Different
(To listen along with the chapter, click the video!)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=YJqEK4BaHzI
This is a story about Pinkie Pie.
If anypony tells you that it is not a story about Pinkie Pie, they are a big, fat liar who should be taunted endlessly for their indiscretions.
Unless I tell you that it is not. Because everything I say is true. But it is, and that's all that matters.
Pinkie Pie was, by all means, a normal pony. She walked around on four hooves, she had a cutie mark emblazoned on both her flanks, and she helped to save the fate of Equestria on at least five separate occasions. Perhaps even more, depending on how future seasons go. And in fact, one could make a solid argument for the incidents with Ahuizotl and the Mane-iac falling under this heading. But for now, let's leave it at five. Five is a nice, even number. Which is strange, considering that it is actually an odd number. Fancy that.
But I digress. This story is not about even numbers, or odd numbers, or fancying either. This is, as stated above, a story about Pinkie Pie. Although it is entirely possible that numbers will come up somewhere in the narrative. They do have a way of doing that.
Pinkie Pie lived in the town of Ponyville. She made residence in Sugarcube Corner, a quaint little bakery shaped like one of the confections sold inside. It was there that she lived and worked, and she was quite happy with this arrangement. She lived and worked, and when she was done working, she would go back to living. In fact, she often lived while she worked as well, a brilliant bit of multitasking which made her life and job that much easier.
Pinkie Pie loved her life. When not working, and often while working as well, she enjoyed spending time with her friends and throwing parties for them. Everypony in Ponyville was Pinkie Pie's friend, and every day was a party. Today was no exception. Although it also was. But it wasn't as well.
Pinkie Pie partied every day and every night. It was the life she knew, and it was the life she loved. Every day was the same, and every day was different, and every day was the same in different ways or different in the same ways. There were even days in which things were the same in the same ways or different in different ways. It made little difference to Pinkie Pie, for she loved it regardless.
On this particular day, the day in question, Pinkie Pie had finished all of her work. She had worked diligently in the kitchen all morning, not at all privy to the knowledge that today had the possibility of being different in ways that were even more different than the most different of days. She really had no reason to believe otherwise, after all. As far as she knew, today was no different than any other day, outside of the usual differences.
Has anypony else gotten tired of the word "different?" I haven't.
Different, different, different.
There are different ways of saying different.
Different.
Like that! Very different.
Yes, today certainly had the potential to be different. For today, today...was a different day than the other days.
It was a Tuesday. That part was not different, or at least not different from other Tuesdays. All Tuesdays were Tuesdays. Today, however, was a special Tuesday. It was a Tuesday that also happened to be the anniversary date of Pinkie Pie's arrival in Ponyville. As such, the Cakes...referring to Pinkie Pie's employers and landlords, rather than the confections they baked...had permitted her to end her work day early and take the rest of the day off to enjoy herself. She had insisted that she enjoyed work as well, but the Cakes had also insisted, and Pinkie Pie did not like to make any of her friends, let alone her employers, landlords, and surrogate parents, unhappy. So as it was, she had now found herself with the rest of the day free.
Pinkie Pie's mind flooded with possibilities. She had been perfectly happy working during the day and having a party in the evening, but now? Now?? The entire day was hers, and hers alone. She could do whatever she wanted with her Ponyville anniversary. Her Ponyvillesery, if you will, and I certainly will. The town was her oyster, and the oyster was her favorite shellfish, even surpassing the mighty clam.
Pinkie Pie walked outside. Then she walked back inside. Entering Sugarcube Corner for the first time was one of her favorite memories of her first day in Ponyville, and on this, her Ponyvillesery (that is, her Ponyville anniversary, not to be confused with a similar abbreviation for the Ponyville Nursery), she found it only appropriate to relive that particular memory. It was a good one, and while she walked through that door practically every day, doing so on the very same day that she had first done it felt...special.
The possibilities were vast and nearly endless in Pinkie Pie's mind, so much so that the thought of choosing between all of them was daunting. After all, there were many things to do in the world. How could she possibly choose just one? What if, in choosing one, Pinkie Pie inadvertently made the others feel bad? If only there were a way to duplicate herself so she could-
...No. No, she had tried that already, and to say that it had not gone swimmingly was being very generous. She had heard the word "fun" so many times that day that it nearly lost all meaning. The word "fun" was to that day what the word "different" must be in this story.
Different.
After a few long moments of thinking, Pinkie Pie decided that the best initial course of action was to visit one of her friends. Of course, this decision was hardly an easy one, as Pinkie Pie was friends with everypony in Ponyville. A second decision would have to be made! Pinkie Pie groaned to herself, clearly frustrated that she was being called upon to make so many difficult decisions. This was her Ponyvillesery, by golly, and spending it doing difficult things was not what she'd had in mind. Regardless, it was clear that a decision had to be made before she could move forward. This one would require some further thinking.