When Nathan's father dies, he has nothing left. Finding a pastel-pink colored pony might just turn his life around.
I have a fairly boring life. I go to work, I get home, I read, then I visit my dad in hospital. When things go wrong I have nothing left. But when I see what appears to be a pink baby horse poking around in the trash on my way home, things start to turn around for me.
It was a normal day in the streets of Fareham. People bustled about, they went to work, they shopped, and they ate, then they went home again to spend the night with their family. I was different. My day started with not getting up on time, being late for work, digging around the corners of a tattered wallet to find some change for takeout, finishing work, clocking out and returning to my empty house to read, and then go to bed. My Fridays are okay, though, because that’s my day off. I get up at about 1pm and go for my weekly walk and pick up a book form the shop. They always have something new in there. I would then read until about 6pm and make my way to bed, satisfied with the ending of my new book. My weekend is like my normal weekday, but I visit one of my 2 only living relatives, my Father, in his mouldy hospital room after work on Saturday. I usually give him my books that I finish because he has nothing to do there and it keeps him occupied until my next visit. He has the same taste in literature as me, so he never complains about the stories I give him. I don’t really have anyone but him to talk to. All my friends have moved away to have better futures instead of staying in this dustbowl of a town. I have only one number in my phone, and that’s my friend, Jack. But he only comes back to Fareham to visit me and his family, usually on special occasions and holidays. All I have now is my books and my Father.
It was Saturday, 24th of December, (yes that’s right Christmas was on a Sunday). I was sat in my large, leather chair, reading the new book of the ‘Duckdective’ series because I had read the first one as a joke a couple weeks ago. Anyway, I got a call on the landline, it stunned me at first, I hadn’t heard its chime in over 4 months. I got up, went to pick it up and stubbed my toe on the table leg, crippling the rest of my trip to the phone. It was my sister.
“Hello? Is that you, Nathan?”
“Yes, yes” I looked down to my pulsating toe and hissed “What do you want?”
“It’s dad”
“What do you mean ‘Its dad’?”
“He’s dying”
The phone dropped to the floor.
I was racing over to the hospital. I actually broke the limit in the desperate chase across town. I pulled into the hospital car park. Forget the pay & display, I had to see him. Ward 27, ward 27, ward 27, where was it!? It took me a lifetime to find it but I did, eventually. I ran in, and threw open the curtains separating his bed form the other 3 in the room.
“Hi, Dad” I feebly murmured.
I noticed Amy sat on the chair and joined her. She had clear mascara streaks down her face that indicated crying.
“I… I… I came as fast as I could.”
“I know, just sit”
I sat.
“He kept asking for you as the nurses tried to calm him”
“Well I was about to come see him just before you called… wait, calmed him?”
“He had a heart attack and now… now he’s... he’s- he’s-” She couldn't continue talking. Her tears overpowered her speech. “He’s asleep, they put him to sleep and he was just constantly asking ‘Where’s my son?’ over and over again! You should have been here!” She started to yell.
“Amy calm down,” I grabbed her shoulders and sat her back down “I had no idea this would happen, I know your upset, but there was nothing I could have done to prevent this, even if I was here”
“I’m sorry, I’m overreacting” She barely managed to splutter that phrase over her tears. “The doctors say he’s going into cardiac arrest"
My father lay, breathing softly on the bed. I sat there, staring at him, helplessly. I couldn’t do anything. We just had to wait for the drugs to wear off.
It was 3 hours later and dad was just waking up. I instantly jumped at the sight of his eyes opening and knelt down beside him.
“Ah, Nathan my boy, you’re late”
“My apologies” I thought for a second and suddenly something triggered “Wait, Amy, why were you here in the first place, you never visit Dad” I turned and looked at her.
“I don’t know I just wanted to wish him a merry Christmas” She claimed.
I turned back to dad and continued. “So, did you finish ‘The mystery of Roadlane Avenue’?” I asked him.
“Yes, it was a horrible ending”
“Exactly my thoughts” I replied. We both laughed for a while and I pulled out Duckdective 2 from my bag and handed it to him. “This is my most recent read” I told him.
“I expected something more mature of you, Nathan” My smile dropped. “Hahaha! You should see your face!” He exclaimed. I began to laugh too and I heard Amy chuckle slightly. Dad began to furiously cough and splutter so I lay him back down.
“You need to rest, dad” I thought about what my sister told me earlier “You need your strength”
He lay back down and closed his eyes. I watched him as he slowly fell back asleep. The room was eerily quiet. All I could think of was how this could have happened. He was in here for liver disease, not cardiac arrest! I thought to myself and tried to piece together what was going on. It was 2 hours later and Amy had just gone downstairs getting food etc. from the built-in Costa when Dad began to get back up. I walked over to him and accompanied him. He slowly raised himself and spoke to me.
“You know, Nathan,” He began “You don’t have to be here”
“Dad,” I started to protest.
“No really, I insist, you should leave. My time has come.”
“What do you mean? You can’t be-”
The heart monitor began to rapidly beep. I looked over to the machine and back, then back to the machine and then back at him. I was so confused. Then I saw him slowly reveal his hands. He had removed his life support drip.
“Dad! What've you done!?”
“It is my fate, son, you have to understand that”
“Please, no! You have to stay here! You’re all I have! Don’t go!”
He began to shake and shudder. I desperately tried to keep him still and replace his drip.
“Please! Come on, work! Work! WORK GOD DAMN IT!”
I furiously entered and re-entered the drip until his hand was mutilated. He stopped shaking. Tears welled in my eyes.
“Look after your sister”
The heart monitor stopped. Silence filled the room. I began to weep.
Amy returned with the refreshments and found me, sat on the chair along with an empty bed. She put down the tray.
“He’s gone”
“Where did they move him?”
“They didn’t move him”
“What?”
“He’s dead”
She fell silent. I got up, made his bed and left the room. As I walked out, I heard her break into tears, but I didn’t turn back. It was just reaching midnight when I got out of the hospital, and I walked into the car park only to find my car missing. I stormed into the reception asking what had happened to it.
“You mean the one just by the Pay & Display machine? Oh, it got towed”
I was filled with frustration. I plodded the way home, dragging myself to my dirty, horrible home. But just as I was coming to the start of my road, I noticed something shaking in a toppled trash can. It was hairy, by the looks of it. I approached slowly, watching it wobble violently. As I got closer, I saw it’s colour in the dim light of the street lamps. It was pink. A hairy, pink shaking thing was in the bin and I was slowly getting closer to it. What was I thinking!? I very cautiously knelt beside the bin, staring at it thoughtfully. I went to grab it and it pulled away from me instantly, into the bin. I was confused at this point, and slowly lowered my head until I was looking deep within the can. At the very back of it was a pink, shuddering creature. It had four legs and huge, bushy pink hair and tail. It appeared to be a foal, but something was quite off about it. Its head was rounder, and its muzzle was very small, almost as small as a human nose, instead of being the whole front of the head. It had a picture on its flank, looked to me like balloons. She was staring at me, scared and alone. I reached into the can and she scrambled away from my hand, avoiding my grasp. I eventually got a hold of her and held her in my arms. She squirmed around, squealing and shaking but slowly adjusted to the cold and rubbed up against my chest, feeling the heat radiating from me. She rolled over in my arms to face me. She was looking directly at me. Her gaze was so innocent, something I hadn’t seen in a long time. She broke a small smile before yawning and closing her eyes. She began to snore. I continued my journey home quickly and also cautiously to make sure no-one saw her. I returned home and lay her in my big leather chair, my usual reading spot.
I sat there, on my sofa next to the chair, facing the blank TV. Where did she come from? What is she? What do I do with her? So many questions ran through my head, but I didn’t have enough time to answer them. I picked her up slowly and walked over to my room. I lay on my bed, her in my arms, wrapped in a tight hug. I soon dozed off. She had made my tragic night a lot more happy, but I’m not quite sure how. 7Am. My alarm goes off. I smash my hand down on the button and slowly rise up out of bed. I find pink hairs all over my bed and suddenly snap back into reality. SHE’S GONE! I jump out of bed and run into the lounge and look around. I slowly find my gaze reaching the top of my Christmas tree and see her, grasping the top. Her squeals of excitement are identical to that of a human child. This filly is definitely special. She jumped down from the tree and onto the sofa, prancing around the room with glee, that was until I grabbed her and stopped her in her tracks. She squealed and looked at me, with those cute little puppy eyes and pouting her lips.
“Ok, fine, you can play”
I put her down and she ran around again, screaming with laughter and getting her hair absolutely everywhere. I sat in the leather arm chair, rubbing my eyes after the rough start to the day. She stopped, looked at me and trotted over to me, smiling. I yawned and smiled back, and then she continued to run around the room. It was as if she saw me in a not-so-happy mood and had to make sure I was ok before she could carry on. She seemed to understand my speech, but couldn’t talk herself. Perhaps I could teach her? No, that’s stupid, I thought. She continued to make a mess of my living room. This was one heck of a Christmas Present.
It was about 9 am when I decided to stop watching her run around the lounge and make some breakfast. I made my own cereal and noticed her whinnies of fun stop. I felt rubbing up against my leg, and looked down to a very hungry looking pony staring at me. I thought for a second of what she could eat. Normal horses eat hay, flowers and grass but this one might have different tastes. I knelt down and picked her up, then placed her gently on the counter.
“What do you want?” I teased.
She walked around the side for a while, looking for something to eat. I opened the cupboard for her to look around. I chuckled to myself and was actually surprised when she pulled out some coffee cake, a cookie bag, and my tub of muffins. She grinned at me, waiting for me to open one, and so that’s what I did. I ripped open the bag of cookies and broke one in half for her to nibble on. She sat down and began to eat away at the biscuit, getting crumbs everywhere. She licked her lips, pulled out another one and devoured it before I could even reach forward to stop her.
“Wow, you’re quick!”
She went to get another, so I quickly snatched the bag. I couldn’t have her eating too much. Jeez, I didn’t even know if it was safe for her to eat! She stopped for a second, confused as to why I had taken the bag away. Then she stared at me, looking me directly in the eyes. I had to admit, she put on a really good act, but I broke from the trance created by her cuteness. I left the kitchen with my bowl of cereal and sat down in the lounge. I flicked on the TV and put on some morning cartoons for her to watch. The actual show had only 4 minutes left but she was still enjoying the crap out of it. When the adverts started, I noticed a commercial for some kids show, I couldn’t quite catch the name, but it had a pony on it with the same features as her. Pink, fluffy hair, huge eyes, round head, tiny snout. I was really inspecting the character on screen.
Suddenly, the TV went blank and I noticed her, rolling over the remote. She’d nicked the remote while I wasn’t looking and pressed the power button. I tried to shake the very familiar character out of my head and proceeded to eat my breakfast. She clambered up the side of the sofa and sat next to me. Her eyes started to close, and she rubbed up against me. I slowly lowered my hand and began to stroke her mane carefully, ensuring I didn’t startle her or get my hand caught in any knots in her huge, thick pink hair. She didn’t seem to mind, so I continued. Once I finished my cereal, I got up slowly and put my bowl in the sink, and returned to the living room to pet her. She yawned and began to dose off. I began to remember all the questions that came to my head when I first found her.
What was she?
Where did she come from?
Why was she here?
Who does she belong to?
What’s her name?
All these questions that I couldn’t answer were rushing through my head like tidal waves. Then suddenly, it struck me. How I will be able to hide her?
It had been 2 months since I had found her. She hadn’t grown too much, but her hair was beginning to settle from its huge, candy floss ball to a small, poufy mane. I dare not comb or brush it; the amount of knots could keep a hairdresser busy for a lifetime! Otherwise I groomed her well.
I had bonded with her greatly and I was certain she understood Basic English. She sometimes tried to repeat things I said, which almost scared me because she was obviously some kind if equine creature, not a human being that can talk. I liked to encourage her in this process, because if I could teach her to talk, I would finally have someone to talk to. Since Dad died, Amy hadn’t answered any calls and refused to answer the door bell to her flat. I loved this pink bundle of fun more than I had loved anything before; she meant a lot to me. If I could get her to talk, I’d never need to speak to humans again (considering I never did anyway, except Dad). She could say simple words and knew how to order them to make sense. She did end up picking ‘dad’ up from somewhere and often referred to me as such. I never taught her it, buts she must have heard it somewhere.
I could see why she called me that, seeing as I raise her, teach her, feed her, and house her, but I didn’t want to have that kind of relationship. I wanted her to be like my best friend, not my daughter. It was going to be hard to teach her that. I just rolled with it for a while, because there was no reason why I wasn’t her Dad, I just didn’t want to be her Dad. She was slowly learning, and I was enjoying the company of my ‘pony’ friend.
I was still stuck on a name for her. She never asked about her name during our speaking lessons and I never addressed her by one. She was always paying attention, so her name was never needed to be called. I just felt like giving her one anyway. The Yellow and Blue Balloons on her flank were sparking ideas in my head, but none suited her quite right. Not only was she talking, she was also drawing. Sometimes she would find pencils on the floor and draw on the walls and tables with her mouth. I try to stop her from drawing on those and give her paper, but I often don’t see her get the pencils. It was Monday, 18th of February that I realised, I had nothing in my fridge.
For two months I had had this growing filly living off scraps form the back of my cupboards, I never thought to go out. I hesitated at first, wondering what I should do with her. She’s too big to take out into town, say, in my jacket or something, but there’s no way I am going to leave her in this house alone. I had to take her, somehow. I opened the door and slowly crept outside with her in my arms, writhing about, trying to break from my grasp. I managed to get her into the back seat and slam the door before she could escape. I let out a sigh of relief, and went to get into my car. Just as I was getting in, I noticed my neighbour, looking over the fence at me. He had the most confused look I had ever seen on his face. I smiled at him, got in my car, and pulled out of my drive. As I did so, she scrambled up to the car window and pressed her face up against the glass, smiling at him. His face had only twisted more; he then slowly walked back to his house, wondering what had just happened.
I tried to grab her and drag her from the back window into the passenger seat, but I couldn’t get a good grip at all. Eventually she came from her perch in the back and pondered into the front of the car, next to me. I scratched behind her ears. She enjoyed the attention and let out the equine equivalent to a purr. Once I stopped to focus on the road, she curled up on the seat and closed her eyes, still smiling. I continued to drive; the vibration of the car on the smooth street calmed her. We reached the local supermarket and I found that there was no spaces aside from a few in the family spots, and disabled. I glanced at her.
“Companions count as family? I guess?” I said to myself.
I left the front windows ajar and locked the car. She just sat there, snug in the passenger seat, snoring quietly. She’ll be OK for half an hour, right? I thought carefully, ensuring the right decision had been made. I turned and headed for the trolley shelter.
I travelled through the aisles, getting food and spices (I’ll have you know I’m a great cook); I grabbed a colouring book and some pencils for later. As I went to the clothes section for some blankets, I passed the toys aisle and noticed something very familiar on the shelves. I walked up to the shelf, inspecting the products very closely. This was clearly the girl’s side of the aisle. One of the characters was very similar to a certain scientifically impossible pet in my car. The figurine had large, pink, puffed up hair. Pink fur, big, blue eyes and an oversized head that was more rounded than it should be, and even the squished snout. The package read:
My Little Pony-Friendship Is Magic: Pinkie Pie
Now, I had no idea if this here, ‘Pinkie Pie’ was related to my pony, but they sure did have a lot in common. Besides, I liked that name; I decided that was what I would call her. Another pony struck my eye, a large white one, with wavy hair of multiple colours. I made a mental note of her name.
I got back outside and quickly noticed it had started to rain while I was gone. I ran over to the car and loaded the goods into the back. I left the trolley by the shelter and dashed back. I pulled open the door and sat down quickly and started the engine, as I pulled out of my spot, I saw that Pinkie had cowered into the very corner of her chair, shaking and quivering in fear. I then closed the window and tried to comfort her. I pulled her in close; she was on my lap as I drove back home. She was breathing very heavily and shaking franticly. I petted her main and glided over her back.
“I’m scared, Daddy”
My face kind of scrunched at the word “Its Ok, it’s just rain. I’m here” A crack of thunder shot across the sky as we drove through the wet streets
“What was that!?” Pinkie squealed in fright.
“It’s thunder, it won’t hurt us”
“Ok, I just want to go home”
I was impressed with her speaking skills. She looked up to me with very scared eyes and smiled slightly when she saw my face. I continued to pet her, and then we reached my drive. I tucked her into my jacket as much as I could, but she was fairly large. I unlocked the door and put her down in the hall, she scurried over to the lounge and I went to get the groceries. I quickly ran back in with 4 bags of shopping and slammed the door.
I set them down on the side and pulled out the colouring book and pencils for her. She flicked open the page and happily went on, colouring and drawing lots of messy pictures with the pencil in her mouth. I went off and made 2 hot chocolates for us. We sat at the window side, watching the cars whoosh by and the drops glide down the pane. Pinkie was drawing lots of pictures of what I assumed was me and her, but there was always a purple pony doing things with her. The time she ran around the Christmas tree, when she was eating the cookies off the side, and some other things. She had recreated the memories perfectly but there was always this purple stallion with her instead of me. I could only assume that that was what she saw me as.
“Who’s this?” I pointed to the stallion on her drawing.
Her face went blank; she looked up at me with absolutely no expression on her face. I stared at her, waiting for a response. She then just shrugged and continued to draw. I sipped on my hot chocolate and went over to the couch to sit down. After a while, I finished my drink and checked on Pinkie. She was now colouring things that were actually in the book instead of her own. She yawned and got down form the counter to lie on the sofa. I joined her and we snoozed together.
Life was beginning to turn around for me; I really felt that Pinkie was making every moment happier for me. The questions from months ago echoed in my head.
What was she?
Where did she come from?
Why was she here?
Who does she belong to?
I had already figured out a name, but the others were still unanswered.
It had been 3 years since I had found Pinkie. She could speak full English now. She isn’t as… well, active as she used to be. She doesn’t run around anymore, she doesn’t write on the walls, try to escape or steal food. I never told her to stop, she just did. It seems like she’s grown up, older, dare I say mature. She’s literally a 3-year-old, but she acts like a teen.
I was heading out for work one day and noticed Pinkie was especially quiet. She just sat on the sofa, staring forward into nothingness. I thought of it like nothing, and left for work, little did I know, this was going to be an… ‘Eventful’ day. At around 4:30, just before the end of my shift, my sister decided to drop by the house.
“Nathan?”
Pinkie’s ears perked up, she rose from her slumber, interested by this new voice.
“Nathan? I came to-”
Pinkie raced to the corridor, excited to meet her new friend.
“Hi! I’m Pinkie P-“
Amy screamed louder than any siren or alarm. She grabbed the vase from the table and smashed it into Pinkie’s head. She stopped for a moment, face still as a statue’s, and then slumped to the floor.
Amy breathed heavily, she sat, looking at the creature she had struck.
“OK, it’s OK, just call Nathan”
She reached for her phone. She punched in the numbers.
“Nathan?”
“Yes?”
“OK, where are you?”
“I driving home from work, wait, why do you need to know?”
“I was at your house, and- and then-”
“You were at my house? How did you get in?”
“I’ve always had a key, since mom gave you the house!”
“Don’t talk about mom, Amy, just tell me what hap-”
Suddenly, it clicked. Only one thing could have happened if Amy was in this state at my house.
“What did you do to her!?”
“I don’t know! I’m sorry! Come quick!”
I slammed my foot down on the pedal, I was driving faster than when dad was dying. Pinkie was too important to care about the law. I parked in the drive way, slammed on the handbrake and launched myself into the house. Pinkie lay on the floor of the corridor. A large swell on her head pulsated gently. I fell to my knees. Tears welled up in my eyes.
“What did you do!?”
“It jumped out at me when I came in; I just grabbed the vase and hit it. I wasn’t thinking straight”
“I know you weren’t! Now what do I do! She’s my friend! She’s all I had left! She’s my saviour!”
“She? It’s a girl? What even is it?”
“I don’t know, Amy”
“I don’t care how you got it, or why you kept it, but I do know that you need to get rid of it! If you have to hide it, you shouldn’t have it.”
“Where would she go?”
“On the streets! If not, you could give it into some animal shelter! Why do you want it so bad anyway!?”
“Dad was the only person I ever cared about. When he died, I found her. I’ve raised her for 3 years! I love her… so much. She’s the light in my deep, dark life, Amy. She’s my… my daughter”
I looked back to her. I grazed my hand over her forehead. I slowly stroked her, hoping she would wake up.
“Can’t you take it to the vet?”
“Do you know any vets that would gladly treat and alien pony then never tell anyone about it!?” Amy fell silent.
“Come on, Pinkie, wake up. Please, you’re all I have! Don’t leave me, don’t be like dad!” I said through my tears.
It was no use. I had to give up. I picked her up, and took her into her room. I laid her on her bed, lay the covers over her body, leaving her head peeking out. I went back downstairs, to see Amy sat on the sofa, mascara running down her face.
“Leave”
“What?”
“Amy, I said LEAVE!”
She got up quickly and grabbed her bag, continued to walk to the door, swiftly open it, leave and close it. I went to the kitchen, grabbed a bottle of cheap whiskey from the back of the top cupboard and slumped onto the couch. My mind wandered as I slugged down my drink. 'Amy’s right, I shouldn’t have her, she doesn’t belong here'
'No! She’s wrong! You need her more than anything!'
'She may be what I live for, but keeping her here is selfish! She has to go back to her home!'
'This IS her home, Nathan!'
*knock * *knock*
Suddenly, I snapped out of it. I shot up from my laid position on the sofa.
*knock * *knock*
‘Who could that be? It better not be Amy, crawling back to apologize’ I think to myself.
*knock * *knock*
“Alright! I’m coming!”
I get up and stomp to the door, in an angered and unforgiving mood. I reach for the door handle and a shiver spreads throughout my body.
stumble backwards and fall onto my back. A tall, white horse stood before me. It had wings on its back, a horn on its forehead, and a gold crown crested in its flowing hair of multiple colours. The hair waved back and forth, staying level, strange considering there was no breeze.
“Who are you?” I said, still laid across the floor.
“May we come in?” The mare spoke softly, but firmly too.
“Yes of course- wait, we?”
She strolled into my living room, admiring the décor and furniture. Alongside her was a Grape coloured pony, a white one with a deep purple mane, and orange one wearing a Stetson, a light blue one with rainbow coloured hair and a yellow one with long, pink hair. They all had the same, unrealistic and oversized body features like pinkie, accept the white one, who was just abnormally thin. My mind reached back to when I was in the store, suddenly, it clicked.
“You’re Celestia. Princess Celestia, aren’t you?”
She turned to me sharply.
“Correct. How might you know?”
“I saw a figurine of you in the girls’ toys aisle”
She looked confused. She looked to the floor for a moment. When she gazed back up at me, she had less serious face, and spoke more gently.
“We understand you hold the Element of Laughter in this home”
“What’s the ‘Element of Laughter’?”
“Pinkie Pie, Mr Anderson”
“How do you know my name?”
“I know a lot about this world. Maybe even more than you do”
I noticed the other ponies glancing at each other, blank expressions on their faces.
“Who are they” I asked, pointing to them.
“They are the other elements of harmony, Applejack, the Element of Honesty, Rarity, the Element of Generosity, Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness, Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty and my dearest student, Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Magic”
“What do these elements do?”
“They are the 6 forces that keep harmony among ponies, preventing all kinds of hate from arguments to war. Things have been in chaos since Ms Pie disappeared”
Celestia turned from me to face the mirror behind her.
“Not long ago, Twilight was formulating a potion that could enhance one’s abilities. Rainbow Dash here stole the prototype and ended up creating a Double Rainboom, across the skies of Ponyville-”
I began to laugh.
“Is there something funny, Mr Anderson?”
“Seriously? Ponyville? That’s the most unoriginal name for a pony town ever!”
I stopped, as they all stared me down.
“As I was saying, Mr Anderson, Rainbow Dash was going so fast that when she crashed into the floor, she fell through the warp into another dimension. Another world. Twilight managed to make a second version of the potion and gave it to Pinkie Pie, which enhanced her ‘4th wall’ abilities so she could travel between worlds, somehow. She rescued Rainbow Dash, but also accidentally warped between worlds just as the potions effects wore off”
“Ok, ok, I get it. Forget the sob story, why are you here?”
“We have arrived to collect Pinkie Pie, Mr Anderson”
I gulped. I had to think of a way to keep this stalling up until Pinkie was awake. I began to sweat. My eyes darted across the room, back and forth, looking for something to keep them distracted. Suddenly, I heard creaking floorboards from upstairs. I let out a sigh of relief. She stumbled downstairs and rubbed her eyes. She walked over to me and leaned in close. I began to stroke her mane, trying to comfort her from what happened earlier.
“What happened?” She said to me.
“My sister, Amy, she was surprised when you jumped out at her, and she, well… knocked you out. Only for her own safety, of course, for she knew you could have been a burglar” I replied, with a queasy smile. I knelt to her level and looked into her eyes.
“I’m sorry” She said.
“Don’t be, it wasn’t your fault, it was just a mistake”
I stroked her mane over to one side and smiled at her again. She smiled back and giggled slightly. She looked over to the ponies and before she could open her mouth I began to speak.
“Pinkie, these are our guests, they… well, they-” I paused. “They want to take you away”
“Who are you? Why are you here?” Pinkie spoke quite loudly.
“She doesn’t remember us, girls” said Twilight.
“Why do you want me?” Pinkie was breathing heavily.
She stopped for a moment and looked to the floor.
“What did I do?” She whispered, a few tears rolling down her face.
“You don’t belong here, Pinkie Pie, you need to come back to Equestria, with your friends and family. It’s been 3 days, they’re getting worried, come on” Celestia slowly approached Pinkie as she spoke.
“But I don’t want to go! I am with my family!” Pinkie shouted through her tears. She looked to me, with an angry expression.
“Please, Dad! Do something!” I just stood, watching her.
Pinkie bolted upstairs into her room and slammed the door. All the ponies, including Celestia, had widened their eyes beyond belief.
“Did, she just call you, Dad?” said Twilight. They all began to exchange looks, confused more than ever before. I decided to pitch in.
“Look, maybe, I your world, it’s been 3 days since the accident, but I’ve cared for her for 3 years. When I found her, she was just a filly”
Twilight stroked her chin, thinking deeply.
“Perhaps a side effect of the potion could have been age reversal; Rainbow Dash had aching in her wings after the potion wore off. It would also explain the memory loss, as she literally hadn’t lived through them yet” She said.
Twilight looked back up at me.
“Did Pinkie Pie have her cutie mark when you found her?” Twilight asked.
“What, the balloons on her flank? She had that, yeah”
“That means she should remember her family back Equestria, but we’ll figure that out once we get her back”
I sit on my couch, surrounded by pastel coloured ponies, thinking. My questions about Pinkie Pie were still circling. As I thought deeper, I realised they had all been answered.
What was she? The Element of Laughter.
Where did she come from? Ponyville, Equestria.
Why was she here? A magic potion.
Who does she belong to? Well, no-one, really.
No-one except me. I looked up once again, the other ponies hushed as I glared at Celestia.
“Is something wrong, Mr Anderson?” She said, sarcastically.
“Please, Princess, just let her stay, she wants nothing but to live a life of tranquil with me”
“I’m sorry, Mr Anderson, but Ms Pie is needed elsewhere, she’s the reason ponies aren’t miserable all the time, and one of the vital elements of a powerful force that has proven… useful in past events” She came over to me, and sat down with me. She put her fore leg over my shoulder, trying her best to comfort me.
“You’ve been an exceptional father, Nathan. You had no idea what she was, or where she came from. She could have been feral, vicious, rabid, anything! But you took her in from the cold and you cared for her. You loved her with all your heart and we are so very grateful for that, but you know, deep down that Pinkie Pie doesn’t belong here. She needs to come back to her real home”
I sniffled. Tears had already begun to roll down my cheeks. I hadn't even noticed myself balling up. Even over my own whimpering, I heard creaking floor boards. I knew what was going to happen. Pinkie came to the bottom of the stairs, a piece of paper in her mouth. She slowly walked over to me and Celestia, looking me in the eye the whole time. She gave me the note and whispered:
“Don’t read it yet, wait until they take me away”
She continued over to the other ponies.
“I’m ready. Just do it” Pinkie said.
Celestia got up and her horn began to glow. She knelt down and touched Pinkie’s forehead with it. The room filed with a bright white light. All was silent, and I heard a faint whisper:
I sat on the sofa, regretting everything I hadn’t done to keep her with me. I saw the note she gave me on the floor, and picked it up. As I unfolded it, I was surprised at what I saw. It was a drawing of pinkie hugging me, not the purple stallion one. It was actually me. Above the drawing was written:
‘You’ll always be my daddy’. I just stared at it. I was so confused. Why had she drawn the stallion all that time ago if she acknowledged me as a human? I looked to the coffee table and saw my £30 whiskey, half empty.
“Might as well finish the job” As I reached for the bottle, the doorbell rang.
“Who the bloody hell is it n-”
I opened the door and was surprised to see no-one there. There was a cardboard box on the welcome mat. I picked it up. It was heavy, very heavy. I set it down on the coffee table. A label was taped text down on top of the box. I flipped it over, it read: ‘Thank you for everything, we are eternally grateful -Celestia’. I flipped open the box, inside was a little colt. Curled up and sleeping, he breathed softly, He was purple with black hair. He was just like the one in pinkie’s drawings. I lifted him out, and held him in my arms like I did when I first found Pinkie. He squirmed around, shaking but slowly adjusted to the cold and rubbed up against my chest, feeling the heat radiating from me.
