Comfort Zones
Pinkie Pie was happily humming to herself while skipping to the Ponyville Market Place. It was a bright, blue sky Friday and the Ponyville clock tower was about to strike at twelve o'clock.
The pink party pony was super duper excited for her errand. She was especially assigned by Mrs. Cake to fetch her pints of blueberries. Mrs. Cake needed the blueberries to make her special "Double Blueberry Surprise" pie. Mrs. Cake's blueberry pies had twice the amount of regular blueberry pies. And the surprise kick in her pie was different for each pony. Each customer would taste something different and new in their pies, so no two pies were the same.
Pinkie Pie loved Mrs. Cake's pies so much that she had to sing about them aloud! In that every moment!
Mrs. Cake! Mrs. Cake!
Oh how I can't wait!
To taste the doubleness,
The gooiness,
The sweetness,
The zaniness,
In your Double Blueberry Surprissseee
Piieee!
Wohoo!
Then, the silly mare added a sweet giggle at the end of her song.
Before she knew it,she was already in the hustle and bustle of the market place. Pinkie Pie didn't mind the crowd, for she knew that she can easily maneuver around them. She used her flexibility and quick thinking to dance around each busy pony.
With a hop, skip, and a jump, she arrived at the quaint stand selling berries. The stand had all kinds of berries. Raspberries, strawberries, salmon berries, huckle berries, and of course blueberries. The mare, selling the berries, had a very blueberry coat and a fluffy bright green mane.
Pinkie gave the friendly sales mare three bits for three large pints of blueberries. She wished the blueberry colored pony a wonderful day and skipped away from the stand. She happily carried the large grocery bag in her teeth. But her skipping stopped...when she heard a loud painful moan.
Pinkie turned her head towards the sound...and saw a small crowd circling at the center of the market. She slowly walked towards the crowd to see what every pony was staring at. She climbed to the very tips of her hooves to get a peek over the every pony's heads. She saw Roseluck and a earth pony filly.
The filly had a dark rosey coat with a pink and white striped mane. Her eyes were light green eyes, a beautiful color in Pinkie's opinion. The filly still didn't have her cutiemark yet, but that was normal for some pony her age. The cute little filly even had an adorable, small, light green bow on her neck and near her right ear. The filly was on ground, rocking back and forth with her front hooves covering her ears. Her eyes were wide and full of fear and pain. She was the source of the loud moans.
Meanwhile, the cream colored mare Roseluck was trying to comfort and calm down the filly. She held her forelegs in the air surrounding the filly. But she never wrapped them around the filly's shoulder. Roseluck positioned herself in a way that tries to hide the filly from the view of the crowd staring at them. She tried to not look at the circle of ponies surrounding them, but she focused on the poor filly on the ground. Roseluck looked flustered, nervous,and worried. She kept whispering to the filly "Shhh, Bow Heart. It's okay. It's okay sweetie."
When Pinkie Pie heard Roseluck's quiet pleads to the filly, she knew that the filly was her daughter. Her heart dropped...it began to break and ache inside her chest.
"Hey Every Pony!"
Roseluck lifted her eyes away from Bow Heart, and saw Pinkie Pie standing on her hind legs in front of her. She couldn't see the pink pony's face, only her back and her forelegs spread out to her sides.
"This isn't a show! Leave this filly alone and go back to your day!"
Roseluck couldn't believe her own ears. This pony...was standing up for her daughter. She turned her gaze past Pinkie Pie, and witnessed the crowd sharing the same shocked expression.
"Well, go on then!"
The ponies in the crowd carefully walked away from Pinkie Pie and separated into different directions. Each pony gave the small filly one last curious look before leaving.
When the crowd was gone, Pinkie Pie returned back on all fours and smiled at Roseluck and her filly.
Sweet little Bow Heart was still rocking back and forth on the ground. Still moaning in pain and holding her front hooves tightly against her ears.
Roseluck was in awe of the poofy haired pony in front of her. She never thought that the party pony of Ponyville would, not only take notice of her and Bow Heart, but also express serious frustration and disappointment towards other ponies.
"Hey there sweetie." Pinkie Pie whispered.
She kneeled down before Bow Heart and had a very soft smile on her face.
"Your mom's alright, everything's okay." she whispered once more.
Pinkie Pie reached behind her back and pulled out a light blue chest. Roseluck looked all around the pink pony to see where the chest came from. She didn't pulled it out from her grocery bag.
Where did it from? Roseluck pondered to herself.
Pinkie gently opened the chest and let out a beautiful lullaby-like melody. Bow Heart's ears perked towards the sound and her moans slowly became softer. The pink party pony closed her eyes, swayed her head to the music, and sang like a mother singing to her foal. A tone that Roseluck didn't expect out of The Element of Laughter...
Stars and moons and air balloons,
fluffy clouds to the horizon.
I'll wrap you in rainbows and
rock you to sleep again.
Bow Heart's moans disappeared into the music. Her unsettled rocking body stopped rocking. She brought her head closer to Pinkie Pie and her musical chest. Roseluck was awe struck by, not only Pinkie Pie's lovely singing voice, but also how she was calming down Bow Heart.
Incredible... Rose thought to herself.
Smile to cure the frowns,
twirling and tumbling in laughter.
Someday life will always be,
happily ever after.
Never more will the storms come,
to destroy your little world.
Never more will the waters rise,
'til the mountains no longer touch the skies.
Stars and moons and air balloons,
fluffy clouds to the horizon.
I'll wrap you in rainbows and
rock you to sleep again.
Pinkie Pie closed the chest quietly and handed it to Bow Heart with great care. The little filly immediately started petting the chest, and stared at all the small wooden carvings on it's top.
Pinkie smiled sweetly and sincerely at her, feeling her heart so light yet warm at the same time. Meanwhile, Rose was at a lost for words. For once...during her years at Ponyville...found one pony...who understood...without having her saying a word. Rose felt like she could cry. But she couldn't...if she let every kind gesture get that kind of reaction from her, she would be a weeping mess.
"Do you guys wanna have a snack break with me at Sugar Cube corner?" Pinkie Pie asked with a grin on across her face.
Roseluck witnessed Pinkie Pie devour the thick, oozing, wide piece of blueberry pie across from her in the booth. She was thankful for Pinkie Pie inviting them to Sugar Cube Corner for a bite to eat. At first, Rose thought that The Corner would busy just like the market place. However, the shop, at the moment, was dealing with their usual small group of Friday customers. These customers are calm, collective types that like to come to Sugar Cube for some good coffee and a quiet place to read.
Rose looked over to her daughter and saw her coloring in her color book in peace. She smiled blissfully at her. She loved how Bow was still clinging that cute little music box while doodling. She loved how calm and happy her little sweetie was. She truly was a beautiful and wonderful daughter.
Then, Rose turned her gaze back on the special pie that her new friend order for her. After seeing Pinkie Pie swallow her slice whole...she suddenly lost her appetite. She hoped that she would be able to regain it soon.
When the rosey mare turned her attention back at the party pony, she was reminded of all the questions swirling in her mind. She didn't know where to start and what to say. And yet, she needed to get it off her chest soon.
"Um Miss Pie?"
"Hmm?" said Pinkie Pie with her mouth full of blueberries and pie crust.
"May I ask you something?"
Pinkie Pie swallowed with a big gulp, then gleamed a smile at her new friend, "Sure thing! Oh, you can call me Pinkie by the way."
"Oh okay, um, Pinkie." Rose cleared her throat before continuing with her question, "How come you stood up for Bow?"
"That's easy! That crowd was making her sad. The only way to make her smile again was to make them go away."
Rose chuckled "Well, you certainly did a good job of doing that."
Pinkie giggled "Thanks!"
Rose smiled warmly at Pinkie before asking another question "H-How did you know how to calm down Bow?"
"Well, listening to music can always be very calming. Especially for ponies with autism."
Rose's eyes widen. She leaned closer to Pinkie and quickly asked "How did you know that Bow has autism?"
"Because I have autism!" she joyfully exclaimed.
Rose couldn't comprehend what she just heard. Pinkie Pie...the most energetic, sociable pony in Ponyville...the hero that helped saved Equestria time after time...has autism?
She continued to explained "To be more precise, I have Aspergers."
Rose uttered in disbelief "Y-You do?"
"Sure I do! For as long as I could remember."
"No offense, but, you don't act like some pony with Aspergers."
"Maybe not on the outside, but if you look closely..."
Pinkie Pie pulled out a large magnifying glass from behind her back and brought it close against Rose's nose, "You just might see the signs."
Rose was grateful that she put the magnifying glass away once she made her point. Rose felt like her personal space was being invaded, just a little.
Then, the rosey mare noticed that Pinkie's hyper smile was gently softening and her face was becoming more...reflective. The party pony's eyes were focused warmly on Bow Heart. The dark rosey filly was still fixated on her color booking and spreading color within it's pages.
Pinkie Pie returned her attention back on Roseluck and explained "I wasn't always like this. Long ago, I was just like Bow. Sure, I was able to talk and everything, but...I too was always in a world of my own. I didn't have any friends. I wasn't interested in having friends. All that I wanted to do was get lost in the rock fields and avoid socializing all together. Luckily, I had three amazing sisters who always wanted to play with me. Sisters who always wanted to have fun with me. Especially Maud. They made sure that I didn't get lost in my own world.
"However, I needed more than my sisters to get my out of my autistic habits. One day, a big bright beautiful rainbow appeared out of nowhere! Right in the middle of the field! When I saw it, I couldn't help but smile. That rainbow was better than being lost in my imagination. It reminded me of those happy parties in stories that my sister Maud use to read to me about. All that I wanted to do was make ponies I loved happy...just like I was when I saw the rainbow. So, I decided to throw a party for my parents and my sisters! And it made them so happy! Seeing their smiles made me hungry for more smiles. But to get more smiles...I had to get to know other ponies. I had to invite ponies from my school in order to have a party. It was hard at first, but once I got one filly to say yes...inviting the other ponies didn't seem so bad. That party lead one party. Then, one party became two parties. And two parties became three parties.
"Before I knew it, I was throwing a party every week! It was sooo awesome! Yet, it was really stressful too. With the loud music, the ponies bumping into me all the time, and the swirling colors every where. But each party helped build my tolerance to things that use to drive me crazy. What helped build my tolerance and my social skills even more were my friends. Rainbow Dash...Fluttershy...Applejack...Rarity...and of course Twilight...are always so patient with me.
"They're not afraid to be honest with me. They're not afraid to teach me whenever I do something wrong. But most of all, they see me...not my autism. Because they only see me, they present situations or bring me into other activities that take me out of my comfort zones. And when I get out of comfort zones, I get better. But in order to get out of my comfort zones, I had to personally take the first step."
She reached out to Rose's hoof and sweetly continued with "I guess, what I'm trying to say is...the first step starts with Bow Heart...and you. You're doing the right things. Taking Bow out to places like the market is good for her. I know that it's hard to do. Believe me. But, you need to know that it's worth it. Please, continue to have fun with her and visits new places with her. Please, encourage her to get out of her comfort zones and accept change. Just like me, Bow will always have autism. But that doesn't mean that she can't be part of the world and become the best that she can be. So please, don't give up hope."
Rose could feel all the emotions rushing at her all once. Joy, hope, sadness, pain, comfort, and love. She never thought that she could find a pony that...could make her feel this way. For so long, she felt like her and Bow were all alone. No pony cared. No pony could help them. She felt like she was alone. But now, she has a friend who sees them for who they truly are. She has a friend who has felt all the things she has felt and more. She has a friend who believes her. She has a friend who believes in Bow. And best of all...Bow has a friend too.
Rose couldn't hold it in. She let herself cry. She cried tears of great happiness and of great relief. She cried into Pinkie's hoof. And she didn't care if the other ponies saw her.
Pinkie Pie smiled at Rose. She stepped out of the booth to give both Rose and Bow Heart a great big hug. Rose sobbed even more once she grabbed hold of Pinkie's foreleg. Bow Heart continued her creative activity on the table without looking at the ponies that were hugging her.
"Thank you Pinkie Pie."