Someday, I'm Gonna Go Home:
*Disclaimer: My little Pony; Friendship is Magic © Hasbro Inc. All rights reserved.
It was a beautiful, sunny, summer day in Ponyville. The birds were chirping, and all the ponies outside enjoying the weather. However, at Sugarcube Corner, the Ponyville bakery, all was not well. On the second floor, in a round shaped bedroom laid a pinkie pony, listening to a record repeatedly.
"…just accept it and move on." Pinkie Pie sighed. Her normally poofy mane and tail were laying straight. Suddenly, she heard a noise from downstairs. Getting up, and walking towards the stairs in the hall slowly, Pinkie yelled out "Coming!" before she trudged down the stairs.
"Welcome to Sugarcube Corner, how can I help you?" said Pinkie, with a sad tone.
"Pinkie, what's wrong?" asked a familiar voice. Looking up, Pinkie saw all of her friends standing in the room. There was Twilight Sparkle, a purple colored Unicorn with a talent for magic, as well as being the personal protégé of Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria. Applejack: an orange furred an earth pony with a blond mane and tail; both tied into a ponytail whose family owned an apple farm on the outskirts of Ponyville. Fluttershy was a yellow pegasus with a pink mane and tail, with a wonderful talent for dealing with animals. Rarity, a white unicorn with a curled purple mane and tail, owned a boutique where she made clothing of all kinds. And finally, Rainbow Dash, an adventurous cyan pegasus with a rainbow colored mane and tail. Rainbow was the resident Weather Pony, but her real aspiration was to become a Wonderbolt; Equestria's elite flying team.
"Oh hello Twilight" said Pinkie. Pinkie Pie was the resident party pony, so it was natural she worked at a bakery where she made cakes and other confections. True to her namesake, Pinkie Pie's furs was pink and her mane and tail a slightly darker shade of pink. Both were usually poofed up, but not today.
"Pinkie, what is wrong? You're usually such a chatterbox. Did something happen?" asked the Twilight, in her bookish manner.
"In a way."
"Well, are you gonna tell us? I was hoping to go on this picnic, like today perhaps" said Rainbow impatiently.
"Rainbow, darling, how can you possibly be so uncouth? Can you not see our friends here isn't feeling quite well? What is wrong darling?"
"Well, you guys wouldn't understand."
"Try us" said Applejack, in her usual southern twang.
"Well, to-today is…" Pinkie could feel new tears forming in her eyes. "Tod-da-day is…today was the death of my real parents."
"Wait, what do ya mean real parents? Ah thought ya grew up on that Rock Farm" said Applejack.
"That was my adopted family" corrected Pinkie.
"Adopted, for what reason, dear?" asked Rarity.
"I'm an orphan."
"And orphan? Oh my, I'm so sorry Pinkie" spoke up Fluttershy, in her low tone.
"There's no need, Fluttershy, but that's thanks anyway" said Pinkie Pie, tears now streaming down her face. "It's just…life isn't always a cakewalk served up on a silver spoon."
"Besides, ya'll can't live in the past like this. It ain't healthy. Ya gotta move on" advised Applejack.
"That's what my parents would say" said Pinkie as she pulled a record player from nowhere, the same record player she was listening to earlier. Pinkie turned it on, and it started playing, a male and female voice coming on and speaking at the same time:
"Pinkie, if you're hearing this, it means we're dead and gone. We want you to know this: even though we are gone, we love you. With all of our hearts, we love you. We want you to have a normal foalhood. Please, do not do anything foolish, just accept it and move on."
"Oh my gosh Pinkie. That is so sad. We're so sorry for you" said Fluttershy, tears in her eyes as well.
"Yeaaahhh, well someday I'm gonna go home, and be with them forever" Pinkie sighed.
"Pinkie! What you aren't talking about what I think you're talking about are ya? You gotta move on. You can't keep living in the past like this, it's not healthy" scolded, of all ponies, Rainbow Dash.
"Yeah I guess you're right." At this, Pinkies mane and tail poofed back up.
"Guys I've got an idea!"
"Uh oh guys, Pinkie has an idea" Rainbow teased.
"Guys, I need you to help me! Twilight, go grab a book off the shelf in my bedroom labeled Gypsy Magic!"
"What? Pinkie, gypsy magic isn't real" Twilight retorted.
"Just do it!" Pinkie insisted as she led the rest into the Kitchen.
"Now, Fluttershy, get me the biggest bowl in that cabinet over there" Pinkie ordered, pointing to a large cabinet on the far side of the kitchen.
Grabbing the bowl, Fluttershy hefted the heavy steel parabola to the island counter in the middle of the room.
"Okay, I got the book" Twilight announced.
"Good, now open it up to the entry, Time Sorbet" Pinkie commanded.
"Time Sorbet? Pinkie, you can't possibly mean what I think you do! Messing with time is incredibly dangerous. And this gypsy magic isn't even real. It'll never work. Besides, I could always get you that time spell from the Canterlot Royal Archives." Twilight tried to convince her friend, but Pinkie would hear none of it, "I don't care! Besides, silly Twilight, I can't use the time spell, I'm not a unicorn. Now, watch as I work my gypsy magic!"
Looking down at the entry, Pinkie announced "Okay, we're gonna need to bake some cinnamon bread."
"Bread, Pinkie, ya'll ain't makin' any sense" Applejack noticed. "Does she ever?" Rainbow whispered into her ear.
After getting the bread made, and they put it into a mold and let it bake.
"Okay, girls, now we need to get some other ingredients we don't exactly have here. Rainbow, can you got to the deli and get some provolone cheese? About half a pound of it?"
"Sure thing!" Rainbow saluted before dashing out the door.
"And Twilight, can you get eye of newt and seapony tears from the apothecary?"
"Ponyville has an apothecary?" Twilight asked
"Yep! Right on the corner of of Stirrup Street and Bridle Avenue. Can't miss it!" Pinkie answered.
As Twilight entered the apothecary, she could help at scoffing at all the ridiculous ingredients the shop possessed.
"May I help you young filly?" a greyed pony said from behind the counter.
Looking around the dingy shop, with the walls piled high with bottles, jars, and flasks, Twilight responded, "Yes. I need some eye of newt and seapony tears."
"Ah, mixing a potion are we?" the elderly pony asked.
"No sir, it's for a friend. She's the one making the, uh…brew."
"Ah. I see. Well, here's the eye of newt. However the seapony tears are an incredibly rare ingredient. It'll be extra for that."
"So how much is the eye of newt?" Twilight asked.
"2 Bits per pound. Do you know how much you'll need?"
"I'll just get two pounds of it. That should be enough, if not we'll have extra."
The clerk scraped a measure of little eyeballs into a small jar, and the two exchanged Bits."
And now, how much is that seapony tears?" Twilight inquired.
"Well, for such a rare ingredient, I don't believe anything under 50 Bits."
Twilight's jaw dropped. She didn't have that much money being a librarian.
"I see you can't afford it. So sorry dear."
"Uh, that's okay. I'll be right back." Twilight assured the clerk before galloping out the door and towards Sugarcube Corner. Entering the Kitchen, Twilight found quite a scene. There was chocolate icing all over the walls, and Rarity was whining her head off, about having icing all over her coat, when in reality it was nothing more than a small spot on her cheek.
"I got the eye of newt, but I need to borrow some money from Rarity for the seapony tears."
"Oh Twilight dear, anything to get of this dreadful Kitchen. It's been a nightmare!"
"It's just a darned spot, Rarity! Quite yer whinin'!" Applejack shouted. "I wasn't whining!"
"Just get her outta here." Applejack sighed.
"Okay, so how much is this seapony tears anyway?"
"50 Bits."
"50 bits! That's outrageous!"
"I know, but it's the only apothecary in town and that's the only bottle he has."
"Fine, but you better find a way to pay me back for this." Rarity grumbled, giving Twilight a heavy, jingling sack.
"Sure thing Rarity." Twilight said as she took the sack and galloped out the door.
Arriving back at the apothecary, Twilight plopped the sack of bits onto the counter, after which the greyed pony handed over a vial of semi-clear liquid.
"Thank you, sir" Twilight said, before taking the vial in her teeth and galloping back to Sugarcube Corner.
Once she entered, she found a much more calmed scene. Rarity was busy lavishly decorating the cinnamon bread with the chocolate icing. Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash was back with her half a pound of sliced provolone cheese.
"Okay, now it says we mash the cinnamon bread and provolone cheese into a bowl." Pinkie announced.
"What! You are not ruining my beautiful design!" Rarity shrieked, looking up from her ornate work, now nearly done.
"We have to, Rarity" said Twilight. Twilight was secretly hoping this ordeal would fail, just to prove that there was no such thing as gypsy magic.
"Yeah! It's just a cake." Rainbow added.
"But I worked so hard on it!" Rarity whined.
"Um, we can bake another one if you want, if that's okay with Pinkie Pie, I mean." Fluttershy suggested.
"That's right; we'll just bake another one." Twilight agreed.
After getting the provolone and the decorated cinnamon bread into the bowl, Pinkie asked for the eye of newt.
"Okay, so the directions say that I make the brew as consistent as I can, as well as keep it heated until one hour before use. This is good because it'll take me one hour to get to Whithersbrook."
"Don't you mean us?" Twilight attempted to correct her friend.
"No, I mean me. I'm sorry Twilight, but this is an endeavor I must take on my own. You can't come with me. Now, the eye of newt if you please" said Pinkie as she moved the bowl to the stove, where she lit the burner beneath it.
Twilight passed Pinkie the eye of newt, in which she then started mixing into as well. To everybody's surprise, after a couple of minutes, the brew started to turn pink.
"Wow, Pinkie, Ah guess you were tellin' the truth" said Applejack, as she gasped.
"I do that a lot actually, but ponies are always surprised" giggled Pinkie, before returning to her serious demeanor.
After an hour of stirring, Pinkie asked, "Twilight, can you bring the book over here please?"
"Sure thing!" Twilight said as she trotted the book over to her pink friend.
"Okay, now the directions say that after one hour of stirring, we let it cool. Then, when the user wants to activate the magic, they will pour the seapony tears into the brew. Then I say when I want to go and it will take me there. The amount of seapony tears determines how long I stay. So how much do we have?"
Holding up the vial, Twilight said, "Hmm, should be enough for…I'd say half an hour, give or take five minutes."
"Perfect, that'll be just enough to save my parents!"
This statement brought back the reality to why they were actually doing this.
"Uh…by-by the way Pinkie Pie, and I hope you don't mind me in asking this, but…how, how exactly did your parents die?" asked Rarity, not quite sure how to word such a delicate subject.
"Oh it was so sad. It was in the middle of the night, and we were all sleeping, when our pet cat knocked over a candle we accidently had forgotten to put out. It-it set fire to some drapes, and soon our whole cottage was ablaze. My-my parents…" Pinkie started to choke up again, "My parents had woken up to find our living room ablaze. Waking me up, they-they…" at this point, tears were freely flowing down her cheeks, "They were able to get me out the front door, before they…be-b…" Pinkie Pie started sobbing, she couldn't take it anymore. It was a story she hadn't told all her life.
"Shhh, shhhhh. Pinkie, it's okay. You don't have to say anymore" comforted Fluttershy, tears streaming down her eyes as well as the eyes of the other four ponies. Even rainbow Dash, who didn't even try to hide it this time.
"It's-its oka-ay Flutt-ersh-shy. I-I th-think I c-ca-ca-can f-in-ish." Pinkie cried.
Wiping the tears from her eyes, Pinkie continued, "After they had g-gotten me out, f-flames eng-gulfed the d-doorway. They had no w-way of g-getting out. I had n-no id-dea w-what t-to do. After the fire department p-put the f-flames out, they found m-my p-parents, they were just outside the back door. They had made it out, b-but had ch-ch-choked on the smoke." At the end of her story, Pinkie Pie could no longer handle herself, and broke down bawling on the Kitchen floor.
After turning off the burners to the stove, Pinkie wrapped up the bowl, said goo d bye to her friends, and headed towards the door. Just as she opened it, she was jumped by her friends who demanded she stay safe and whatever she did, she came back. Pinkie made a Pinkie Promise that she would as she walked off into the sunset. Walking past the Ponyville Clocktower, she noted it was 9 O'clock. She had roughly an hour and a half before the fire started.
An hour later, Pinkie entered Whithersbrook; Pinkie smelled a scent she had not smelled since she was a filly. Walking towards the smell, Pinkie found the scent coming from a confectionary by the name of "The Pin-Wheel". This was the old confectionary that she used to come eat at with her parents. Stepping inside, Pinkie walked to the counter. She wondered if Mrs. Crumpet still owned the place. Ringing the bell on the counter, Pinkie found herself greeted by an elderly mare with red fur and now greyed main and tail. "Hello there lassie, how can I help ye?" asked the mare in her Scottish accent.
"Oh, hi" said Pinkie, in a solemn tone.
"What's got ya down? Don't ya worry yerself none, ol' Mrs. Crumpet will fix ya up sumtin' real nice" assured the old pony.
"Oh nothing, I'm just passing through. Although I would love one of your cupcakes" said Pinkie. She had always loved Mrs. Crumpet's cupcakes as a child, and just couldn't pass up the chance to have one more. However, Pinkie did keep an eye on the clock on the wall behind the counter. It read 10:09. She had 20 minutes before the fire started.
Coming back from the kitchen, Mrs. Crumpet exchanged a small white package for 3 Bits. "Hope you come again!" the old mare said.
Just as Pinkie was about to exit the shop, she heard Mrs. Crumpet shout out, "Wait!"
Turning around, Pinkie asked, "Is there something wrong?"
Mrs. Crumpet came from behind the counter and walked up to Pinkie and squinted her eyes, "It's just, I had the strangest feelin' like I know you from someplace. I just can't think of where I know ya from."
"I don't know either. Like I said, I'm just passing through." Pinkie lied, trying to put on her best smile.
"Ah, well then you must forgive an ol' mare. Have nice night…" the old mare smiled as Pinkie left, "…Pinkie."
As Pinkie walked down the street, she opened the package to find a cupcake awaiting her. She took the cupcake out of the package, put the page in her saddle bag that also held her wrapped bowl, and munched down the cupcake gleefully. Not even her best cupcakes could compare to a Crumpet Cupcake. Rounding the corner, Pinkie found the cottage. It had been rebuilt, and had a nice little white picket fence around the front with flowers lining the walk.
Digging the brew out of her saddlebag, Pinkie unwrapped it and took out the seapony tears. Popping the cork on the vial, Pinkie poured it into the glowing pink concoction. As the bowl started to rattle upon the ground, Pinkie whispered into the bowl, "Backwards, 15 years." There was a blinding flash of pink light, and suddenly Pinkie found herself in the same spot she was, except the house before her was engulfed in flames. A small pink fill with a poofy pink mane and tail sat upon the fenceless front lawn, bawling.
"Oh no! I hope I'm not too late!" Pinkie thought to herself.
Rounding the back as so not to be seen, Pinkie enter the back door, to find her parents looking for a way through the flames engulfing the doorway so they could reunite with their daughter. Seeing them, Pinkie galloped towards them and grabbed them.
Pinkie's mother, Cherry Pie and father, Pumpkin Pie, were surprised when they felt themselves being dragged away from the doorway, and looked back to see a figure obscured by waves of heat inside the house dragging them towards the back door. The smoke inside the house soon built up however, and Cherry and Pumpkin soon fainted. Seeing this, Pinkie's resolve only became stronger, as she rushed for the back entrance which was not yet on fire.
Getting out of the doorway, Pinkie started hacking, smoke having nearly killed her. She then looked down at the bodies of her parents. They weren't moving. Pinkie heart stopped cold. She couldn't have failed. This couldn't be happening. Laying her head next to her parents' chests, she didn't hear a heartbeat. She had failed. Pinkie pie cried out. She couldn't believe, after all this she had failed. She hadn't stopped the future at all. She was the reason why her parents were found outside the back door. Suddenly, Pinkie heard sirens. Fire Department had arrived, and quickly they had started extinguishing the fire. Pinkie didn't care though. She wanted the house to burn. Pinkie couldn't do anything but wail as she held the bodies of her parents in her arms.
Suddenly, Pinkie was surrounded by a pink aura. "No! No, no, no! Not yet! I'm not ready! I don't want to go-"
"-back!" Pinkie cried. Finding her arms empty, Pinkie could do nothing but wail as she knew she could never hold her parents again. While 20 years earlier, the fire ponies had entered the house, while other's rounded back. The ones that went to the back found the bodies of Cherry and Pumpkin Pie, scorched, but dead of suffocation. While the ones that entered the ruins of the house found a safe. Inside, was a record, which they gave to the orphan outside.
As 21 year old Pinkie Pie walked back to Ponyville, she cried. A trail of tears followed her all the way home.
Entering the Library, Pinkie was greeted by her friend's smiling faces, but they quickly stopped, when they saw Pinkie's red puffy eyes.
"It didn't work, did it Pinkie. We are so sorry, but I knew you would find out the hard way that you can't change the past. If you had, you wouldn't have been here with us in the first place" consoled Twilight.
"I think this might make a good letter to the Princess, don't you agree Pinkie?"
"Sure…" Pinkie accepted. Grabbing a quill, ink and parchment from a nearby coffee table, and sat down and wrote:
"Dear Princess Celestia,
I thought I could change my past, but tonight I learned that nothing can change to past. What's happened has happened, and there's nothing you can do about that. I know now, that I must embrace the present, and embrace the friends I have. They are what really matter in life.
-Pinkie Pie"