Smiling has its price
Pinkie Pie was sitting on her bed, planning for a day. She wanted it to be one of the funniest days in Ponyville.
"Hmmmm, let's see, maybe I should hide a party cannon in Applejack's barn, it will be fun! Oh, and some balloons will make Fluttershy's bird houses more beautiful! Rarity must love her jewels painted in rainbow color~! Rainbows will surprised if I visit her Cloudominium and wake her up with some cupcakes! And, Twilight, hmm.. I'm sure she won't mad at me if I hide her crown, instead, guess what will her face like when she realize it's in my huge cupcake... wait, so I need to bake cupcakes first, right?"
Pinkie chuckled, she climbed out of bed and looked through the window. Princess Celestia hadn't risen the sun yet, she grinned.
"Maybe I had waken up too early. But it is high time I made some 'surprises'!"
Pinkie quickly ran to the kitchen, baked cupcakes, then completed her " Fun plan " immediately when the cupcakes were done. She was sure that her friends would smile and laugh in happiness and have a new day with good things around. Pinkie smiled to herself.
"Well, looks like it's still very soon," she grinned, "time to get home and relax!"
Suddenly, a big wind blew past, forced Pinkie to lower her head and shut her eyes.
"Oh, what a big wind and...."
She slowly opened her eyes and gasped as she saw her image in the puddle in front of her. Her mane was straight that made her feel like she was looking at somepony else that wasn't her. Somepony completely different from her.
"Hello!" Pinkie said to her image. "You look strange, but nevermind. Have a nice day, another me!"
She skipped to Sugercube Corner, her mane came back to normal but the image of straight maned pony didn't fade away in her mind. That pony made her feel so interested that she just wanted to draw and think about her all a day.
"What would she do everyday if she was real?" Pinkie asked herself " Would she make everypony smile like me or..."
She looked in the mirror.
"Oh. However, you're still very beautiful, just like me..."
"PINKIEEEE!!!"
She was distracted as she heard the screams of the ponies from hehind. She quickly hid all the drawings and grinned with her friends.
"Hey everypony! What's up?"
"You even ask?" Applejack stared at her. "You made my barn a mess by your party cannon! Now Big Mac and I have to clean it up before Granny wakes up!"
"Ahahaha...." Pinkie forced a smile. "It may not be that bad..."
"It is, Pinkie! " Twilight frowned. "I don't understand how my crown could disappear and there was a huge cupcake instead!"
"Oh, that cupcake! Did you eat it? There's a big surprise in it!"
"What's that surprise?" Asked Twilight. "You don't mean..."
"Eat it and find out yourself!" Pinkie giggled.
"We don't have time to do silly things!" Applejack grumbled. "Stop messing around and be more mature!"
"Come on Applejack," Rarity tried to comfort her, "it's not as serious as you think. At least she knows I like rainbow-colored jewels."
"Oh whatever," Applejack rolled her eyes. "I never understand why you like those flashy inedible things when they aren't different much from the normal ones."
"Hey, what do you mean?" Rarity frowned.
"Alright everypony, we don't come here to argue," Twilight stopped the angry ponies as she saw the zone was getting more serious.
"It's ok," Pinkie looked away . "However that's my fault... do y'all want to have a Sorry Party to get over this?"
"Oh, Pinkie," Rarity smiled. "My answer is always ' Yes '. You know I can never reject such a brilliant party planner as you."
"Great! " She jumped up. "Let's meet at my house at 7 P.M! Remember to call Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy too, now I need to plan for it first..."
She turned away, pretended to be busy. The ponies didn't say anything more but wished her a nice day and went back to their houses.
Pinkie was alone. She was embarrassed. She had never thought her jokes could upset somepony and even herself. The room seemed to be quieter than usual.
"Why... I just wanted to make some fun... But maybe it'd gone a bit so far..."
"At least you need to know they're all busy today," said a familiar voice behind her.
"Luckily I didn't annoy you, Rainbow," Pinkie sighed.
"Nah, I gave Scootaloo all the cupcakes, she and her friends really liked them," Rainbow Dash laughed. " Don't blame yourself! Wanna go around to get some air?"
"OK," Pinkie responded as she jumped through the window with a little smile. "By the way I have something to tell you too."
" Sooo... You saw a pink pony in the puddle and that interested you huh? " Rainbow Dash asked while flying beside her.
"Yep, she was really nice! It was like she was real! Hey, can you imagine how coool it would be if she walked through the puddle and stood in front of you? " Pinkie skipped around Rainbow, her eyes sparkled.
"Ahahahaha!..." Rainbow laughed. "It must be great, but I'd rather it not happen. Can't imagine if there were two Pinkies talking endlessly to my ears!"
"Wouldn't it be fun?"
"No... I mean... Omygosh! I forgot to feed Tank! Sorry Pinkie, gotta go!"
Rainbow quickly dashed away without letting Pinkie say anymore words.
"Well, maybe she was just kidding," Pinkie thought to herself. "It isn't important though. Instead of thinking about it I should think of what to do to bright everypony's faces up!"
She walked around, thought to herself: "OK, so firstly I need to... Oh, Lyra, hi! Where're you going?"
"Hello Pinkie," Lyra smiled. "I'm bringing this basket of candies to Bon Bon's house. She must love it"
"Cool! But, you know, Bon Bon is a fun-loving pony, so why don't you..." Pinkie stooped while taking out a tiny candy and put it into Lyra's basket,"... give her this surprising present in addition? "
"Errr... I don't... I mean... yeah, you're right! Thank you!" Lyra smiled before walking ahead.
"At least I'm not too annoying, somepony still likes... Huh?"
Pinkie stopped as she heard Lyra's scream and a noisy sound from Bon Bon's house. She quickly ran there and saw Lyra sitting, misting over while Bon Bon was standing, staring at the falling candies with her mouth hung open.
"Oh, Pinkie! " Lyra cried out. " A dynamit is not funny!"
"Isn't it?" She forced a smile.
"I'm sorry, Bon Bon. I didn't mean to..." Lyra looked at Bon Bon with poor eyes.
"It's alright," Bon Bon replied while slowly shutting her mouth. "I like candy rain, anyway."
Pinkie secretly ran away. She felt blank, she wanted to hide in a hole until she felt better. She had no idea why ponies didn't like her jokes. Why couldn't they smile even once?
Suddenly, she ran into an old friend while walking back to SugarCube Corner. She shouted in joy:
- Minuett! Long time to see you! How do you do?
"Pinkie! Nice to see you again!" Minueet hugged her. "I'm going to visit Lyra. Wanna go with me?"
"Errr... I..." She scratched her mane.
"What's wrong?" Minueet raised an eyebrow, then she rolled her eyes. "Oh, I see... But well, isn't it a nice idea to come to her house with me and apologise? I'm sure she doesn't mind it. Oh, there she is!"
Pinkie turned around and saw Lyra walking ahead with a forced grin to them.
"Oh, Minueet! I thought I would never see you in Ponyville again!" She hugged Minueet, pretended not to see Pinkie.
"Lyra, I was about to visit you!" Minueet hugged her back, then turned to Pinkie. "Lyra, I think there's somepony that wants to talk to you now."
"Oops, sorry," Lyra loosened her legs around Minueet and looked at Pinkie, waited for her to speak.
"Lyra..." Pinkie stammered. "I really sorry that I..."
"About that," Lyra cut her off, "I don't blame you, so don't worry. I wasn't shamed so much... But, just don't give me anything such as that again, please, this is fair enough."
"You don't mean..." Pinkie said in shock.
"I mean... you should not repeat it on anypony else. Because it is annoying very much!"
"Lyra!" Minueet stopped her. "How could you..."
"She needs to know that!" Lyra stared at her friend. "What would happen if she joked a grumpy pony??"
"But..." Minuneet retorted, but soon saw Pinkie was disappeared, she lowered her voice, "... nevermind."
Pinkie ran straight to home, slammed the door and cried in her room. Her inspiration had run dry. She felt like nothing could make her smile again. Her room then was at the worst mood ever, as even the wallpaper seemed to be crying with its owner.
" Nopony loves my jokes, even laughs in happiness! And nopony wants to see me again!
" Nopony needs you... "
Negative thoughts in her mind silently changed her when she blamed herself. The more tears rolled on her cheeks, the straighter her mane got.
" Nopony needs jokes or fun any more... "
" Nopony deserves it! "
A little moment later, she had completely changed to another pony. An image of a pink-straight maned pony appeared in the mirror when she looked in it. It was the pony she had seen in the puddle.
"Yeah, another me... "She smiled to the mirror, "now I know what you're supposed to be..."
"Forget them, come with me, stay! "
A familiar voice - though she didn't know whose it was - echoed in her head, covered her mind, threw her into a flow of anger. It enticed her to be in this flow forever.
She slowly walked to the mirror and touched it. She could feel a strange power behind this shiny thing like something trying to approach her.
"Pinkie, Pinkie!"
"Excuse me, have you seen Pinkie Pie anywhere?"
Twilight nervously asked the pony in front of her. She and her friends hadn't seen Pinkie Pie anywhere since that morning. Even though she promised to start a party but the house was confusingly locked.
"Pinkie Pie? Well..." Lyra sratched her mane, "I last saw her this morning, but then she ran away."
"She ran away?" Twilight cocked her eyebrows. "But why?"
Lyra lazily shrugged.
"Strange, where could she go?" She sighed when Rainbow Dash rapidly flew foward her.
"I had checked everywhere in Ponyville," She said while breathing hastily, "still not find her!"
"We didn't say anything offensive to her to make her run away, did we?" Rarity worriedly sought around.
"I can tell it wasn't us that made her disappear," Twilight frowned, " we have to find her as soon as possible or the Cakes will panic when they're back!"
"The problem is where can we find her?!" Rainbow Dash thumped her leg. "I don't care if there's a party or not, this is getting on my nerves!"
"If Lyra said she ran away unreasonably, she must have got a bad thing. I've thought of a place, but I'm not sure if..." Rarity murmured.
"There's only one way to find out!"
"Are you sure she's here?"
Rainbow Dash asked whiled slowly walking along the dirt path, stared at the moving trees.
"I have no idea, that's why we have to check it out," Twilight responded, seeking under the bushes carefully.
"I don't think she's in Everfree Forest though she might had been a little crazy. Don't you just think she could have travelled somewhere íntead of burning a torch and making a cave here?" Rainbow violently kicked a carnivore plant away, hissed.
"She might not make a cave, but no reason not to burn some wood!"
The three pony looked to the direction where Rarity pointed. It was lighter than the surroundings and seemed to be lit up with fire.
"Pinkie!"
They headed to the light spot to see a straight pink maned pony sitting alone by the burning wood.
"P-Pinkie?" Twilight asked with a slight voice, taking steps toward her. "We had been looking for you."
"You did?" A silent moment passed before Pinkie opened her mouth, looked at then with blank eyes. "Didn't know you would be such kindness."
"What?"
"Oh well, you came for the party and didn't see me right? Now you found me, bingo!"
"What are you doing here?" Rainbow Dash frowned. "Stop acting like a clown!"
"Clown? I am not a clown!" Pinkie suddenly stood up, stared at her. "It were you who made it a circus! You never laghed at my joke but called me a clown?! Oh well I guess you prefer acting up yourselves!"
"Now, now, Pinkie..." Rarity tried to comfort her before being stopped by her deadly glare.
"You never appreciated my jokes, or even thought about them, you always thought of yourselves! You just went finding me because of the party, didn't you?"
" Of course! They just wanted to entertain themseleves! "
"Pinkie, what exactly had happened to you?" Twilight impatiently took a step closer.
"Go find out yourselves!"
"I can't if you keep acting like we are to blame. Tell me, Pinkie, what had made you so depressed?"
"She's lying!"
"Don't act like you're innocent."
"I didn't say I am, but I can't ensure if you don't calm down and explain to us."
"Don't listen to her!"
"Are you mad at us just because we didn't laugh at your tricks or try to trick you back?" Rainbow cocked her eyebrows.
"See? To them your precious inventions are just silly things!"
"Such a genius, Rainbow," Pinkie fleered.
"Pinkie, you should know it isn't that we don't like you. We always love you!" Rarity finally make a full sentence without hestitant.
" Pinkie Pie, we are friends, aren't we? If you have problems, just tell us, we will always help you. We never leave you alone. I understand you'd love to see everypony happy and I am sorry for being impolite to you. If those were things that made you sad, then we apologise. But, please, Pinkie, please come back with us. We always need you. "
Pinkie silently stared at Twilight who was giving a hoof to her.
"Deny it! It's a lie!"
She struggled to decide what to do. She wanted to hold Twilight's hoof so badly, to tell her she wanted to be with them forever, but another side of her told her she had to run away, very very far from them, to enjoy a life on her own which she could do whatever she liked and never gained pain again.
"Pinkie, everypony is waiting for you to come back!"
"Stay with me!!"
She bent down, held her head. A dizziness spread in her head with a loud noise.
"You fool! I have always been by your side, and this is your regard?!"
"Pinkie, Pinkie! Are you OK?" The three ponies quickly held her shoulders, asked her nervously.
"Don't worry Pinkie, we will take you to the hospital as soon as possible!"
In the consciousness, she could feel herself being lifted up and laid on a comfortable surface. The headache seemed to drain and she was more relieved than ever. The voice was no longer in her head which made her think more conscioisly about her own situation.
"I couldn't believe I did it, left the house, went to Everfree Forest alone, argued with my best friends just because I thought I was ignored. How silly I was! What should I do now? Wake up and simply say I'm sorry? Or howed in guilt? Shout out toEquestrua I'm just a crazy pony? No, none of them are fine."
"What if I..."
She stopped when she heard a familiar voice beside her. She smiled. It could never be better than being with friends in any bad situation, especially this time.
"Well, maybe I should just do what to do to fix our friendship. Thank you, thank you very much, everypony."
Pinkie quickly fell asleep again, the smile was still on her lips. She didn't realise there was a small strange flow passed her colorful dream which was about her hugging all her friends saying sorry and was accepted again.
"Not yet, my dear."