Four times Pinkie Pie is lucky and one time she isn't
One.
Pinkie knows she's always seen the world a little differently. Even when she was a filly, she knew that there was more to the world than pebbles and boulders, even though that was all her family cared about. She couldn't quite put her hoof on it, but there was always something. It was like a fleeting shadow out of the corner of her eye or somepony singing just out of earshot.
She always had bigger dreams than rock harvesting. She wasn't quite sure what these dreams were, but she knew that they didn't involve grey and brown pebbles. There was something better out there for her – she just needed to find her special talent.
That didn't stop her from envying Maud though. Maud had already gotten her cutie mark, but even before that, it was obvious that Maud belonged at the farm. She always seemed so peaceful with her rocks. So calm and collected. She understood rocks in a way that Pinkie knew she never would.
"This one's ready," Maud would say solemnly as they went out rock harvesting during fall. "We can sell it." She pointed to a big grey rock with a streak of brown through it.
"What about this one?" Pinkie would say breathlessly in reply as she pointed to another large grey and brown rock.
Maud shook her head. "No. That still needs a few more seasons."
Whenever this happened, Pinkie wanted to curl up and shriek in frustration. She couldn't see any difference in the two rocks (she never seemed to be able to pick out the right rock), but she knew that there had to be. After all, Maud said so and Maud already had her cutie mark.
Some days, Pinkie pretended that she was someone else, on another farm. Perhaps she was looking after small animals. Perhaps she was a farmer. Perhaps she was picking flowers. Perhaps her cutie mark was something non-rock related. One time, she found a small daisy growing in a far-off corner and she spent an hour looking at its brightness until Maud found her and scolded her for leaving the rocks unattended.
Most of the time though, despite her daydreams, Pinkie wished with all her heart that she was the same as the rest of her family. It must have been so wonderful to get so much satisfaction from rocks. It must have been great to fit in and to be just like everybody else. Part of her wished for her rock-related cutie mark (after all, everybody in her family had one). Surely she could grow to love rocks after she got her cutie mark.
Every morning, Pinkie would look at her flank with apprehension, hope and a little bit of dread. Every morning, she would be disappointed.
The day of the rainbow was just like every other day. The sky was a pale blueish grey, like it always was. The sun was warmish, like it always was. The rocks were greyish brown and very still, like they always were.
But then! Suddenly, there was the rainbow.
It was a brilliant splash of colours in the sky that made Pinkie's heart soar. She had never seen so many colours in her life. In the colours, Pinkie could see who she was and who she was going to be. And even though it had nothing to do with rocks, Pinkie didn't feel guilty.
She was different and that was a good thing. And for the first time in her life, Pinkie felt like she had a purpose.
Two.
There was something special about the little bubble of joy that Pinkie felt whenever she saw somepony else smile. Maud sometimes said that she felt the same way about a particularly shiny bit of quartz. Limestone on the other hand seemed partial to gravel. Each pony to her own, Pinkie supposed, but she remembered to hide a particularly lovely piece of marble away for Maud for her birthday. The tiny twinkle in Maud's eyes was worth it.
But sometimes Pinkie wished that Maud would do more than twinkle. She missed the wide grins her family had during the first party she threw. It was something special and Pinkie wished that it could happen every day.
"I am happy," Maud would tell her gently whenever Pinkie asked. "I just don't show it. But are you happy?"
Pinkie's answer was "yes" every time until one day, she opened her mouth to say "yes" but the word just wouldn't come out. "I… I don't know," she said finally as her mane and tail drooped. "I don't think so."
It was a shock to Pinkie when she realised that she couldn't stay at the rock farm. She wasn't happy there, not in the same way Maud, Marble and Limestone were. She loved her parents and sisters, but she couldn't spend her life looking after rocks.
Looking after rocks gave Pinkie a sense of responsibility and of respect. She knew that it was her family's livelihood and that it was important. It's just that she preferred the bubble of joy from seeing streamers flowing from the ceiling, balloons tumbling over the floor and most importantly, the shining eyes and happy laughter of people enjoying themselves.
It was with an unusually heavy heart that Pinkie picked up her family's old map that was stashed in their attic and jabbed a hoof at it randomly. She had never been away from her family's farm before and didn't know where she should go.
"Ponyville," she read out loud. "A place for Earth ponies, unicorns and pegasi to leave together in peace and friendship."
It did sound promising though even though it didn't talk about parties (although when Pinkie scanned the map some more, she realised none of the places actually mentioned parties or partying or even streamers). She'd never heard of Ponyville before, but peace and friendship sounded appealing. So long as there were parties and no rocks.
Ponyville didn't let her down. Manehattan may have had bigger parties, but Pinkie Pie knew that no-pony was happier than at one of her Ponyville party extravaganzas.
Three.
The Party Cannon is Pinkie Pie's legacy. It's her own special invention that saves precious time in setting up parties so that ponies can spend more time actually partying.
The cannon took her over a year to perfect and Pinkie still remembers flying into a tree the first time she fired the cannon. The second time, she ended up tumbling head over hooves down a hill and almost fell off a cliff. The third time was less dramatic, but no less disappointing as the streamers set the cannon on fire.
But now, she can set up a party in mere seconds. Less than seconds actually if she gets the timing right. Like now. Pinkie looks around and presses the button on her Party Cannon.
One moment, the room's empty and bare and then BAM, the next moment, streamers, balloons, confetti and glitter everywhere. Pinkie looks around in satisfaction at the results of her handiwork. Before her Party Cannon, this would have taken her a good five, maybe even ten minutes to set up.
"Pinkie?"
Pinkie turns and grins at Applejack. "Like it?" She bounces up and grabs hold of a balloon with her teeth. She knows she doesn't need to hear AJ's answer – it's written all over her face.
"Sugar cube, I love it!" Applejack says warmly.
Pinkie grins. "Best first apple cake of the season celebration ever!" She turns around and dives face first into the cake.
Four.
Pinkie loves all her friends. They're brilliant and fun and wonderful and the best friends anypony could ever have.
But even though she's friends with everypony in town, in her heart Pinkie knows that some of her friends are more special than others. She knows Cheerilee's birthday, what kind of muffins Derpy likes and all the different inflections Big Mac puts on the one word 'yup', but she doesn't know them in the same way she knows her special friends.
She knows the little twitch Rainbow gets on her face that means that she's about to roll her eyes and launch into the air. She knows where Twilight hides her favourite books and more importantly, what books Twilight's embarrassed about liking. She knows Rarity sometimes just enjoys being a drama queen and that she doesn't expect her friends to take it seriously. She knows that AJ secretly sneaks out to Sugarcube corner every fortnight to get peach and pear pies because even an Apple can get sick of apples sometimes. And she knows at least five animals that Fluttershy's Stare doesn't work on (well, technically six, but Pinkie's promised never to speak of That Animal).
Sometime Pinkie wonders if she knows her friends better than she knows herself. But she knows it doesn't matter, because they know her just as well. Twilight knows when to jump in and help Pinkie plan her bigger parties. Fluttershy sometimes brings over one of her animals after a party to keep Gummy company. Rarity seems to always know the perfect outfit for the birthday filly or colt even before Pinkie's decided on the theme. Rainbow's a surprisingly good listener. And Applejack always knows when Pinkie's craving one of her mouth-watering apple pies.
Pinkie knows that she's lucky to have such good friends. There's a special bond tying the six ponies together and Pinkie knows she wouldn't lose it for all the world.
Five.
It seemed like such a brilliant idea. She could catch some rays with Rainbow Dash while bouncing around at Applejack's barn raising. She wouldn't miss out on anything or end up upsetting any of her friends. It would be double the fun for everybody! So what if there ended up being a few more Pinkies around?
Pinkie's always known that there's no such thing as too many Pinkie Pies.
Except. Now she isn't quite sure.
Out of the corner of her eye, Pinkie can see a pink blur bouncing up and down, giggling madly and eating a muffin. She's lost track of which Pinkie that is. Ever since her original copies began to make copies of their very own… Copies of copies of copies of copies.
She can see herself all over Ponyville. She's clambering over the school, climbing into a hot air balloon, stuffing her face with cake and even primly sitting on the park bench. All the Pinkie Pies are giggling and having a marvellous time.
Pinkie blinks and blinks again, but she can still see herself.
Here. There. Everywhere.
They all look so real, so much so that Pinkie isn't quite sure who she is any more. Is she the real Pinkie? How can she tell?
So when Twilight comes up with her crazy plan of watching paint dry, Pinkie readily agrees. All Pinkies agree. After all, Twilight's the smart one. Surely she's the one who can figure this one out. If Twilight says she can tell which one of them is the real Pinkie, it must be true.
It's a simple test, but Pinkie trusts Twilight when she says that it'll be effective. After all, Twilight is one of her closest friends.
Out of the corner of her eye, Pinkie can see the swirls of other Pinkie Pies that are being sent back to the Everfree Forest. She knows that soon she'll be the only one left and she'll know that she's the real Pinkie. After all, there's only one real Pinkie. There can only be one real Pinkie. She clenches her teeth as a trickle of sweat slides down her face.
Not long now. There aren't any Pinkies in front of her and she can't see anypony out of the corner of her eyes. She must be one of the last Pinkies left.
Pinkie grits her teeth. She's the real Pinkie. She knows she is. All she has to do is stick this out a few more minutes. Just a few more…
There's a sigh of exasperation from the sidelines. "I can't take it anymore," Rainbow Dash mutters and Pinkie feels a whoosh of air behind her as she takes flight. "Somepony's making balloon animals!"
Before she can stop herself, Pinkie finds herself turning her head.
Twilight takes a deep breath and knocks twice on Pinkie's door. I made the right choice, she chants silently to herself. I made the right choice. I made the right choice. So what if Pinkie's been acting a little strange lately. Who wouldn't after what she's been through?
It seemed like such a good idea at the time. Only the real Pinkie Pie would have the patience and the will to watch paint dry. Even Twilight was getting bored by the end of it and she was banishing the extra Pinkies! The duplicates were created from magic and a desire to have fun. There was no way that they would last. Magic and fun might be okay for lazing by a lake or having a picnic or even raising a barn, but anypony created from that wouldn't be able to focus properly.
And there was an obvious winner. Only one Pinkie was able to concentrate on the paint drying. I made the right choice, Twilight repeats firmly.
But there's still that annoying little niggle at the back of her mind. The second last Pinkie only lost concentration because of Rainbow Dash. That wasn't part of Twilight's original plan. Rainbow wasn't supposed to interfere.
No. She made the right decision. Twilight paws the ground. She knows she did. She must have. Even though there was a look in that last Pinkie's eyes as Twilight sent her away… There was something about the expression that was so … so Pinkie.
Don't be silly, Twilight tells herself. It was a duplicate, so of course it looked like Pinkie. She ignores the tremor in her legs and inhales deeply to steady her nerves. The right choice. I made the right choice.
The door opens and there's Pinkie looking like her normal bubbly self. "Hi!" she says brightly.
Twilight lets out a deep breath. Pinkie looks normal. Perfectly, perfectly normal. I made the right choice. The right choice.
"What brings you here?" Pinkie tosses her mane and Twilight sees a few tendrils of hair fall to the ground.
Twilight's stomach churns. No. Pinkie's perfectly normal. Mane hair falls out all the time. Normal. Except… Twilight has read about the pool in the Everfree Forest. There's something about it. Especially when you create copies of copies. "It's Spike's birthday soon," she fibs. "I wanted your help."
There's a brief flicker of doubt in Pinkie's eyes but then she gives her bright, happy trademark grin. "What are friends for? Come in! Come in!" She spins around and a lock of hair falls out of her tail. "Yay! Parties!"
Twilight's heart sinks as she looks down at the lock of hair. It's already crumbled to dust. "P… Pinkie?" she says quietly. "We need to talk."
-fin