The Secret of Ponyville

by BleedingRaindrops

A Modest Hamlet

“Hey, little fillies. Are you friends of Pinkie Pie’s?”

A high, almost whining but decidedly male voice accosted us. I turned along with Crystal toward the sound of the voice. A young, amber coated stallion with a bright orange mane approached us. He was garishly decorated in a white apron, red striped bowtie and a red hat, and carried balanced on his back a tray of cakes. His cutie mark was three small pieces of cake.

I nearly drooled at the sight of cakes on his back. Warm, cake with real sugary icing. My little village had only ever had frozen treats. I could see the scrumptiously decorated icing positively melting.

He walked up to us and eyed the invitation in my hoof. “She gave you one of her invitations it looks like. Oh I really hope you’ll come. This is a really big step for her, the poor thing. I’m actually surprised she’s able to keep such a cheery face up. You really should come. There’ll be plenty of cake there for everypony if you’re interested. I hope to see you there.”

He waved with a smile and strode off, leaving Crystal and myself standing alone by the fountain. I stared after him, doing my best not to drool as I imagined the many flavors of icing there might be at the party. I turned to Crystal, who had a terrifying grin on her face.

“A party huh? Sounds fun. We should go.”

I cast her a sidelong glance at the odd manner in which she’d said that, but shrugged it off and nodded. “Yes, let’s.” It was probably nothing worth worrying about. Besides, there was cake to be had, and I had a sweet tooth to feed.

I looked down at the invitation in my hoof. It was a garish bubblegum pink, covered with—eugh—dark pink letters, as well as blue confetti and yellow streamers. Beneath the deluge of decorative detritus, the letters told of a party at a Sugarcube Corner that afternoon. It must have been a small town where everypony knew everypony, since there was no address. There was however a picture so I was certain if we walked around a while we could—

“It’s that way.”

I blinked, looking up. Crystal was pointing down one of the streets connecting to the fountain’s circle. She had a smug grin on her face, and a blue glint to her eyes. Next to her was a young colt who looked quite dazed. I let out a sigh.

“Was that really necessary?” I whined, stepping off in the direction she’d pointed. Crystal took a step back, feigning shock, and tapped the colt on the flank to send him away. He obeyed
almost too swiftly. Then she caught up and trotted next to me.

“What? It’s not like I made him do anything harmful. I just asked him for directions.”

I put a hoof to my face. “Yes but… wouldn’t he have told you anyway? I really don’t want to
make a habit of forcing ponies to do things they don’t want to.”

“Oh please,” she said with a smirk, trotting up beside me and layng a hoof across my withers. “He definitely wanted to do it. He’ll be at the party, and he’s getting to be that age, if you know what I mean.” She wiggled her eyebrows and glanced back in the colt’s direction. I furrowed my
eyebrows, trying to process what she’d just— Oh. Oh my. My face frew hot and I fumbled for
words, eyes wide.

“I—what, you— WHY?! Ew ew ewewewewewew gross. Why would you even ​suggest​ that?”

Crystal snorted, and let out a mean spirited giggle. “Pffft, come on, I’m totally not interested in
that dork. I just asked him for directions. Geez, it’s like you like him or something.” She challenged me with a stare.

I refuted that claim with the utmost grace and dignity a lady can.

“I DO NOT!”

“Snkkkt, you totally do.”

“I do not!” I stomped my hoof

“Do too,” she jibed.

“Do not,” I insisted.

”Do too-oo,” she sing-songed.

“Ugh! Shut UP! Let’s just go, where is it?”

I let out a strong puff of air through my nostrils, then pulled my eyebrows tight down over my eyes and glared down the street. The buildings all looked the same. There was no sign of this supposedly conspicuous establishment.

“We’re here,” Crystal stated with a very smug grin on her face, pointing to the building directly
next to us. I stared back the way we had come. Had we really gone down the whole street
already? The fountain seemed so far away now. Above us towered a two story building with icing and candy canes covering the entire exterior. There was no doubting it was the sugar shop we were looking for. It looked exactly like the picture on the invitation. I stared daggers at Crystal as we trotted up the two steps onto the main landing, and pushed through the double doors.

Inside, the building seemed almost larger than it did on the outside, though careful inspection revealed it was simply due to a very clever floor plan. I at least had to hoof that to the designer. The floor was made of tiles, offset from each other, and colored a surprisingly comfortable grayish turquoise. Several hoofsteps in front of us was a wooden framed glass countertop displaying several cakes and pastries, behind which stood a blue earth pony with a bubblegum pink mane.

“Oh, hey there, fillies! Nice to meet ya. I’m Mrs. Cake. Welcome to Sugarcube Corner. What can I getcha?”

I opened my mouth to say something, but then closed it. Mrs. Cake took that as a signal.

“Are ya here for the party?” she asked, smiling. I gave her a brief nod, then turned my attention to the rest of the floor, which was devoid of all furniture but for a single table with two chairs off to our left.

“Oh, well the party’s not ‘till later, but you two can help set up if you like. I’m sure Pinkie’ll be glad to see you, do you want me to go and get her?” She turned toward a staircase behind her which blended well into the wall it would otherwise have been. Only the wooden railing betrayed its presence. I was about to answer her when Crystal piped up.

“Oh, no, that won’t be necessary. We’ll just go up to her.”

Mrs. Cake put on a pained expression. “Oh, well, maybe I should let her know you’re here first, then. She’s a little shy around new ponies, ya know.”

But Crystal pressed on, stepping up toward the counter. “Oh, I’m sure she’ll be alright with just two new faces. After all, she’s hosting a party isn’t she? She’ll have to meet a lot of ponies then, and wouldn’t it be better if she weaned herself in a bit first, instead of just all at once?”

Crystal was leaning on the counter now. I almost missed the glazed look in Mrs. Cake’s eyes, as she slowly nodded. “Well, I guess that makes sense. Go on up.” She leaned her head over anyway and called up the stairs. “Pinkie, dear, you’ve got guests!” She flicked her head up the stairs and smiled at us as we headed up, then went back to her counter like we weren’t even there. I cast Crystal an annoyed glance but if she caught me staring, she didn’t show it.

At the top of the stairs we found a short hallway with different rooms leading off of it. One of them in particular drew me, and I walked toward it. As I drew nearer, the pull grew stronger and stronger, until I nearly threw myself into the room. I couldn’t see much, except for a dresser next to a bed, which held a small box filled with gems on it. I began to drool, and trotted forward.

“It’s not that room.”

I stopped in my tracks, shaking my head to clear away the gemlust. I looked back at Crystal. Next to the stairway we’d just climbed up, was another stairway leading up to a… third floor? That was odd. There wasn’t a third floor on this building. I tilted my head and stared at it.

“How do you know?” I asked, stalling.

Crystal rolled her eyes and pointed to the railing next to her, spiraled with bright red and white stripes.

“It’s the only candy cane railing. You saw the invitation. Where else would she be? Come on.” She turned and trotted up the stairway. I glanced down at the invitation, only just noticing the small candy canes and mint swirls stuck to it. I sighed. Crystal was right, again. I hurried after her.

We arrived at the top of the stairs, and encountered an unsettlingly plain door compared to the rest of the decorum. It was pink, of course. With three simple balloons emblazoned on it. But there was no confetti, no streamers, no candy or candy canes. It was almost ugly, but I dared not say so out loud. If Pinkie is reading this, you really should spruce up your bedroom door, dear.

There was nothing else up there, just that door, so we knocked. As if in response, the door unlatched—I had to check to make sure Crystal or myself hadn’t used our abilities to unlock it—and swung inward slowly with a loud creak.

The first thing I noticed nearly made me run. There was a streak of red pooled across the wooden floor. There was little else on the floor, but I pushed the door open further, following the line of red with my eyes, until to my horror, it led to a pink earth pony filly with a curly pink mane, about my age, lying strewn on her back on the floor.

‘Oh my goodness, are you alright?’ is what I would like to remember having said. Instead, what left my lips was a very unladylike shriek that startled even Crystal. I rushed to the poor filly’s side. Her chest was covered in a red liquid, and there was a broken candycane protruding from it.

But when I looked at her, I didn’t see a pink earth pony. I saw Snowflurry, and her horrific apparition crawling toward me through the snow. I loomed over the poor filly, completely at a loss as to how to possibly help her. Her lifeless form smattered in blood. How could such a tragedy have occured?

I heard Crystal chuckle and glared at her with such ferocity my eyes burned, then looped around to being icy. Crystal simply raised an eyebrow, then nudged her head down at the filly below me. I shot her an appalled look, but she simply jerked her head again, seeming to lose patience with me. Did she see something I didn’t? I steeled myself, and then turned back toward the lifeless filly on the floor. I squinted, scanning for whatever it was Crystal was seeing that I wasn’t. I scanned the filly’s pink coat, the blood pooled and coagulated on her chest, the candy cane protruding from it, the… gentle rise and fall of her chest?

I had to look several times, but there it was. Not a moment later, the filly opened a pair of bright blue eyes and leapt up at me. I shrieked again, as her blood smeared all over my clean white coat. Yet somehow, despite her obvious mortal wound which had miraculously not killed her, the filly was.... Laughing?

“Heeheeheeheeheeehahahahahahahahaw, GOT you!”

She leaned back, smiling up at me with a far too innocent grin. I froze, unable to process the situation. There was blood all over the both of us. I could still see Snowflurry shambling toward me, and this filly was laughing while covered in blood. Then she wiped a hoof up her stomach, scooping up a lot of the blood and the (Pinkie I have still never forgiven you for this) licked the blood from her hoof, slurping it up happily.

I don’t recall much of the next minute or two, only that all noise was drowned out by a shriek that shook the walls, during which Mrs. Cake must have walked in. I don’t know, because it took Crystal’s hypnotic stare to finally reign me in. Mrs. Cake looked equally parts cross and concerned. Much of her ire was directed at the pink filly before us, thankfully.

“What have you got to say for yourself, young lady? Scaring your guests like that. You should be ashamed. This poor dear nearly had a heart attack.” The pink filly shrunk beneath her gaze. Her once impossibly curled mane now hung flat, drooping onto the floor. Mrs. Cake then turned to me.

“Are you alright, dear? Pinkie Pie didn’t scare you too terribly, did she?” I glanced back and forth between her and Pinkie Pie. I found myself unable to form words, and simply nodded with a whimper. Mrs Cake nodded slightly and went on. “I don’t know what she expects with these silly pranks of hers. Scared me half to death my first time. I’ll go get you some sweets from downstairs. On the house of course.”

Mrs. Cake scurried off, and we were left in the room with the saddest looking filly I have ever seen. She slowly walked up to me, having had most of the clearly fake blood scraped off of her by Mrs. Cake, and nudged my chest with her head. She sat back and pouted at me for a moment before speaking.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “Mrs. Cake tells me I get too carried away sometimes. I thought it would be fun to scare you with a good prank, but I guess I overdid it.” She stared at the ground the whole time. Then, without looking up, reached a hoof up toward me. “Nice to meet you, I’m Pinkie Pie.” It was probably the most tear inducing greeting I’ve ever encountered. I was once again at a loss for how to respond.

Glancing down at my coat, I realized I was still covered in whatever this fake blood was made of. I shuddered violently at the state of my coat, but perhaps a bath could help. It would be nice to once again properly clean myself. I eventually decided to simply take her hoof, and gently shake it.

“It’s... fine, I guess,” I said, letting out a long held breath. “I’m… Rarity.” I nearly choked.

I’m honestly unsure if it was the scare she gave me or the sight of her in tatters that caused me to tear up so, but it was not a moment later I was competing with her for watery eyes. She looked up at me, and her eyes widened. First shock, then realization, then excitement, then joy. How so many emotions can be expressed all with the same facial movement will always astounds me. She leapt forward and squeezed me tightly. I don’t know if you’ve ever been hugged by Pinkie Pie as an adult, but even as a filly her hugs have always been inescapably crushing.

When at last I could breathe again—which thankfullly was only a moment later—she stepped backward into view and held out a hoof, much more proudly.

“Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie. Nice to meet you.” Her smile was exuberant, and infectious.

I hesitated a moment, but took her hoof, smiling as well. “Rarity. A pleasure.”

She let out an adorable squee, then burst into a tirade about her ruse.

“Nice to meet you, Rarity. I’m Pinkie PIe, but you knew that. I’m hoping to be a traveling stage performer someday. I’m going to travel the world and bring joy and smiles to ponies everywhere by putting on plays and shows and it’s going to be super duper fun. But before I do that I have to make sure I can be convincing, so I put on this little staged death scene to see if I could trick you, and I did. Boy were you scared. You should have seen the look on your face. I really got you good. Did you like the frosting?” She paused to wipe some fake blood from my chest and lick it from her hoof.

“It’s just standard sugar icing, with some red food coloring. Soo tasty. It cleans up easy too. I’m sure Mrs. Cake won’t mind you taking a bath here. How was I? Was the candy cane too much? I wasn’t sure how to explain being dead so I figured maybe some fake blood would really sell it, but then I couldn’t figure out how to explain being covered in blood, and I didn’t want slashing wounds because that would take too much work, and it’s really hard to look crushed, especially without a big heavy object, although I suppose I could have used the bed, but then I figured, a candy cane would work just fine. Stab wound, am I right? So come on. What’dya think? Huh? Come on, tell me tell me tell me!”

I stared open mouthed as she bounced up and down repeatedly, sometimes moving sideways in the air while acting out her story. This Pinkie Pie filly was certainly an odd sort, and the rapid manner in which she switched moods was alarming. But her joy and passion were very evident in her speech. I smiled.

“It was… great,” I forced out. “Very um… convincing. Though perhaps, not so much blood, next time. You probably shouldn’t scare your audience if your goal is to make them smile, right?”

She stopped, looking down and pondering what I said. Then she looked up with her ever present smile. “You’re right. That does make sense. Maybe I should just surprise them with streamers next time.”

I gave a forced chuckle, if only to hide my horrified astonishment. “Ahem, yes, I suppose streamers would be the best—”

THWUMP-POW!

Something massive landed on the floor hard enough to send myself and Pinkie into the air, followed immediately by an echoing explosion that shook the whole building. It sounded eerily similar to cannonfire. Something blasted into Pinkie faster than I could blink, slamming her against the wall with a resounding crash.

When I pried my hooves from my ears, and slowly climbed out from beneath the bed, I saw Pinkie dazed and plastered to the wall by streamers and confetti, and some odd fuzzy pink paste.

Following the source of the blast, I found Crystal standing next to a large robin’s egg blue cannon barrel, with wooden wheels and still smoking. Behind it was an open closet, from which streamed dozens of balloons and rolls of brightly colored paper

Crystal presented a shocked face, and even went so far as to put a hoof to her mouth.

“Oh my gosh, Pinkie are you alright? I’m so sorry, I hope nothing’s broken.”

I narrowed my eyes at her; she couldn’t even be bothered to use the proper tone, let alone rush to Pinkie’s side, which I promptly did.

“Oh, Pinkie, are you hurt?” I asked rushing to peel her from the wall. My hooves made contact with… cotton, candy?

Pinkie shook her head, and opened up her eyes. I then bore witness to a phenomenon that astounds me to this day. Pinkie’s tongue extended far, far out from her mouth, wrapped all the way around her body, and licked all of the cotton candy off herself—without licking up any of the confetti or streamers. She slid gracefully to the floor with a soft clop of hooves, adorned wonderfully by party favors.

Somehow, despite having just been shot with the contents of a… cannon, Pinkie was just fine, smiling even. She actually bounced and… I’m really not sure how to describe what I saw next. It was a blatant and utter disregard for all manner of physics and what I know of reality. Suffice to say Pinkie has some very strange abilities.

“Wowie,” Pinkie squeaked. “Confetti Blaster test number one is a success!”

I gawked. Crystal fumed. Pinkie bounced, beamed, and baffled not only me but the universe itself.

“I-a-WHAT?! A success?! How can you call that a success?” I exclaimed. “I should think that’s quite dangerous.”

Pinkie giggled. “Yeah, but the confetti fired. I might need to cut back on the explosives but the streamers and the cotton candy are okay. Now if I could just get it to fire balloons as well.”

She put a hoof to her chin and stared down at the trail of streamers leading from the muzzle of the... confetti blaster. I glanced at Crystal for a moment, who seemed to be contemplating what sort of ice sculpture she would like to turn Pinkie into.

“I-um… Pinkie?” I stammered, eyeballing the blue blaster with extreme bewilderment. “What in the world could you possibly need this for?”

“Oh, I’m planning on firing it onto the stage after I perform at plays, as a way to signal the final curtain. I figure it’ll add a really cool—and tasty—bit of flare. Am I right?”

“The—stage? Are you a performer, Pinkie?” I asked, looking back toward her. She was still bouncing in place.

“Yupyupyup, I’m going to be in a really big, Equestria wide play and make thousands of Ponies smile with my super cool acting and performing skills.”

She threw in several in place kicks, flips and twirls for flair. I had to admit, she had the energy and the style to entertain for sure. She then held up what I hope was a candied apple, though it was covered in a creamy white shell. I looked around to see where she’d gotten it from. Maybe she’d had it in her mane the whole time? She held it before her face in one hoof and adopted an expression I wasn’t sure whether to take seriously or not.

“Alas. York Porridge.”

I blinked. “What?”

Crystal snorted loudly. Pinkie laughed, setting the apple back where she’d gotten it.

“Oh, just something I heard in a play last year in Manehattan. At least I think that was the line. Unfortunately Mrs. Cake wouldn’t let me keep a pony’s skull. I’m not sure why though.”

I opened my mouth to say something, but there was nothing. Crystal expertly contained her amusement, though she looked as though she wanted to burst out laughing. I exhaled, pondering just what sort of play this filly had seen that involved skulls, or why Crystal found that so—no, wait, that much wasn’t really a mystery. Still, I didn’t get to ponder it long, because in the next moment, Mrs. Cake burst into the room.

“Ooh, Pinkie. You have guests arriving, shouldn’t you be setting up your party sometime soon? It starts in ten minutes!”

Pinkie’s smile vanished in an instant. Her entire body stiffened, losing the boundless energy she’d displayed a moment before. Her teeth became occupied with her lower lip. Her eyes grew wide and glanced around for something to look at, settling on me. Her look was pleading, dreading. Sweat formed rather quickly on her forehead. And Crystal noticed instantly.

“Yeah, Pinkie, don’t you have guests to entertain?” Crystal started with a seemingly friendly tone. “We should go downstairs and welcome them.”

I don’t know how she did it, but in that moment Crystal sounded both friendly, and unfriendly. Or at least that’s what I heard.

Mrs. Cake didn’t seem to notice. “Why don’t I pass out some snacks then? You fillies just make your way down soon, okay?”

She turned and disappeared out the door she’d come from.

Pinkie on the other hoof, was beginning to shake. Her breathing seemed labored, meanwhile Crystal moved in like a shark. Her lips curled into a frightening sneer.

“Come on, you’ve got to go entertain your guests. They’re all waiting on you. Don’t you want to be a performer? To entertain? How are you going to do it all the way up here? Huh? You’re just going to have to march down those stairs and greet all of those fillies and colts all waiting for their host to arrive. They’re waiting for the party to start. But where’s the party pony? Hmm?”

Crystal was leaning over Pinkie now, who was curled up tightly and staring silently at the wall. And where was I? Watching it all happen. Oh I wish I could say I’d done something. I could have. I should have stepped between her and Pinkie. I should have told her to stop. I should have done anything, but I just… stood there, as tears began to leak from Pinkie’s eyes.

Crystal snorted, gave me an amused grin, then sauntered over to the top of the stairway. “It’s alright, filly, I’ll start your party for you.” Her eyes glinted blue, then she turned and disappeared down the stairs, but not before flashing me a mischievous look. I blinked. Did she expect something from me?

As she disappeared, it was like waking up from a spell. I glanced back down at Pinkie and had nothing to say, so I simply wrapped her up in my hooves, and pulled her close.

Neither of us moved for several minutes. We just sat there. Her shaking, and me holding her. I admit, I was at a loss. I was helpless without Snowflurry. She’d always known what to do. Thinking of her opened up a hole in my chest again. How many months had it been? How many nights had passed that I had forgotten her?

A knot formed in my throat. I fought it, trying desperately to swallow it back down but to no avail. It eventually burst its way forth in a broken sob, which grew into a foalish whimpering wail. How could I simply have forgotten her, my best fillyhood friend? I felt a hoof rub my leg, and reached out to hold it.

Then I stopped, my breath caught. I looked up, and Pinkie was staring at me with sad, but life filled eyes. She didn’t say anything, but simply stepped forward and embraced me. I cried a few more breaths into her shoulder and then we stood apart, and she actually smiled.

It still amazes me to this day, that little moment we had there. I’m not sure how or why it happened, but Pinkie smiled after I sat and cried with her.

Actually, now that I dictate that it makes much more sense. But I digress. We turned and looked at the blue confetti blaster. I opened my mouth to suggest streamers to fill it with, when Pinkie spoke up first.

“Spaghetti.”

The sentence forming in my throat collapsed in on itself. “How abo-ah-whAT!?!”

Pinkie grinned, happily(?) at me. I tilted my head, staring curiously at her expression. She beamed, let out a very adorable squeak, then visibly jiggled her entire body.

“We should put spaghetti in the blaster. That way we can serve our guests and throw streamers at the same time.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but the words caught in my throat for a moment. Pinkie blinked and smiled at me expectantly. It took some effort but I found my voice again a moment later.

“I— um, Pinkie… Spaghetti?”

“Yup, it’s fun, and tasty, and it looks like streamers, it’s perfect.”

“I mean it um… sounds fun and all but… couldn’t you use actual streamers? Spaghetti just sounds sort of… messy.”

She paused, tapping her chin. “Hmm, well it’s not as fun as spaghetti. Maybe I could make streamers out of cake! No… maybe rock candy? Yeah, That sounds fun and tasty. We should put rock candy in the confetti blaster. It’ll be like real, edible confetti!”

I opened my mouth but said nothing.

“Or— Or maybe cotton candy.”

I took in a breath.

“Or popcorn!”

“Um.”

“Or caramel sauce!”

“...”

“OR wrapping paper.”

“Pinkie.”

“Ooh, candles! We should put candles in the confetti blaster. So we won’t have to decorate the cakes.”

I put a hoof over her mouth. “Pinkie, none of this sounds like something that really should go into anything that is to be fired toward guests. Shouldn’t we be thinking about the decorations?”

She paused, clearly imagining up some sort of decoration, then her eyes widened. “That’s it!” She exclaimed, grabbing my shoulders. “Actual cakes! With streamers and balloons and candy! Wouldn’t that be great? We could set up the whole party with one big blast. Like a… party blaster!”

I found myself speechless. While most of her ideas were absolutely ridiculous or repulsive, this one almost seemed as though it could work. How this filly intended to actually pull this off without just splattering cake batter everywhere was beyond me, but if her excitement was evident before in her bubbly mannerisms, here it was palpable. There was just one problem.

“Um, Pinkie, I think this looks more like a cannon, don’t you think?”

A loud gasp escaped the pink filly before me as she levitated in the air out of what I could only assume was sheer elation.

“That’s PERFECT! A PARTY cannon!” Two pink hooves squeezed my face from either side. “We’ll build a cannon that sets up the party for me, that way I can to it lickety split and I won’t even have to worry about upsetting they guests because…” I could see what was coming next. I covered my face. “They’ll have a blast!”

Pinkie smiled at me for a few moments, I held a deadpan stare. Then, slowly, I could no longer contain myself. I snickered, then burst out laughing. Pinkie fell over beside me, rolling on the floor and clutching her belly as she giggled at her own joke.

“Heeheeheehee, see, it’s so much fun to laugh.

I clutched my side while she wiped a tear from her eyes. Then more tears appeared. Then her smiled vanished. I stopped laughing. Her face tightened, and there was a strangled sob just before the words came.

“I just don’t understand why nopony laughs at my jokes anymore. Don’t ponies like a good joke?”

She put her face in her hooves and began to shake. Oh dear. Tears are not my area of expertise. I looked around the room, then scooted closer to her. “Pinkie, please don’t cry.”

It was about as effective as one might expect. I looked about for something to distract her, then noticed the open door. “Shouldn’t we get to work on setting up for the party downstairs?”

I reached forward to put a hoof on her shoulder, but then she collapsed onto the floor.

“Oh, what’s the point? Nopony likes me anyway. They all just think I’m crazy and run away. I’m just a silly filly with no real talent. I’m never going to perform on stage. I’m never going to be anything but a baker’s assistant, making stupid cupcakes all day. And then I’m going to get so tired I’m going to fall into the batter, and nopony is going to notice and they’re going to cook me into a giant cupcake and I’m gonna get chopped up and eaten and then I’ll be party food for everypony, and I probably won’t even taste good and they’ll all gag and it’ll be the worst party ever and Mom and Dad’ll get fired for making bad parties and have to move out into the street and eat dirt and nopony will like them either and it’ll be all my fault because I’m such a failure!”

I reached out a hoof toward her, then froze halfway. I wanted to comfort her. Truly. But alas, I found no words that could meet such a deluge of self doubt. I could even feel my own tears forming. And suddenly it was so obvious. Without thinking, I did the only thing that made sense in that moment. I slipped a hoof under her shoulder, lifted her up and pulled her into another tight embrace. She fought me at first, but then she squeezed me all the tighter. We both cried for… oh it must only have been a minute but it certainly felt like much longer.

“Thanks,” she murmured into my shoulder. I stroked her mane, and she let out a shuddering breath. We both sat back, and she glanced sideways at the cannon, then looked down.

“I—” I started, then stopped. I had to say something, but what could be said? Sounds of many voices drifted from downstairs, and I heard a record begin playing. It was a casual party tune. Not overly rambunctious, but not boring either. I glanced over at the stars. Well, at least Crystal was handling the party downstairs. Speaking of…

“Um, Pinkie? Don’t you think we should at least head down? I know you’re feeling down but… you are the hostess.”

Pinkie sniffled. “I know. I just… I’m not good with crowds of ponies.” She crouched low and looked through her mane at the door. I could see her shivering, and her eyes betrayed trepidation bordering on terror. I frowned.

“But, you seemed so… enthusiastic earlier. When you were handing out invitations?”

Pinkie groaned, burying her head under her hooves. She looked up sullenly at me.

“Mom says I need to branch out. Get used to meeting ponies. I can’t be an actress if I’m not comfortable around big crowds.” She let out a whimper, then spoke in a high pitched squeak that became a sob. “I don’t know how I’m ever going to act on stage if this is the best I can do. What am I supposed to do, Rarity? How can I be a showmare like this?”

Her eyes were too tired to find tears, else I have no doubt they would be streaming in that moment. I exhaled very slowly, glanced at the door, where somepony had leaned my saddlebags against the wall. I reached out with my magic, sweating from the effort. It took some concentration, but I managed to undo the strap, and lift out three small sapphires. I glanced sideways at Pinkie, and realized she was staring, mesmirized, at them. I quickly stuffed them back into the bag and clasped it shut. She visibly pouted, but it was far from her disconsolate deluge earlier.

I turned toward her with a confident smile. “We’ll do it together,” I stated.

Her eyes widened, then began to water. “You— You really mean it?” An incredulous smile crept onto her face.

A powerful warmth swelled up in my chest. I breathed in and smiled proudly, feeling full of new energy. “Yes. We’ll take the stage together, Pinkie. I’ll be there with you every step of the way, to make sure you shine like the gem you were meant to be.”

I had never felt so sure of anything than I did in that moment. Pinkie responded with a squee of exquisite joy and elation. She tackled me with another crushing hug and vigorously nuzzled my mane.

“Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyou. This means so much to me I just don’t even know how to say thank you. Oh, I guess I just did.” A chuckle. “You’re the best friend ever, Rarity.”

I patted her on the back, waiting for her excitement to die down, but after a minute of not breathing I had to clear my throat to get her attention.

“Oh, hehe, sorry.” She released her vicegrip from my ribcage and stepped back, beaming.

I took in a much needed breath and brushed my coat off, noticing that I still had fake blood dried on. I smiled toward the door, then back at her.

“Well, I say we quickly wash up and head downstairs. You’ve got a party to host, after all.”

Pinkie’s smile vanished, and she shifted to place myself between her and the door, peering over my shoulder. “Um... I don’t know. Maybe we could just stay up here and—”

“Pinkie, I said, softly. “I’ll be right here with you.”

She shook a little, but then sighed. “The washroom is down the hall on the second floor.”

I smiled, and stood up, tugging her hoof along behind me. “Well there’s no time like the present. Let’s go.”

“Hehe, present.”

We both snickered at that as we made our way down the stairs toward the party.

Comments

[TheMysteryMuffin]

So sad, but yet so powerful. Will this become a fanfic classic?

[BleedingRaindrops]

8874525
Maybe if I finish it sometime this century It's already much longer than I originally thought it would be.

[Starlight Nova]

Why do you have that bit of colored text, anyway?

[BleedingRaindrops]

8875580
Reasons.

I can tell you there is a specific reason for it, and I'm staying consistent with it, but I don't want to spoil it for you.

[Emperor]

Damn, Pinkie is really messed up here. She's certainly a far cry off from the Ponks we all know and love. It shows in how drastic her pranks are. She definitely needs to tune it down ! Crystal certainly isn't helping with her antics...I am curious if she's taken the Cakes as her adoptive mom and dad, or if she's referring to her actual parents when she talks about mom and dad.

Good on Rarity for being a helping hoof there with Pinkie, being her literal shoulder to cry on, though. That's canon Rarity shining through, as opposed to what Crystal is trying to make her into.