Just the everyday life of Ponyville's own Pinkamina Diane Pie. Baking cakes, throwing parties, and checking up on her friends.
It's been a few years since Twilight became the official ruler of Equestria, and things are going well for the country. In fact, much of Equestria's population is starting to see a population boom! Though some ponies might be feeling some stress from said population growth, Pinkie Pie included. Sometimes she just needs a trip to Canterlot to escape it all, if she can.
PinkiePie sighed, letting her body fall back on her bed. Today had been a long one, even for a professional party goer such as herself. A few years ago two parties in a day wouldn’t have really been this big an issue! Sure she would've definitely slept hard that night, but the amount of effort she was putting into her parties seemed to double over the years. She had often wondered if this was the work of her growing in age, or maybe because she wanted to make each party better than the last and her efforts were finally catching up to her. I mean how many things can top the 3 story cake she had baked for their now Ex-princess Celestia to enjoy with the rest of the ponies at silver shoals? She giggled at the memory of all the older ponies hyped up by eating their weight in sugar. It really was a good day, one she was sure she would try and repeat it one day. But after a few moments of though she was sure that none of that was the cause. Sure they were contributing factors but she new exactly why her workload had doubled. It had only been 3 or 4 years since Twilight had taken over Equestria, and her reign and her humble beginnings had made Ponyville famous. This meant that creatures of all races, Ponies, Griffons, Zebras, Kirin, Even Dragons had come to call Ponyville home. It was a population boom for the small town.
Pinkie pulled her blanket up to her shoulders, curling up on her side as she looked over to gummy who was napping on the window seal. How he got up there she never knew. “Oh sir gummy, you are such a scaly enigma” she sighed with a small giggle. She glanced out the window that he was sleeping by, and in the distance she could see the very top of the building that was another root cause of this population boom. Though she wasn’t mad at this building, or the ponies who helped make it what it is today. In fact She herself had a hoof in that building's beginnings.
The school of Friendship was a large institution run by her friend, Starlight Glimmer. Pinkie used to teach classes there herself, teaching young creatures how to laugh with each other and not at each other. Though after Starlight took over Pinkie and her friends decided to leave the school in her hoofs. They knew Starlight could do it, and BOY did she do it. PInkie could tell when new semesters were starting without even looking at the calendar. Many different creatures, be it Dragon, Kirin, Griffon, or any other race willing would send their young ones to this school. It also seemed that had developed among the nobles of the nearby nations. They would often send their children to Twilight's school for a year or to, as Twilight put it, to “help diplomatic relations and strengthen political bonds between the young nobles of different regions and Countries.” Pinkie doubted that the young ones getting off those trains cared about diplomatic bonds. Most just seemed happy to be away from home and on their own, even if it was for only a few short years. Pinkie understood the feeling and excitement of leaving home. Long ago she had left the rock farm while she was only a filly herself to become a apprentice to the Cakes. Going somewhere new is exciting for most creatures. Sure you had the occasional shy creature, but they usually warmed up to the town after a few weeks. Kinda hard not to make friends in a school of friendship afterall.
Though the influx of different races didn’t mean that new ponies didn’t show up to attend the school as well. The school of friendship, thanks to twilight, offered scholarships towards higher education for their pony students and even to other species like Griffins or Hippogriffs who's civilizations value a college degree. Basically said creature or pony would enroll after they finish their basic education, then attends a year or two at the school, and if they do well, their next few years of schooling are paid for. Given that they keep their grades up afterwards of course.
Because of this though, Ponyville had much more ponies and creatures arriving and moving in then the town had seen in years. There were so many that at some point over the last few years that Pinkie had given up on individual parties around those points in the year and just decided to throw a huge welcome to Ponyville party around the time the new semesters start, and a few Hey-you-got-here-late-but-welcome-anyway Parties for transfers and late arrivals.
The small town of Ponyville was now the BIG town of Ponyville. There were a lot more ponies and critters at each party. Her usual house parties had become block parties, and some of her private events seemed more like raves. Another effect of the school of friendship, more friends means more guests. One party now felt like she was throwing multiple parties at once and Pinkie was feeling the strain.
Her routine was still pretty normal though. Wake up, help the cakes bake the days goods, go over her plans for the day, run whatever errands she had planned for, which was really dependent on the day. Her usual errands included anything from prepping a party to grabbing a cart full of ingredients for Sugarcube Corner. Then she would head back on busier days to help with the lunch rush to help the cakes. Many mornings she also got up extra early to help the cakes prepare for the morning rush, baking various forms breakfest-y baked goods. Once she was done with her day-dependent list, she was free for the rest of the day. Well... unless she had planned a party or agreed to cater some ponies event. Of course there were plenty of days she would stray from this schedule, spend all day with a friend, or go to the Canterlot to see twilight and spike and the rest of her best friends for their friendship council. Or as Pinkie called it, the war council of friendship. Though she didn't have to wait for the council to see her friends. In fact Pinkie went to Twilight’s dusk court every two weeks or so just to tell her how nice her mane was now that it was getting really magically wavy. Pinkie didn’t know why the princesses got such cool looking hair, but she would find out, and she, one day, swore to gain those wavy locks. A sentiment that she shared with Rarity. She glanced past gummy and out the window at the moon as it hung in the sky, nodding her head to it, as if making a promise to the glowing celestial orb.
Pinke rolled over and cuddled into her thick blanket. And as she let her body relax in her bed, her hair started to un-fluff itself. Now if anypony saw her hair like this they would assume that she was down in the dumps, maybe even down right depressed. This wasn’t really the case though. She usually “let her hair down” as rarity would say, once she was alone. Though it didn’t happen too often, mainly anytime she was truly exhausted.
Thinking back Pinke remembered Twilight calling her an extrovert once. In her boundless curiosity she had looked up the term later that day and she wholeheartedly agreed with the statement. She loved being around others, seeing their smiles. It gave her almost a bottomless pit of energy, a source of sugary bounciness that could not be tamed. Though that was only while she was surrounding herself with others. If other ponies were her batteries, then what happens when there were no other ponies around? An energy crash, short and simple.
With these last few ponderings, the pink mare with a deflated mane drifting to sleep. Even the ever so excited Pinkie Pie had limits. And those limits were telling her to sleep.
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Pinkie was always a bit hard to wake up in the mornings. Hard enough that she had 3 separate alarm clocks set up to start ringing within a 10 minute span around 6 AM. This meant that pinkie usually woke up with a mixture of sound spewing from the differing alarm clocks. The first few times she tried this, she was woken up by the second alarm with a slight headache. Now though she slept a little past the third alarm and felt fairly fine as she awoke. Today though the alarms did their job and Pinkie was up as the third alarm sounded.
Groggily she shrugged the blanket off and stepped out of her bed, walking to the mirror in her room, switching the alarms clocks off in the process. With a few quick shakes of her head her mane returned to its usual bouncy nature. “A little more cotton candy then head cloud today buuuuuut....” she inspected her mane one last time before nodding her approval. “I suppose it will... hair-do” she snorted at her own pun before looking over towards gummy. “Oh come on, that was comedy gold. And I mean the edible gold, the tasty kind that makes food WAY too expensive” Gummy turned his head toward pinkie and gave her a slow blink before looking back out the window. “Maybe you're right. Puns seem so last season. Huh, maybe they’ll make a comeback?!?!” she questioned the alligator loudly. After a few moments of contemplation she shrugged and made her way downstairs.
“MOURNING” She called loudly as she stepped off the stairs. She was greeted by the bright good mornings of the two youngest cakes of the house. Pound cake and pumpkin cake, though Pumpkin preferred to just be called Pumpkin. According to her it sounded cuter.
“Mourning Pinkie” Pound cake replied, his eyes barley open.
“Good morning!” Pumpkin said, a bit more awake looking then her brother.
Pinkie smiled to the young ponies, missing the days where she would come down to find the two in highchairs. She had always enjoyed helping them eat back them. The two of them had grown so much in the last few years. They were about ten years old now, and height wise were growing faster than Pinkie expected. The two of them were now just below her shoulders. “Where are Mr. and Mrs. cake?” she questioned before sitting down to join the two at the breakfast table. Piles of pancakes already towering over the foals. Such a battle of edible proportions was to much to be handled alone by the two young ponies. Pinkie was eager to help them wage war on the floppy enemies. This was obviously Mrs. Cakes doing.
“Moms in the kitchen starting today's baking” Pumpkin replied, grabbing a few pancakes with a fork but not making much of a dent to the mountain in front of them.
“And Dad is taking a delivery of pancakes to the mayor's house. She said she has family over or something?” Pound cake stated, already working on his small mound of pancakes.
“Three cousins and an Aunt I think. I Said hello to them as they got off the train yesterday, though the Mayor said she didn’t want a party for them. Her loss really. It would have had streamers, balloons, a tub of pudding, and some tapioca since it looked like her Aunt was a little on the older side. OH maybe I could still bring them some anyway? I think we have the ingredients in the kitchen. Maybe?” Pinkie then shoved two or three pancakes into her mouth as she considered the idea. “Nah, the mayor can be a bit grouchy in the mornings, plus she doesn’t like surprises that much. Which if you ask me is absurd, who doesn’t like a good surprise?! Well, I mean except fluttershy, though there was that one time I surprised her with a room filled with cupcakes, and she seeeeemed to like that. I think...”
After another few minutes of Idle chit-chat Pinke watched as the two foals left the table, and with a few short goodbyes and the retrieval of backpacks, left for school. PInkie gave a small sigh and trotted off towards the kitchen. She loved watching those two grow, but it was a little sad seeing them grow so fast. Felt like yesterday that she agreed to babysit them for the first time and now they were going to school? She wondered if this was how Applejack and Rarity felt watching their sisters grow up?
“Those two never stop growing.” Pinkie stated as she entered the kitchen.
“No they don’t” Mrs. cake sighed almost sadly. Though Pinkie couldn't tell since the mare was facing the counter as she worked. “How were the pancakes? Not too much blueberry in them?” After a quick description of the pancakes blueberry perfection from Pinkie, Mrs. Cake nodded her head, satisfied with her work. “Good. Then go ahead and grab the pancakes that none of you touched and box them up in pairs. The morning rush is sure to come soon. I swear adding morning specials and discounts for friendship students has made our mornings busier than ever.”
“I’ll say. I'm pretty sure I saw wingdra, that new griffon girl, eyeing my mane like it was some kind of fluffy treat the other morning! Though to be fair my mane is probably pretty tasty.” Pinkie took a moment to resist the urge to try and taste her own mane before doing as she was told, returning to the pancake mountains. After a few minutes of boxing up the pancakes that was done she walked back over to Mrs. Cake for her next assignment. It only took the two mares about two hours to finish the morning batch of goods and set up the front of the store, stocking the shelves with fresh baked pastries, and moving the leftovers from last night over to the discount shelf.
Once everything was set up Pinkie unlocked the door and rushed back to the kitchen. Behind her she could hear the crowd of hungry patrons marching in. She could have sworn that the ponies and other creatures storming the bakery were chanting for coffee, donuts, and pancakes. Thankfully Mrs. cake would handle the counters this morning while Pinkie started baking the backups for the day.
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After another hour and a half of work pushed forward with a few original songs Pinkie was finally finishing up her morning work. She often sang as she worked, it helped her focus on the task at hand so her mind didn’t wonder. That and too much silence just made her feel stir-crazy.
Pinkie stepped back to look at the trays of baked goods littering the counter. A few years ago it would have taken her at least three hours, maybe four, to bake this much. Why had the process been accelerated so? Pinkie looked lovingly at the two new ovens the cakes had installed a little over a year ago. Top of the line, stainless steel, both smelling of cake and muffins. Pinkie was sure if those ovens were ponies that she would have wed them both a week into their stay at Sugarcube Corner.
Pinkie quickly wiped the sweat off her forehead and poked her head out to see how Mrs. Cake was doing. Turns out that apparently Mr. Cake had gotten back from his delivery in time to help his wife with crowd control. Thankfully after that first large rush the crowd had died down into a handful of ponies and a small dragon. Each had their own orders already as well as warm cups of either coffee or hot chocolate settled at the tables they were situated at. The two cakes were happily discussing today's sales and taking stock of the half full counters. Today had been a good day for muffins and the special discount pancakes were gone completely. There was also a sizable dent in the donuts.
Mr. Cake looked over the happy customers with a content sigh. “Good job Honey. I’m sure I can take the counter for a few minutes. Go ahead and take a break.” Mrs. Cake coaxed his wife away from the register and back towards the kitchen. Pinkie backed up and let Mrs. cake through the double doors.
Pinkie knew how stressful the morning rush could be at times but Mrs. Cake looked like today had been extra hard. “That bad huh? I kinda zoned out into the baking I was doing so I didn't really listen to the shark tank out there... huh. You think installing a shark tank in the front would help distract the crowds? Or maybe a dolphin tank? Dolphins are nice” Pinkie joked, hoping to ease some of the stress Mrs. Cake had to endure. Pinkie found when she was young that this off the track kind of ranting proved to be a good distraction for most ponies. Made them backtrack in what they were doing to ponder whatever just came out of her mouth. Though sometimes it was just fun to throw some confusing lines out randomly.
Mrs. Cake gave a small chuckle at the idea, letting Pinkie know that her little distraction had worked. “It was definitely a stressful morning. Though I’m glad to see that all the baking for the mornings done. I swear Pinkie, if I hadn't already seen your baking process in action, I would have thought you were ordering half of this and pawning it off as your own. How you do this much...” Pinkie smiled with pride at the praise, as well as the idea of her little kitchen of chaos being a process, though she had to admit it was much more organized then it seemed. “Wait... Pinkie why are they three batches of gem cupcakes? We usually only need one at the most.”
Pinkie gave a small shrug. “My eyelid twitched while I was baking them, and my Pinkie sense never lies!” she said with a small pout, noticing the suspicion on Mrs. Cakes face.
Mrs. cake eyed the cupcakes before looking over at the calendar. “Lets see... Ah! That’s why! We have a few new students arriving from the Dragonlands today! I almost forgot about that. These cupcakes should get gobbled up quite nicely during their tour of the town. Trixie does like to bribe- I mean encourage the newer students with sweets so that they behave during the tour.”
“Glad to be of survice. Though now that you mention it I think I promised last week to help Trixie show them around. Guess that means I should get over to the school soon. Will you be fine from here? I can come back a little early to help restock after the lunch rush.”
Mrs. Cake gave Pinkie a soft smile and put a hoof on Pinkie's shoulder.. “Pinkie dear, you’ve been working so hard lately. Take the rest of the day off. Tomorrow you're heading to Canterlot to visit Twilight, right? Use tonight to pack up and make sure you have everything.”
Pinkie gave Mrs. Cake a tight hug. “You’re always so nice to me Mrs. Cake. When I get back I’ll take the Morning counter shift for a few days. I’ll work super hard since you’ve been super nice” Pinkie said as she let go. Mrs. Cake nodded and shoo’d Pinkie towards the door, to which Pinkie took as her clue to leave and go find Trixie. Looks like the rest of the day was hers to take.
The day had been a relatively eventful one. After leaving Sugarcube corner Pinkie had decided to do a little bit of shopping, then run by the post office, and finally restock her surprise spots. Oh how she loved her surprise spots. Little nooks and crannies all over Ponyville where she hid a variety of Items. Mostly these spots held useful little things like balloons, bouncy balls, a few party cannons, and other useful items. She even kept more of her less used items stored around Ponyville for just in case situations. These were Items for extremely specific events, tissues and hankies for crying creatures, umbrellas for flash storms or weather pegasi mess ups, and bandages for injuries usually caused by her friend RainbowDash. Because of her endless supply of "random" items no creature had called or would call Pinkie Pie unprepared.
This was also one of the reasons Trixie had asked for Pinkie's help with introducing the new dragon to both the school and the town. Usually Smolder would help Trixie out with this but she was currently on vacation in the Dragonlands visiting her brother. Pinkie didn't mind though, she rather enjoyed leading the young dragons around. The only real complaint that Pinkie could have with the students was that many of the young drakes came to their school more for the promise of a free bed and free meals rather then for the lessons the school offered. For some reason this was a trend among Dragon students. This would cause a variety of issues for the first week or so. First they would arrive and avoid classes, causing the teachers and other students would nag them to come to class. After a few days of this most of them tend to finally come to class either out of boredom or because they got tired of the nagging. The only exceptions to this were the few rare cases where the young dragon had been sent to the school specifically by Dragon Lord Ember herself. Thankfully it seemed that most the dragons that came to the school, forced, bribed, or otherwise, took rather well to the ideals of friendship, even if they usually struggled with generosity. Twilight had once told her that a dragons greed wasn't a cultural problem like the griffons, but a instinctual factor. This meant that Dragons often had to go against their face their own hoarding instincts head on in a lot of the generosity lessons. On the other side of the coin though dragons tended to excel on other subjects such as Laughter or honesty. Smolder was definitely a prime example of this, considering that she was the newest teacher of the school's laughter lessons. Pinkie was sure after a few weeks these young drakes would start to fit into the school just like the others before them.
After reloading her last surprise spot she headed to the train station to meet up with Trixie. Once she had found the light blue mare the two of them had a short conversation while waiting for the train to arrive. Pinkie had really come to enjoy Trixie's company over the years, and moments like this, with the two laughing loudly as they waited for the train to arrive really showed it. After another twenty minutes or so the train finally arrived and about 20 small drakes exited the train car and the tour began. It started off with a quick stop by Sugarcube corner to grab some gem cupcakes. Then once the young ones were fed the two mares showed them the rest of Ponyville, from the town square all the way to Sweet Apple Acres. The tour then ended with them stopping by the edge of the Everfree and warning the dragons of the dangers of the dangers inside before heading back to the school of friendship.
Once they arrived at the school Pinkie helped Trixie get them all to their rooms, and introduce them to their roommates. There was one little bump in the road when one of the young drakes, a dragoness named Silverclaw, threw a small temper tantrum over having to share a room. She gave up soon enough though when she figured out that she could, indeed, not lift or throw a yak. Even if it was a teenage yak.
Finally after about 2-3 hours of work, the two mares who had led the group around town sat down in Trixie's office to take a break before Pinkie Pie would set home to go pack her stuff for her trip to Canterlot in the morning.
Trixie sat back in her big comfy chair and sighed, letting herself sink into the furniture. After a few moments of comfort she wiggled herself up so that she could properly address the pink pony in the room. “The Great and wise counselor Trixie would once again thank you Pinkie. And in thanks, I have prepared...” Trixie paused for suspense before pulling out a clear bag of brownies from inside her desk. “These! And don’t worry, Trixie used all the right ingredients this time... I hope.” Trixie said, though the last two words she more of mumbled to herself.
Pinkie, sitting on a chair on the other side of Trixies desk, perked up. “Ooooo.... Those look good! It's been a while since I've had another ponies baking! Usually they just expect me to bring sweets or have something on me when it comes to little hangouts like this. Not that I mind of course, it's super fun baking and one of the things I enjoy most. Like if I could choose between breathing and baking it would be a tough one. I mean breathing is SUPER important but it gets so boring you know? In and out and In and out and In-'' Pinkie began to ramble before Trixie stuck a brownie in her mouth. Pinkie quite enjoyed her ramblings. Sure sometimes she ran out of breath by the end and would have to suck in large gulps of air before continuing but the results of her rants were often worth it. Usually it ended either with the pony she was talking to to either have a rather funny look of confusion on their face, or if they knew the pink pony a bit better, for them to shove food in her face. In her opinion it was a win-win situation. Well... at Least most of the time. Every now and then one of her rants would end with either the other pony looking uncomfortable or scared. Or if the pony was irritated before the rant began there was the chance of them blowing up at her, or again with ponies who knew her, with a hoof in her mouth. She tended to try and avoid these situations as best she could, but at this point spewing whatever was on her mind was a bit of a habit.
Trixie gave a small sigh and popped a brownie into her own mouth, chewing as she talked. “Yesh, well I really do apree’-” she paused to swallow.”appreciate your help.” She then took a quick look around her office. “ I really do enjoy this job but the tours around town can get a bit tedious without you or Smolder there to keep my spirits up. "Trixie gave a more content sigh, quickly remembering the better parts of the last few years."You know, If somepony told Trixie that she would be both a tour guide and, well, morale guide to the 'Twilight school of friendship' a few years ago then Trixie would have laughed in their face. But look how things turned out.” She gave a small chuckle as she reminisced about her time in the school. “It’s funny how time changes things.”
“I know what you mean!” Pinkie said with a chuckle of her own. “I was a teacher here for a good little bit, you know. Though I guess there's no way you don’t considering I was still technically teaching classes when Starlight hired you. Unless you REALLY didn’t like to pay attention.” Pinkie reached out her hoof to take another brownie, which Trixie gladly nodded and passed the bag over to her Pink friend. “Also you're doing the thing again. You know the ‘TRIXIE IS TRIXIE’ way of talking.”
Trixie opened her mouth for a bit before shaking her head with a smile. “Sorry, I usually treat the tours as something akin to one of my old shows, and after a few hours of talking in first pony, well, it's hard to stop. Anyway, how could I forget the surprise ‘You're hired’ party you planned out for the end of my first day? My heart nearly stopped when I walked in the room! I swear my ears are still ringing from the party cannons you tied to the roof.” Trixie made a small motion to her ear as she gave it a little flick. Both mares burst into a small tinge of laughter at the memory. Since that Party Trixie and Pinkie had grown rather close. Not closer than Trixie and Starlight, or Pinkie and the rest of the elements, but close enough that they hung out often enough to know each other's schedules. “By the way, are we still on for drinks tomorrow? Trixie- ahem, I- will finally drink that villainous Berry Punch under the table!”
Pinkie’s eyes widened a bit as she realized that she had completely forgotten about the get together. She would have to reorganize her calendar when she got back and quadruple check all the dates to make sure everything else was correct on it. If she forgot about somthing that she had scheduled on a weekly basis then who knows how many events she had forgotten about. Thinking about it she quickly came to the conclusion that the parties yesterday took more out of her then she thought if she was becoming this forgetful. Not to mention that to forget about any kind of event going on in Ponyville, whether it be a small get together that she is involved in or a big party that she had personally planned was simply unacceptable to the pink mare. “Oh no, I completely forgot. I was planning to go see Twilight tomorrow.” Pinkie said, a frown forming on her face, a bit disappointed in herself. “I don’t think I can... well this definitely ruins my night.”
Trixie looked up at her with a surprised and almost worried look. She and Pinkie had been taking weekly trips to the tipped mugg, Ponyville’s only bar, for a few months now. It had gotten to the point where Trixie usually just had to show up and Pinkie was already there when she walked in the door. Trixie wondered for a moment if Pinkie was feeling alright, or maybe over stressed. Still Trixie could definitely excuse the slip-up. “Well aren't you glad the Great and Merciful Trixie is in such a good mood. Besides, I believe that I can let Berry Punch off for the night. Spare the poor mare of my drinking prowess.” Trixie started with a joking smile. “Just make sure you remind Twilight Sparkle that Trixie is getting even greater as she sits on her boring old throne.”
Pinkie brightened up at this, letting a small smile form on her lips. “I’ll pass the message along. I’m sure she will be glad to hear you're doing alright. I mean she asks about Starlight all the time, and you come up whenever we talk about her. You two being to-” Pinkie was stopped by the hoof of a blushing blue unicorn being shoved in her mouth.
“Yes well. No need to tell her about everything we discuss while drinking is there?” Trixie asked almost pleadingly. Pinkie secretly loved seeing her friend this embarrassed. It was quite cute.
Pinkie giggled and spared Trixie with and a nod. The light blue unicorn removed her hoof from pinkies mouth with a suspicious glare.“Okie Dokie. Not a word from me! Besides, starlight tells her WAY more than I could even know about.” Pinkie teased her friend. Trixie's ears then adopted a deep blue color as the blush spread up from her cheeks.
“I... Wha.... STARLIGHT!” Trixie yelled at the nopony in particular. Although somewhere in the distance a certain light purple unicorn felt a shiver go down her spine as she started settled into the safety of her home. unfortunately for her though the one who caused the shiver had a key her home, and practically lived there.
With that Pinkie got up out of her chair with a happy sigh. “Well thanks for the brownies, but i have a lot to pack. Like, A LOT to pack. Fitting a party cannon into a suitcase is WAY harder than it looks.” Pinkie stated as she stretched her limbs a bit. After a quick round of goodbyes and farewells she stepped out of the mares office and started heading towards the exit of the castle. She just couldn’t wait to see twilight tomorrow.
Pinkie sighed as she set her bag above her relatively well priced train seat. Glancing out the window she could see the glare of the sun starting to rise on the horizon. Pinkie enjoyed seeing the sun rise in the distance, even if it wasn’t quite the same as Celestia's sun rises. Not to belittle Twilight, but since Celestia stepped down as monarch the rising and setting sun seemed to have lost some of its color. Over the years Twilight had tried her best to fix that, tinkering with the mechanical pendant that the princesses had given her to raise the sun and the moon. Because of this Twilight had gained an interest in the possibilities of more advanced technical engineering. Through her own tinkering and research Twilight had learned that she could not only change the time that the sun and moon rose and fell, but with an enchantment or two and some adjustments to the clockwork machinery inside it the pendant seemed to help it run a bit more smoothly and helped the sky gain a bit of its color back. The result of all this work though could only be seen to those who were truly paying attention to the sky. The sight hints of pinks and purples, or the extra orange as the sun emerged. Pinkie knew these were all small steps but knew that one day Twilight would figure out how to bring the sun up in a way that would be not only beautiful but unique, completely different then how Celestia would bring up the sun. In fact Pinkie believed that twilight would have done the same with the night sky... if Luna hadn't taken that responsibility back from twilight. A little over a year ago Luna had apparently gotten bored during the long nights and had decided to take some of her old responsibilities back, starting with dream walking and soon she requested to raise the moon once more. Twilight was a little disappointed by this, wanting to show the lunar mare what she could do. It took an afternoon of cupcakes and talking for Pinkie to cheer her friend up. Pinkie couldn’t stand boredom so she could understand Luna’s need for something to do. Though lately a little boredom didn’t seem to be that bad to the party pony.
Pinkie waved down a colorful mare who was pushing a trolley of breakfast items and drinks down the aisle and quickly asked for a few cups of coffee and some muffins that were being sold off the trolley. Though before she could thank the mare properly another voice called for the trolley down the aisle and the mare was off. Pinkie would have to remember to properly thank her before she left the train. Bringing up the cup of hot liquid to her muzzle she took a preemptive sip, making sure the coffee was not too hot before taking a few quick gulps making the content of the cup disappear behind her lips.
As she settled back into her seat, humming ideally as she watched the sunrise, she couldn’t help but wonder if Luna was disappointed with Twilight's performance with the stars? Did Twilight mess up a constellation? Was she secretly still nightmare moon all along and decided now would be the perfect time to stage a coup when Celestia had given up control of the throne and the now new and slightly weaker alicorn was vulnerable and exhausted because of the constant line of nobles trying to control her court by nagging her to death with boring policies that could be handled with a good afternoon's board meeting and had no placing being brought to the princess?
Pinkie sat there for a second before shaking the thoughts out of her head and laughing at the ridiculous ideas. She always had a problem with her more intrusive thoughts. As a filly they would just add to her bad mood and force her into panic attacks. At Least they did until Granie Pie taught her to Giggle at the ghosties. Teaching her to laugh at the ridiculous fears that plagued her young mind. Though she had found this lesson useful long after her grannies passing and well into adulthood. In fact it helped her earn her element. Pinkie sighed and leaned on the window thinking of her childhood for a few moments.
Usually this would be the point where Pinkie would start to hum and tap a hoof to the tempo of her humming.Other times she would poke her head around her seat and start a conversation with whoever or whatever was sitting behind her. Something to pass the time as she was headed to the nation’s capital. Though before she could there was a small flash from the seat across from her, and after blinking away splotches of color the flash of light had put into her vision she realized that an official looking scroll sat there.
Pinkie could be certain that this was from Twilight, it had her seal and everything. Pinkie picked it up as her mind flooded with reasons for the scroll. Twilight would have known Pinkie would be coming to visit, so why hadn't she just waited till the pink mare got to the castle? Could it be another invasion? Had something gone terribly wrong in the castle. Had she found herself a special somepony!? These were the questions that Pinkie needed answers to as she ripped the seal on the scroll and started to read.
“Dear Pinkie, I know you're coming to visit later today and that sending a scroll may seem a little strange, but honestly you're timing and the predicament I am in are lining up perfectly.” Pinkie muttered as she squinted her eyes and moved the paper closer. “I have informed my honorable Dusk guard to immediately bring you to me when you arrive. We have a party to plan!” Pinkie blinked a few times and reread the last sentence before a wide grin spread across her face. Twilight wasn’t one for random parties which meant that something BIG was happening in Canterlot, and she was gonna be in the center of it. Her sense of exhaustion from the last few days almost disappeared as she thought about the party to come. Then as she thought of the amount of work a royal party entailed, the exhaustion seemed to make a full U-turn and hit her as hard as the train she was riding. Pinkie had secretly wanted this to be a slow relaxing trip to visit a friend. She needed to unwind.
Pinkie sighed once more and cracked her neck. Seemed the relaxation part could wait until after her friend was helped! There was a party to plan, and Twilight was going to be counting on her. Pinkie pulled whatever motivation she could find within her and pulled a roll of paper out of her mane along with a fresh pencil and a hoof held pencil sharpener. If there was planning to be done she would start planning now! Oh and she would probably need more coffee from the trolley mare from earlier.
Twilight hadn’t lied when she wrote that her Dusk guard would be in a rush to pick Pinkie up. Almost as soon as pinkie left the train she was surrounded by a group of similar looking ponies. All of which had matching light purple coats with pale light blue armor. For a moment pinkie wondered what was under the illusion spell that made all these guards look so similar. Was the pony directly in front of her a shade of yellow, maybe green, or maybe she was also bright pink... If she was a she of course. Lost in her own thoughts Pinkie barely noticed the guard speaking to her.
“Miss Pie, We must hurry. The princess needs you and she seems to be in somewhat of a strange mood.” The guard said, their voice distinctly feminine. Pinkie always found it a little amusing to hear a female voice come from what appeared to be a large male stallion. “Miss Pie? Are you ok? You seem to just be, well, staring at me?” The guard asked when pinkie started to stifle a round of giggles
Pinkie cleared her throat and quickly shook the distracting thoughts from her head. “Oh don’t worry, I’m fine. Just had some stuff in my head that I needed to shake out. Though sometimes it’s just nice to give your head a nice shake, you know? Anyway, let’s go! I don’t want to keep Twi waiting, especially if It’s super important. That would just be rude you know!” With that Pinkie gave her best bounce and started forward in little hops. The mixture of the cooped up train ride and her new found excitement to help Twilight had made Pinkie antsy. As usual she decided to fix that with a few good hops to get the energy out.
The guards marching beside her would occasionally glance at her, watching her bounce her energy away before turning their attention to navigating Canterlot. Normally Pinkie would try and talk up the guards but to be honest she thought they looked quite distracted for some reason. Though it was hard for her to tell through the illusion magic that kept them all looking so identical.
One march up to the castle later and Pinkie was escorted directly to Twilight's chambers. Strolling through the castle was always nice. From the upper floors she could look on the beauty known as Canterlot. If one went high enough in the palace they could even look out and see Ponyville in the distance. A good 25 minute walk and about 3 large staircases that went up multiple floors later Pinkie and the guards finally arrived at Twilight's door.Knocking softly PInkie waited for an answer from the other side. After a moment or two she cocked her head to the side a bit before shrugging and pushing the door open. As she entered the room she noticed her purple friend leaning over a few scattered papers littering a table in the middle of the room. Twilight sat on a rather comfy looking pillow next to said table, her face somewhere between confused and worried. Pinkie got the feeling that this was going to be a long day.
“Soooooooooooooo-” Pinkie said with somewhat of a curious tone as she shut the door with her back left hoof and trotted over to the table, taking a seat across the table from Twilight. Outside the door she could hear the guards taking up position outside the door. “You look a lil grumpy. Or maybe flumpy? Huh, I wonder what flumpy even m-”
“Most creatures use flumpy as a term for some creature that looks tired or saggy, and the first pony to call me saggy is getting a one way teleport into the nearest body of water! So am I flumpy? No. Distracted? Possibly. Flustered? Maybe. In either case if I was tired or saggy then I wouldn't be able to deal with this right now! Which I am, and I am doing great!” Twilight said as she cut Pinkie's train of thought off with her venting. Pinkie resisted the urge to sigh as she sat there to let Twilight continue, now knowing that she just had to let Twilight's thoughts run their course. “I mean, I just don’t understand why this is happening! Does she not trust me? Did I enact a bad policy? First the moon and now this...”
Pinkie nodded, taking educated guesses and compiling questions about the current situation. Obviously this was something concerning Luna, something that made Twilight think that she wasn’t doing a good job. Something that required some kind of party?
“Not that I mind this, It’s quite lonely in the castle at times but... What if Princess Celestia thinks that I’m doing a bad job too? And NOW- now I’m just rambling about everything going on without actually telling you what I’m yelling about.” Twilight let her head slam to the table with a groan.
Pinkie's mind started racing, picking up on context clues as her overly stressed friend spoke. Twilight had said that she wouldn’t mind the castle not being lonely so that means something was going to happen that would bring more company to the castle. Considering how hung up on Luna she currently is, that probably means that Luna was coming to the castle for a long enough time to make it less lonely. That meant it would not be a short stay. Furthermore Pinkie knew Twilight would not throw a party for a simple visit. Combine that with the fact that Luna had taken her responsibility over the moon back, and Twilight's concerns over her own rule gave Pinkie a pretty good guess on what was going on. It seemed their alicorn of the night wanted to take back her throne.
Pinkie took a deep breath to get her friends attention. “When is Luna gonna get here? How big does she want her welcome back party? I’m guessing Princess Celestia isn’t coming out of retirement but is she going to attend the party? I’m not throwing a re-coronation am i? Because while i would love to, I don’t think I have enough Balloons hidden in Canterlot... yet. I mean one short trip to Sugarcube corner and a few party shops here in Canterlot and I might have enough. Let’s see, 59 bags of 500 balloons times a courtyard and three castle dining halls... carry the 5 and- Nope I’d need to stop by Cloudsdale too. Go figure. Either way I’m sure she’s just bored! Plus having two Princesses is a lot more fun than one right? Plus I think you’ve been doing great!” Pinkie decided to slip in a few encouraging comments at the end of her questioning. She found that changing the subject in the middle of a rant could really grab a ponies attention in that ‘Hey, what did they just say?’ kind of way.
Twilight blinked a few times, lifting her head and let out a small huff of amusement, letting a small grin slip onto her face. She had long come to accept that sometimes Pinkie just figured these things out. “Two days. The party is my idea to welcome her back, so let’s keep it small. Just a gathering of friends really. As for the re-coronation, I’ll have the castle party planners handle that after her return has been announced to the press.” Twilight then slid the mass of papers Pinkie. “Those are some of my plans. Seems she is bringing two ponies with her to see the castle. One is a pony who she grew close to while she was retired. The other she has taken on as a student of some kind. Kind of surprised who it is though. I wonder how the two of them met?”
Pinkie glanced at papers and nodded. Of course Pinkie knew exactly how the two of them had met, in fact she had already planned Luna’s new student’s next few birthday parties and had hoof made special invitations to send to the Lunar mare. Diamond Tiara was a resident of ponyville after all. It was Pinkie’s job to know such things.
“Hey Pinkie.” Twilight started, hesitating for a moment. “Back on the topic of Luna. I’m still pretty sure that-”
“That she’s disappointed in you for some reason? That Luna thinks you're doing a bad job?” Twilight cringed at the questions as Pinkie rolled her eyes at her friend's silliness. “Nope, not at all. But if you're really that worried about this then just ask her at the party. Hm.... So do I have free reign with this party planning? I can do anything as long as I am sure Luna will like it?”
Twilight sighed. “I trust you with the party Pinkie. The only reason I’m not asking you to plan the re-coronation is because of how much work is involved to make it go right. Remember my coronation? And I think you're right, I’ll just ask Luna at the party and, I don’t know, maybe I’m freaking out over nothing?”
Pinkie gave a quick nod before shuffling all the papers together and shoving them in her mane for later. “Don’t worry this will be one of the best parties I have planned all year! I wouldn’t leave a friend hanging. Though I do want to ask something once the party is finished if you don’t mind.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow at the open ended request. “Ok? What do you wa-” She was quickly silenced by a shush from Pinkie. A shush which ended with Pinkie's hoof almost crammed into Twilight's mouth.
“That is something I get to know and you get to find out later, and is my only condition! Do we have a deal?”
Twilight carefully moved Pinkies hoof from her mouth, looking a little concerned at the request. Usually Pinkie was straight forward with her questions and what she wanted so this was a little more then out of the ordinary. “As long as It’s a reasonable question, then I don’t see why not.”
“Yay! Then we have a deal. I’m going to head to the kitchen and my secret castle party room!” Pinkie cheered as she got up and bounded for the door, as Twilight sat confused and concerned about the fact that Pinkie had somehow set up a secret party room without anyone in the castle knowing.
Pinkie Pie woke tangled within a cocoon of blankets she had twisted herself up in during her sleep. With a yawn she stirred, attempting to wiggle herself from the cotton confinement she had trapped herself in. On the fourth attempt to wiggle out she found herself tumbling over the side of the bed, rolling off to the side of the room, the sheets and blankets conveniently unfurling like a red carpet being rolled out for some celebrity. The main difference being that at the end of this blanket walkway wasn’t a well dressed theater star, but a pile of pink pony limbs and an extremely bead headed mane.
Rolling onto her back Pinkie stretched her limbs towards the ceiling. A yawn escaping her mouth as she rolled over once more, this time putting her hoofs between herself and the floor. Arching her back downward Pinkie took a few moments to stretch, enjoying the sounds of a few nice pops. With her escape from her bed based prison handled it was time to start her day, and what a big day she had planned.
Pinkie had spent the last day and half doing some emergency party planning for Twilight, and she was quite proud of the party that would be happening later tonight. Invitations had been sent, entertainment hired, and the catsle's cooks informed of what was on the menu. She had also spent much of the last night making sure the party room was in order. She wasn’t quite sure how late it had been when she had stumbled into the room to finally sleep but a quick look out the window told her that she had slept well past sunrise. Thankfully a nearby clock held the answer for how long she had slept in.
“Ten Thirty?” she questioned, talking to nopony in particular. “Not the earliest I've been up, but I should have plenty of time left. Let’s see, the princess should be here in about... an hour?” Pinkie pondered, rubbing her chin before she shrugged and trotted to the door. Nothing to worry about really, considering that after raiding the kitchen she would head to the chariot landing area near the gardens. If anything she would be able to get there about twenty minutes before the chariot was supposed to arrive. Besides her Pinkie sense wasn’t telling her that anypony had arrived yet. Today had a plan, and that plan would grant her the reward Twilight had promised her.
Pinkie could see the chariot in the distance, two pegasus guards pulling it as three ponies sat in the back. The last bits of Pinkies breakfast were quickly demolished before she stood up and waved to the chariot. Plan part one, greet the guests of honor and make sure that the surprise guest knows nothing of the party that has been planned for them.
As the chariot came down, slowed, and stopped on the small landing strip by the gardens Pinkie could make three different expressions from the ponies who were now looking at her. Luna wore an expression of surprise that the pink party pony was there to welcome them. Diamond Tiara had a knowing smile and look of amusement. Obviously she had gotten the invitation Pinkie had sent, and considering the surprise on Luna’s face she hadn’t told the Lunar mare about the surprise waiting for her tonight. Part one was complete
The last face was an unfamiliar one. Sitting on Luna’s left was a bright yellow pegasus with yellow and green striped mane. This pony, who Pinkie had learned was named Sunbeat Melody, had a look of confusion on her face. Maybe she was wondering who Pinkie was? Maybe she didn’t understand why Luna was surprised? Maybe Diamond Tiaras mischievous smile towards the new pink pony was the source of confusion? Pinkie wasn’t sure but what she did know was that it was time to greet her guests.
Firstly she returned Diamond Tiara's smile with her own mischievous grin accompanied by a wink. The young mare gave a nod while putting her hoof up to her lips and moving it across her mouth as if to zip a zipper. Thankfully Luna was too busy staring at Pinkie to notice. Secondly Pinkie turned to Luna, “Heya Princess! Or is it Ex-princess who is soon to be a princess? OH! Maybe we could go with princess twice removed? Or thrice crowned? Either way It’s good to see you!”
“It is good to see you Miss Pie.” Luna replied, most of the confusion leaving her face as she greeted the pink mare. “I assume Twilight told you of my reinstatement plans?”
“Yep. I was already visiting the castle to see Twilight the other day and figured I would stay an extra day or two to say hi. Besides Twilight had a job for me!” Pinkie stated, doing her best to make sure the two did not sound connected. “Lucky me, huh? Her job kept me in Canterlot just long enough for me to have time to see you all!”
“Well I appreciate you coming to greet us. I suppose I should introduce my companions.” Luna said, exiting the chariot and stepping to the side as the other two climbed out as well. “I assume that you already know Diamond Tiara considering that she lives in Ponyville. I have been told you know every creature that lives in Ponyville, pony or otherwise. The other is Sunbeat Melody, she has been quite a close friend of mine for quite some time now.” Luna finished as she stepped in the middle of the two, giving each a quick affectionate nuzzle causing the two to smile up at their friend before returning the affection.
Finally Pinkie got her chance to address the last of the three ponies. Questions swarmed Pinkie's mind as she thought of things to ask this new pony. Many of which involved things she could use for the party tonight. “HI!” Pinkie rushed up to the yellow mare, who was about the same age as Diamond, maybe a year or so younger. “I’m Pinkie Pie, Ponyville’s number one party pony at your service. Sunbeat, right? Are you a musician, cause your name sounds really music-y. Oh, there is sooooo much to ask. Do you like cupcakes? If so what flavor? What kind of music do you like to make? Have you heard of DJ-Pon3? She is a really good DJ.” Pinkie’s onslaught of questions startled the pony catching her off guard. Sunbeat just gulped and shuffled her hoofs, seeming a bit shocked how upfront this pink stranger was being. Thankfully Pinkie was able to catch a small look of interest after her last question. That small turn of the ears, followed by some quick succession blinking gave Pinkie an answer to one of her many questions. This was one of the reasons Pinkie truly loved body language, other than the fact it was the only reason she could read her sister, Maud’s, emotions.
Luna then Cleared her throat before Pinkie could ask anymore questions. “Thank you Pinkie, but we must be going. It was a long flight and the three of us are quite hungry. We are meeting with Twilight later if you are still in the castle. She sent me a message yesterday about a small tea party to celebrate my return to the castle.” Luna said, before hesitating for a moment. “Wait, she didn’t hire you to plan the tea party did she?” Pinkie sighed internally. She really needed to have a talk with Twilight on not sending invites to the target of a surprise party. Thankfully the situation was still salvageable.
“While I would have loved to plan a tea party, I can't say I’ve planned a tea party for anytime soon.” Pinkie said with full honesty. The party she had planned was definitely not a tea party. “Though if you want I could definitely do that next time I come to Canterlot. I have a lot of, well... Tea connections.” Pinkie leaned in to whisper the last bit of her statement, carefully eyeing a nearby guard who looked back at her. The two seemed to glare at each other for a moment before Pinkie turned back to Luna. Luna and her companions watched the interaction with curiosity, wondering what kind of tea connections had to be kept in secret.
“Yes, well, I do suppose that sounds nice.” Luna took control of the conversation again before patting Pinkie on the back with a wing. “Maybe next time though. For now I am going to assume I shall see you for tea later tonight. Goodbye Miss Pie.”
“Pinkie” Pinkie corrected, which caused Luna to smile in amusement.
“I suppose that could work. That is if you are willing to call me Luna.”
“Sounds good to me, Luna.” Pinkie said with a wink.
As Pinkie stepped back and let the three pass she couldn’t help but bounce a few times in place. Her plan was going as planned, and she was sure that Luna was going to love the party. Twilight’s reward would be all hers!
Now all she had to do was move to part two of her plan, triple check the party room. Giving herself a small shake, internally making sure that her energy reserves were still at full she started back into the castle herself. Stopping only to give one last look at the guard she had glared at earlier, as he stared back. She gave herself a reminder to check on her tea connections before leaving the city.
“Um Pinkie...” Twilight was looking around the room with a slight glint of panic in her eyes. “It’s not that I doubt your party planning abilities but... well...” Twilight sat down on her haunches in the middle of the room, continuing to glance around the room. “Are you sure this is what Luna would want?”
The room in question was filled with dark blue and purple streamers lining the wall, a large dance area set up in the middle of the room. The tables lining the sides of the room had magic candles, their flames burning a dark shade of purple. At the front of the room on a small stage was Ponyville’s own Vinyl Scratch, otherwise known as DJ-pon3, was setting up a few portable speakers. Beside her were Trixie and Fluttershy who were assisting the unicorn with the massive amount of cords and plugs. Other than that were a few of Luna’s old guards who either retired or transferred to the Dusk guard after her retirement.
“Why is Fluttershy here? Why is Trixie here? Vinyl I can kind of understand. And isn’t it too dark in here? I know she's supposed to be the princess on the night and all but I-” Twilight stopped as she looked over towards Pinkie, who had one eyebrow raised as high as possible. “Ok-ok. I get it. I trust you, and if you think this is going to make her happy, whatever this is going to be, I’m sure it will be fine.” Twilight gave a nervous giggle, trying to hold a very shaky smile. After a few moments she finally let her face fall with a sigh. “I’m sorry, it's just this is really weird for me. I don’t know why she decided to come out of retirement. I’m nervous that I am not doing a good job. And, just- I know I said I’d talk to her about it tonight but I don’t know if I want to? I know I’m probably just being paranoid, but what if I’m right?”
Pinkie sat by her friend and gave her a pat on the back. “You know, I’m sure about a lot of things in life. I’m sure my cakes are the yummiest cakes in Ponyville. Despite what Poundcake says on the matter. I’m sure Applejack loves her work and delivers only the best Apples she can grow. And I am completely sure that you have been doing a great job leading Equestria! If Luna says otherwise then I guess I’ll just pack up this party and move it to a different room. One filled with really bright lights and huuuuuuge posters of you, with a giant no moon-ponies allowed sign on the door!” Pinkie nodded to herself.
Twilight let out a small snort. “Well I guess I’ll find out tonight. Though I still want to know why Fluttershy and Trixie are here.”
“Well, Fluttershy got to know Luna through some events that they both went to. Turns out they have Similar interests. As for Trixie...”
“So remember when I couldn’t make it to our drinking night? Well I know just how to make it up to you. You know all those cool little table side magic tricks you do all the time at bars. The ones that make Berry Punch freak out and fall off her stool when she's plastered? Yea those, I need you to come to Canterlot to do those. Specifically for a Princess party. You know, A party for Princesses. I mean there will be more than princesses there of course. A Lot of guards and ex-guards, Fluttershy, Me, and some other ponies that I don’t think you know? I mean you might know Diamond Tiara. But yea, free drinks, good place to practice your bar magic, and you might see Twilight get drunk. She REALLY can’t handle her liquor. What do you say? -Pinkie”
“She really is good entertainment at parties. I definitely didn’t invite her because I felt bad about skipping out on her to come to Canterlot. No ma’am!” Pinkie said with an innocent looking smile. Twilight decided to let that one slide. She had seen Trixie perform at small parties before and usually she did pretty well. Though Twilight was unsure where she was going to perform while the stage was being taken up by Vinyl.
“Ok well, the party is in an hour. I’m going to go grab Diamond Tiara and Sunbeat Melody. They might want to know where this party is taking place after all.” Twilight said as she stood back up. Taking one last look around the room she gave her wings a small rustle, trying to shake the nerves from her body. “After that I’ll go grab Luna and bring her here.”
“And?” Pinkie questioned. “Are you going to talk to her about the whole ‘am I a good Princess?’ thing then or are you going to wait? I mean I understand if you want to wait, it would be a real shame if I had to break down this party before it even began. Do you know how hard it is to find candles that burn purple? I mean, It isn’t as hard as it used to be. Since you became a princess ponies have been making so many purple based decorations. Before your coronation I could only ever find purple burning candles around Nightmare Night, and oooooh boy did I horde those things.” Pinkie then cleared her throat, catching herself going off track. “But yea, are you going to talk to her before or during the party?”
“I think-I think I’ll talk to her near the end of the party? I don’t want to ruin a good night with my own insecurities you know?” Twilight shuffled a bit in place and glanced at the door. “Look, we can talk about this later. I’m going to go grab Luna’s guests. Got to make sure everything happens on time you know?” With that Twilight waved to her friend and trotted out the door at a nice pace. Pinkie sighed, her friend was wound up so tight from this whole thing. Pinkie hoped this party would help her unwind, as well as help her grow closer to Luna. Either way Part two of her plan was almost complete. Once the Vinyl’s sound system was set up and the food arrived everything would be ready. The next Part of her plan would be the Party itself.
Pinkie peered around the room one last time. Everything was ready, Everypony but Luna and Twilight were here. Pinkie took a quick tally of the amount of ponies in the room. All in all there were about ten to fifteen ponies in the room, chatting, drinking, and eating. This party wasn’t going to be the flashiest, in fact Pinkie designed it to have more of a slower, more relaxing house party feel. The party go-ers trotting around the room starting small conversations and sharing jokes. Pinkie had made sure that everypony here had at least one other pony that knew them, giving the party goers a bit of comfort. Nopony liked it when they were in a room filled with strangers.
Pinkie's ears stood to attention as she heard the door at the far end of the small ballroom open, and turned her head to see Diamond Tiara poke her head in. “Get ready!” Diamond called into the room. Pinkie signaled Trixie to dim the lights as Diamond Tiara and Sunbeat Melody pushed themselves into the room and closed the door. Everypony shuffled to the sides of the room, dropping whatever they were currently doing and getting ready to greet Luna as she walked in the door.
After a few moments the door opened again. “Wait, isn’t this room rather large for a simple tea par-” Luna was mid sentence as she entered the room. Her eyes went wide as she viewed the room full of familiar faces.
“Congratulations!” the room cheered together, taking the alicorn by surprise. Pinke then nodded at Vinyl, giving her her cue to start up the music. With a quick nod in reply the white unicorn slipped a record onto her DJ station preparing the first song.
Luna didn't hide her surprise as she waved her head side to side, inspecting the room. As the music started to play. Both the guards, and Twilight seemed surprised with the choice of music for the event. Vinyl was playing a soft rock style ballad to start off the night. When Luna didn’t object and openly bobbed her head to the music the subject seemed to be quickly forgotten. Finally Luna found her target, the party planner who had been the one to plan tonight's events. Pinkie met her gaze with a smile and wave of her own. “I knew it!” Luna said as she broke out of her daze and trotted over to Pinkie. Around the room the ponies started to resume whatever they were doing before the guest of honor entered the room.
“I mean, I didn’t plan a tea party.” Pinkie started, giving Luna a rather sly smile. “Instead I threw a ‘Hey you're going to be a princess again, congrats!’ party!”
“I can see that.” Luna took the opportunity to look around the room again. “I have to say, I would of expected something flashy, but I rather like how calm all this is.” Around the room Luna could see her companions, Diamond and Sunbeat, near the DJ, having a conversation with Vinyl. No doubt Sunbeat was freaking out about meeting one of her idols while Diamond watched in an amused manner. Towards the opposite side of the ball room she also noticed a drinking contest going on between some of her old personal guards. Maybe she would take the time to rehire whoever won the contest considering that she would have to reestablish the Lunar guard for the third time in her life. Out of the corner of her eye Luna could see Trixie performing a series of small magic tricks for a few of the guards at a table near the punch bowl. She made a mental note to go see what kind of illusion magic was being used by the mare. Considering the few tricks she could see from across the room Luna was sure that if what she was seeing was not sleight of hoof... That or it was the best sleight of hoof she had ever seen. Either Way it was sure to be amusing. To be honest the only pony who Luna could see who didn’t look like they were in the partying mood was Twilight. Luna allowed herself a small frown. “Is Twilight OK? I have noticed that she has been rather nervous around me all day. I wonder if I have done something wrong?” Luna mused to herself.
“Oh I wouldn’t worry about that. She has some stuff on her mind. If you want though I do think she needs somepony to talk to her about it.” Pinkie suggested, deciding she would help Twilight out a bit. Pinkie wasn’t sure if Twilight really would talk to Luna at the end of the party, but if Luna approached her instead of the other way around then maybe the situation would be easier for her. “Though I would wait towards the end of the party if I was you. Twilights made a BIG effort to make sure you got a really good party. I don’t think she wants to bring anypony down, or have any kind of serious talks, at least not mid-party.”
Luna nodded in understanding. “I may just do that.” She then let her ears perk as she held her head a bit higher as the next song in rotation. This song started off with a faster beat and sounded much more punkish compared to the last song. “I happen to know this band. My new apprentice introduced me to them not too long ago. Now that I am thinking about it, I’m quite curious how you knew my musical interests. The last song was also one that I listen to quite often.”
Pinkie simply pointed over towards Diamond Tiara. “Why, from your new student of course. Though she only told me what bands you like, I went to another pony for recommendations for the specific songs.” She then swung her hoof to point at Fluttershy who was currently standing by the punch bowl, watching Trixie perform a trick involving a rubber ball, a whiskey glass, and three playing cards.
“I see. I suppose I shouldn’t underestimate a party ponies web of connections” Luna sounded quite amused as she looked down at Pinkie. “I must thank you. This party looks marvelous. Now if you excuse me, I am going to go drink my old guards under the table.” With that Luna trotted away happily, crossing the room.
Looking over at Twilight Pinkie could see her friend breath a sigh of relief. It seemed Twilight could see that Luna seemed to be liking the party so far. Now all Pinkie had to do for the rest of the night was make sure that the snacks, drinks, and music kept flowing in plenty. For a party this small Pinkie was sure this was going to be an easy task.
Pinkie had never seen a single pony consume this much alcohol. Looking upon the pile of ponies that Luna had bested in alcoholic combat, she honestly felt a bit in awe for the situation in front of her. Past the pile of passed out drunkards sat two mares and a stallion, each with 3 shot glasses in front of them. Luna sat there, a wide smug smile and a large blush on her face. She had easily drunk the weights of both ponies in front of her tonight. In fact this was the third drinking contest she had held since the party started hours ago, each one ending with her standing over the bodies of those who had challenged her. Across from Luna sat Trixie, who was on her last legs. Pinkie was sure she had slipped a good deal of the alcohol served to her away during the contest, storing it in a bottle that she held with the rest of her “magic” items. It was a trick that she used to help her try to out drink Berry Punch. Though even if she was using that trick, Pinkie was sure that Luna had caught on a few rounds ago, as she was now keeping a constant eye on Trixie’s glasses and Trixie knew it. In the middle of the two was a thin looking pegasus. Pinkie honestly didn’t think the stallion had it in him but here he was. The table only 20 minutes ago had an extra 4 ponies seated, but now all four of those ponies had been dragged to the passed out pony pile.
“Quite Impressive.” Luna stated as she swayed. “Allow me to propose that each of you join my Lunar guard after this night. You both have impressed your princess this night.” She then steadied herself, leaning back against her chair, and glanced at Trixie. “Some have even proved to be quite crafty in this battle.”
“The GREAT and Intoxiti-intox-” Stumbling on the word she wanted to say Trixie cleared her throat. “DRUNK Trixie has no idea what youz be talking about Ms. Moony!” This got a snicker from the stallion at the table as Luna simply gave the drunken mare a knowing smile.
“I, uh, think I’ll take ya up on dat offer Princess!” The stallion slurred. Something about the stallion though irritated Pinkie, but she just couldn’t place her hoof on why. “I’m Straight Shot by the Way Princess! My friend over there-” he pointed to one of the passed out ponies. “Kinda sneaked me in tonight.” Pinkie sighed at his drunken admission. That was why she felt so irritated. Every party always had at least one uninvited guest. Thankfully this one fit in, so she decided to let the matter slide. “Since I figure I am one of the only ponies here ya don’t know, I figured if you wanna be given me a job, ya might want to be knowing my, uh, whats it called? The sounds that ponies call you?” He leaned his head back as he thought. “Oh yea, a name. That my na- WOAH!” At this point he had leaned back a bit too far in his chair as it fell backwards. Pinkie was sure at this point he was out of the contest. “Name...” He croaked from the floor before passing out.
“Well then,” Luna turned her attention back to Trixie. “Shall we?”
“We sh-shall!” Trixie replied before letting out a small belch. The two shared a snicker before locking eyes. With that the last round of the contest had started, giving Pinkie some relief. Even her secret stores of liquor she had previously hidden in the room were almost drained. Pinkie silently wondered to herself if Twilight would one day be able to drink this much.
Deciding that it was a good idea to check up on her, Pinkie glanced to the other side of the room to see Twilight was locked in conversation with Diamond Tiara and Sunbeat Melody. For some reason she looked much more relaxed now. By the time Pinkie had looked back at the table each mare was on their last shot, Lifting the shot glasses to their muzzles and downing the whiskey within the glasses.
Luna then placed her glass face down on the table. “Good job Ms. Trixie, and good night.”
“Just Trixie is fine” Trixie nodded to the Alicorn before sliding from her seat and onto the floor. With that Pinkie decided it was time to start wrapping this party up. With a quick wave to a nearby dusk guard stationed by the door to the ballroom she signaled that it was time for the passed out guards to be helped to some of the castle's spare rooms. The guard nodded and poked his head out the door to inform his colleges that he would definitely need some help with this task.
Pinkie stood in front of the large ornate double doors that led to the serving hall. Inside most likely sat Twilight, a hangover Trixe, equally hung over Luna, and two young mares who were probably amused by the hungover alicorn. Usually Pinkie would of busted in through the doors with a loud “GOOD MORNING EVERYPONY!” but she was honestly still a bit tired from last night's party. Usually she would allow herself an hour of extra sleep on these mornings but she had something she needed to talk to Twilight about. This mourning she would claim her reward for planning such a successful party the previous night. All she had to do was make sure that Twilight was ok, and her talk with Luna had actually happened as planned. Pinkie had seen Twilight lending her shoulder to the intoxicated alicorn and helping her to her room the night prior, but that didn’t mean Twilight had actually gotten the chance to talk things out with her. Pinkie let out a sigh and pushed the doors in front of her open.
Inside the room she could see the five ponies she expected to see all sitting around a long table that was stacked with breakfast items. The spread of which varied from simple dishes like pancakes all the way to fancy crepes . Pinkie was honestly impressed with the spread. “Oh, this is going to be tasty!” she said more to herself then the others in the room as she bounded to one side of the table, grabbing a plate and settling it on her nose like a seal. She then went down the table grabbing a bit of everything, saying hi to each of the ponies sitting at the table as she passed them. First she greeted Luna who was currently half asleep over a plate of french toast. Seated to Luna’s left were Diamond Tiara and Sunbeam Melody, both of which were enjoying some extremely fruity breakfast items as they chatted amongst themselves.Pinkie wasn’t quite sure though considering the amount of whipped cream on each of their plates. Towards the middle of the table she found Trixie, who looked a bit like Luna at the moment, though the plate she was falling asleep over was filled with hay bacon and buttered toast. Finally she got to the opposite end of the table as she balanced a plate towered with food on her nose. With a quick hop she bumped the plate into the air and let it fall in front of her as she took her seat. The contents of the plate miraculously didn’t shit that much and stayed in it’s leaning tower form. Pinkie took a second to admire her work before she turned to the only pony she had not greeted this morning. “Hey Twilight. Nice breakfast line up.” Pinkie said as she leaned forward and took a bite out of her tower. She wasn’t too sure what she just got out of the pile, though it tasted of strawberry and carbs.
“Good morning Pinkie.” Twilight said in a cheerful mood. Pinkie felt relief rush over her. If Twilight was in a good mood then she must have talked with Luna. Though Pinkie still had her doubts. Luna was quite trashed the night before and Pinkie wasn’t sure if Twilight even could have had a proper talk with her fellow alicorn.
“You seem pretty cheery. Does that mean your talk with Luna went well? I hope it went well, I can’t take away a party that already happened.”
Twilight responded with a nod, then stopped, looked over at the other end of the table and leaned over to Pinkie. “Truth be told I didn’t really talk to Luna about why she came back. But I did find two good sources of information last night.” Pinkie took one more bite of her breakfast pillar before leaning over to let Twilight whisper her tale of information gathering. “So I started talking up Diamond Tiara and the other mare Luna brought with her, Sunbeat I believe her name is. According to them Luna just wasn’t ready to leave the throne in the first place. She kind of just followed Princess Celestia’s lead, you know? Apparently coming back to the throne wasn’t even her idea at first, it was Diamond Tiara’s. That and I hear that retirement really wasn’t for her. Sunbeat told me that she got really bored with it.”
“See, I told you it was nothing to worry about.” Pinkie leaned over a bit more to give her friend a quick and affectionate hug, which Twilight returned without hesitation. “Now, about my reward for last night...”
“With how last night went I don’t I can’t say no to some kind of thank you. Though I am curious what exactly you want as a reward.” Twilight leaned over the plate of simple chocolate chip pancakes, levitating her fork and knife so she could continue eating.
“Oh it won’t be anything big...” Pinkie started, finally ready to get what she wanted out of this trip from the moment she got on the train.
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Pinkie leaned back into the soft pillows of the large bed she had been given. Above her was a long rope attached to a bell hanging from the ceiling. Reaching upward she gave it a quick tug, letting the bell ring for a moment. As if in perfect synch with the bell, a gray pony dressed as a butler entered the room.
“Good evening Miss Pie, may I ask what you require?” The pony questioned.
“A large cup of hot cocoa. OH! And at least 5 more really soft pillows. The ones made in Cloudsdale. Also some relaxing music would be nice, like if you have a record player with some soft jazz music, that would be great. Also, you can just call me Pinkie you know!”
As Pinkie finished the butler gave a curt and polite bow, “Then you can call me Fine Silver. I shall bring your requested Items post haste.” Fine Silver then backed out the door as Pinkie wiggled a bit in the bed, getting comfortable.
Twilight had been a bit surprised when Pinkie had asked for just a simple day of rest and relaxation, but didn’t question the request too much. Pinkie wondered what Twilight thought she would have wanted. After some pondering Pinkie shrugged off the thoughts. Now was not the time for thinking, now was the time for daydreaming, relaxing, and letting other ponies serve you Hot Cocoa. Pinkie gave a content sigh as she wrapped the blanket around herself. She had earned this, truly she had. She was working extra hard back home with the influx of creatures of all races moving into town, and even on her first chance in a few weeks to get away, her trip to see Twilight, she had ended up working. Honestly she didn’t doubt that there would be more parties to plan when she got back. She had heard a rumor of a yak family that was thinking of visiting the town to house shop. One measly day to be lazy, and sleep through the afternoon was definitely what she needed. “I earned this...” She mumbled as she felt her eyes grow heavier. Soon she would drift off to sleep, replaying the last few days in her head as she dreamed.