Pie would always feel good about herself for being the cause behind so many smiles. But she when she spend so much time making others happy, sometimes she forgets that she need to make herself happy too.

“That’s an awful long time not to visit your folk don’t you think, don’t ya miss them?” asked Applejack.

“Of course I miss them, they’re my parents and I love them.” said Pinkie Pie. Suddenly Pinkie looked like she said something she shouldn’t have. “I-I mean, of course anypony would love their parents, everypony dies—“ Pinkie paused for a moment when she realized what she said “Does! Everypony does is what I meant to say.” Applejack blinked Pinkie’s sudden slip of the tongue caught Applejack’s ear.

“Uh, Pinkie, how are your folks doing?”

“Well, they were okay last time I got a letter from them…”

“And how long ago was that?” Pinkie just couldn’t bring herself to look up anymore.

“Six months…” she said as her ears lowered.

“So you’re saying you miss your folks, anypony would feel sad if they didn’t know if their family were okay or not.” said Applejack. “But, why would you say you don’t have any right to be sad about that?” was the part Applejack couldn’t figure out.

“B-because, you and Fluttershy—“

“Don’t get to see ours when we miss them?” said Applejack finishing Pinkie Pie’s sentence for her. Pinkie nodded, she looked almost ashamed at herself for the moment. A frown fell across Applejack’s face, getting closer to Pinkie; she gave her a hug she was sure she needed. “So you’ve kept this bottled up because you thought we would hate you?” Pinkie has buried her face in Applejack’s shoulder, but she still nodded a yes to the question.

“Well that’s just silly.” said Applejack as she pushed Pinkie Pie back slightly so that the pink pony could look her in the eye. “Pinkie ah’m not going to hate you if you miss your parent or want to see them. Though ah might had resented ya if you took them for granted, but that’s not the case, right?” Pinkie Pie nodded. “Let me tell you something, ah may not be able to see mine again, but sometimes when ah’m sad, or want to talk to somepony, ah visit their graves. Sure it might not be the same thin’, but ah know that they’re listenin’, even if they can’t say anything back.” a small tear ran down Applejack’s face, but she held on to the smile she was giving Pinkie Pie.

“Now ah know what happened to my folks and ah know where they are right now, but you don’t. Sometimes not knowin’ can be just as bad, you don’t know where they are or if they’re okay, but you assume the worse.” Pinkie tried to look away, Applejack had read her like a book, but the farmer pony wasn’t going to let her shrink away. “But there’s a simple way to get over this, take a few days off, visit your family and see what they’ve been up to. Ah’m sure that by the time you get back, you’ll be back to your old self.” Applejack assured her.

“B-but I can’t do that, what if Dashie need’s us while I’m away.”

“Pinkie, look at yourself. Do you really think you can help her the way you are now?” Pinkie opened her mouth to answer, but no answer came out.

“I-I have to try, it’s what I do, I make ponies happy!” said Pinkie as she pointed at her cutie mark.

“Yes, you do, you make sure that everypony in Ponyville are happy.” said Applejack with an understanding tone. “And last ah checked, ah’m a pony, and ah live here, and ah’m a little bit sad right now.” She continued as she put up a fake frown.
“Y-you are, is it because of me?”

“Well, sort of.” Pinkie looked like she was about to cry “Ah’m sad because you’re sad. And ah’m sure all of our friends would feel the same way if they saw you this way. Now, it’s your job to make us happy, and do you know what would make me feel happy?” Applejack asked her. Pinkie looked at her as she tilted her head slightly.

“It would make me happy to know that you spent some time with your family, that you show them you still care. But most important of all, ah know that it would make you happy to see them again, and right now, that’s all that matters.” Pinkie looked unsure, she wanted to see her family again with all her heart, but she still feared that she would be resented.

“Are you sure they won’t hate me?”

“ah’m sure” said Applejack as she pulled Pinkie back in for another hug.

---

It took a little more assuring, but eventually Applejack was able to convince Pinkie that nopony would hate her and it wasn’t selfish to want to make yourself happy too. Applejack walked Pinkie back to Sugar Cube Corner, her hair unchanged, but she didn’t look as sad as she did earlier.

“Thank for the help, Applejack.”

“No problem, Pinkie, you going to tell the Cakes?” Applejack and Pinkie came to a stop right at the door to Sugar Cube Corner.

“Yeah, I’m going to tell them and see if I can get some time off to visit my family. But only for a few days, I want to be here when Dashie needs us, and I know Fluttershy will work fast.” Pinkie’s confidence in Fluttershy was warming.

“Just don’t rush over here until you’re sure you’re okay again.” Applejack felt that she needed to point out.

“I promise.” said Pinkie before giving Applejack one last hug. Pinkie wanted to talk to the Cakes alone, so Applejack said her goodbyes and made her way back home. Once Applejack had disappeared in the distance, Pinkie opened the door to the sweets shop and walked on. Mrs. Cake was behind the counter while Mr. Cake was restocking the shelves.

“Oh, Pinkie, welcome back.” said Mrs. Cake with a friendly smile and a wave.

“Thanks, um, there’s something I need to tell you…” Pinkie Pie explained to the Cakes about the problem she was having, making sure not to tell them about what happened to Rainbow's father, a promise was still a promise in her book. She told them how long it’s been since she saw or heard from her family, and how she was scared about weather of not they were okay or not. Even the Cakes were surprised by how long it’s been.

“Pinkie, why didn’t you tell us this was eating at you?” asked Mr. Cake.

“Applejack, and Fluttershy both lost a family member. I thought that if they knew that I was sad just because I missed mine, they’d hate me.” Pinkie explained.

“Oh Pinkie, they’re your friends, they wouldn't hate you for that.” said Mrs. Cake.

“Yeah, Applejack told me that.” Pinkie said with a smile. “So, I was wondering, can I take a few days off to, you know.”

“You want to visit your family?” Pinkie nodded “Well of course you can, take as long as you need.” said Mrs. Cake as she hugged Pinkie tighter. Pinkie smiles, probably the first real smile she’s had since yesterday. She hid her feeling in fear of being hated only to find out it would never happen, and now, she was going to visit her family.

“Oh, I should make cupcakes for them!” said Pinikie, her mane visibly regaining some of its life as she did.

“Of course, come, we’ll make the best cupcakes we’ve ever made!” said Mrs. Cake as she made her way to the kitchen to the kitchen with Pinkie following close behind. And so they did, Pinkie and Mrs. Cake made the best cupcakes they ever made before, Mr. Cake made sure to save the recipe. Tomorrow Pinkie would set off to see her family again after so many years, and she couldn't wait.

Comments

[SuperPinkBrony12]

Ah that's so nice. Good to see there's some happiness in this gloomy situation.

Now it's probably Rarity's turn to help Twilight.

[FictionFreek]

2796272

Maybe she will, maybe she won't, you'll find out

[LeopardCay]

Excellent.....

[FictionFreek]

2807667

In a good way or a bad way?