"Have we got everything Spike?"
"Pretty sure we do."
"Why don't you check the list again to see if we missed anything?"
Spike sighed. "We don't need to check the list every five seconds Twilight."
Twilight glared at the baby dragon perched on her back. "Just check the list."
Spike rolled his eyes and pulled a thick scroll from Twilight's saddlebag, allowing the extensive list to unravel along the ground. "You know there may be such a thing as too organised Twilight," he grumbled as he read through it. "Got that. And that. And that and that and that. Yes. Yes. Yes. Double yes. Hey, what's Pinkie Pie doing?"
Twilight sighed at Spike's short attention span before looking around for Pinkie. It took her a few seconds to spot her quarry. The normally boisterous party pony was standing stock still in the middle of the town square, not making a sound, with a look of intense concentration on her face.
"Well that's weird," Twilight mused as she approached Pinkie.
"Hey Pinkie. Are you-"
"Hold on a second Twilight," Pinkie said, raising a hoof in front of Twilight's face. "I feel a combo coming on."
At once Twilight was alert and tense. She'd had bad experiences with Pinkie Sense in the past and she wasn't keen to repeat them.
"Here it comes," Pinkie said slowly. Then her knees started shaking. "Twitchy knees," Pinkie listed. Her stomach growled fiercely. "Rumbly Tummy." She rubbed her hooves into the dirt. "Itchy hooves. That means…" Pinkie thought. Then she gasped, a look of horror on her face.
"Pinkie? What is it?" Twilight asked urgently.
"Oh Twilight! It's so horrible!" Pinkie cried. It looked like she was about to start sobbing
"What is it?"
"The worst combo ever!" Pinkie wailed as she grabbed Twilight by her shoulders.
"What does it mean? Are we going to be attacked? Is Princess Celestia in danger?"
"Worse!" Pinkie cried. She burst into tears and bawled, "It means that there's somepony out there who's crying!"
There was silence as Pinkie cried into Twilight's shoulder.
"Seriously? That's it?" Twilight asked, while Spike patted Pinkie's head in a bemused fashion.
"Oh Twilight you don't understand!" she wailed, pulling her head away from Twilight's shoulder. Her lower lip trembled as she talked. "If somepony's crying that means they're really sad. And that makes me really sad!" She howled, great streams of tears flowing onto the ground.
"Well, why don't you go and cheer them up?" Twilight suggested, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the whole situation.
As quick as they'd come the tears stopped and Pinkie's face brightened.
"Hey! That's a great idea," she said, pulling Twilight into a rib-crushing hug.
"Glad I could help," Twilight wheezed.
Pinkie released Twilight and gasped. "Maybe I could throw them a super cheery cheering up party! That'll be sure to put a smile on their dial."
With that the party pony turned and trotted away, humming merrily to herself.
"Good luck with that Pinkie," Twilight called after her.
"She's so random," Spike commented.
Twilight had to agree.
Pinkie trotted along the path, a mare on a mission, humming a jaunty tune and trusting her Pinkie Sense to take her the right way. It wasn't until she reached the outskirts of the Everfree Forest with the sun low on the horizon that she had second thoughts.
"Who would need cheering up in there?" she asked herself. "Maybe it's Zecora?" For some reason she doubted it. But there was a pony in there somewhere who needed a smile. Pinkie had a reputation as a super party pony to uphold, and she wasn't gonna let some creepy forest stop her from making somepony happy.
And with that triumphant thought, she trotted into the Everfree, resolute in her task.
A whole reality away, there was, in fact, someone crying. On the banks of a shallow pond, beneath the boughs of an old willow tree, sat a boy, only just turned eighteen. His dirty blonde hair was swept to the side, framing his face. His eyes were a silvery blue and, at the moment, very wet. Tear tracks painted his cheeks, but he made not a sound. He wore a plain white t-shirt, worn dark jeans and a pair of battered sneakers. Moonlight streamed through the gaps in the branches. The boy shivered. The sun had set a while ago and he hadn't brought a jumper with him. It was really cold tonight.
"Hi there!" a high pitched voice shouted. The boy let out an undignified shriek and tumbled away from the pond. He got to his feet, looking around for the source of the voice.
"Hello?" he asked the surrounding trees.
"Hi," the voice replied. The boy frowned. It sounded like the voice was coming from the pond. Cautiously, he edged closer and looked down. And his jaw hit the ground.
Where his reflection should have been was instead the image of a brightly coloured, cartoon pony. There was no other way to describe it. Its coat was an alarming bubble-gum pink and its wildly frizzy mane was a few shades darker. Its eyes were astonishingly large, coloured light blue. But the strangest thing was the enormous, giddy smile that stretched its face in an impossible way.
The boy knelt by the pool, staring at the pony in disbelief. All he managed to say was "What?"
Suddenly the pony noticed the tear tracks on his face. The smile vanished, replaced by a look of concern.
"Hey. Are you alright?" she asked. It was obviously a female. The voice was too high pitched to be a guy.
The boy hurriedly wiped his cheeks and muttered, "I'm fine." He fixed the pony with an intense stare. "Are you real?" he asked.
The pony scratched her chin with a hoof as she thought. "I think I am," she said slowly. "But maybe I'm not!" She looked quite alarmed at the thought and started feeling her face with her hooves.
"You're not sure whether or not you're real?" the boy questioned. Then he shook his head. "I'm trying to reason with a hallucination. I am definitely going mad."
"Hey I'm not a hallucination," the pony said, "I'm a pony. And you never answered my question. Are you alright?"
The boy gave a weak chuckle. "I'm anything but," he said.
The pony looked heartbroken. "What's wrong?"
"Family problems is the easiest way to put it," the boy explained. "I guess you could say I'm running away."
The pony looked like she was about to cry. He could actually see her eyes watering. "Oh you poor thing! Is there any way I can help?"
The boy shook his head. "I doubt it."
The pony's eyes widened and the smile reappeared. "Oh, I just had a great idea! How about you come back to Sugarcube Corner with me? I've never met a pony yet who can stay frowny while eating a cupcake!"
The boy opened his mouth to reply but was overridden by the pony, who was gabbing on like a maniac. "Oh and I could introduce you to my friends and show you around Ponyville and throw you a ginormous super fun party! I'm getting so excited just thinking about it! Come on!"
Without any warning whatsoever, the pony reached out and through the pool, grabbing the boy by the shoulders. He only had enough time to wonder how she grabbed him with hooves, before he was yanked forward and tumbled through the pool.
It felt like turning a lightning fast somersault while being shoved down a tight tube. There was a rush of wind and the boy found himself lying on his back, feeling dizzy and sore. He stared up at the treetops and noticed they seemed different. More… cartoony. The pony's face popped into his view.
"You ok?" she asked, not dropping her smile.
"Fine. Just fine," the boy groaned, running a hand through his hair. He lifted his hand in front of his face. For some reason he had half expected it to be a hoof. What a strange thought. Although when he looked at it carefully it did seem… less real in a way. All the small details had disappeared, leaving it looking like someone had drawn it. Weird.
Slowly he sat up, groaning slightly. He put his face in his hands and let them slide down, trying to get rid of the dizziness. In an offhand way he noticed that the light covering of stubble that had been on his chin was gone. Again, weird.
He got to his feet, ignoring the dizziness, and examined his surroundings. There were trees all around him, bent and twisted in odd ways, many thickly covered in moss. The air was less cold here, the perfect night-time temperature. He turned in a slow circle, coming to a stop facing the pink pony, who was still grinning like an idiot. She was a bit smaller than him, only coming up to mid-chest.
"Where am I?" he asked weakly.
"We're in the Everfree Forest," she explained. The boy nodded, even though the name didn't make any sense to him.
"Can I get back?"
The pony thought. "I'm pretty sure you could. I could reach through after all," she reasoned.
The boy, not satisfied, crouched by the pool and stuck his hand in. Instead of his hand being submerged in cold water, it was like it passed through the surface. He could see it on the other side.
"So, are you gonna come with me to Sugarcube Corner?" the pony asked.
The boy thought for a moment before standing. "We'll, since I'm here I may as well," he said. The pony cheered, jumping about excitedly. "Do you know the way out of here?"
"Piece of cake!" she beamed. "Follow me!" she began bouncing away, before stopping and looking over her shoulder. "By the way, my name's Pinkie Pie."
The boy was silent for a second. "Call me Chris," he said.
Oh my god I actually wrote a fan fiction. I honestly cannot believe I managed to do it.
Anyway, please R&R and stay tuned for the next chapter!