Pinkie Pie entered Sugarcube Corner, acting carefree and confident. She focused on things that made her happy, like sweets and balloons and baby Ponies—her method of covering up her pain. Jogging up the stairs to the foals' room, she found Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake in their crib, babbling and playing with toys. She smiled and played with them for several minutes, becoming engrossed and forgetting herself.
"Pinkie?" Mrs. Cake called from behind.
She and her husband had caught her making a fool of herself to amuse the foals, which shouldn't have embarrassed her. Blushing, Pinkie took off the fake pig snout and stood to her feet. "Um… hey, Mr. and Mrs. Cake!" She grinned. "Don't worry, I wasn't keeping them from napping…."
The foals were happy, but that obviously wasn't why the Cakes were there. Mrs. Cake took a breath, perhaps to calm herself.
Pinkie Pie became nervous.
"Mr. Cake and I have been talking…."
Oh, no. I'm in trouble! What did I do? Pinkie's abdomen tightened.
"We had made an agreement with you that we would house you here under certain conditions. And those conditions haven't been followed lately."
Wait, they're kicking me out? Don't I get a second chance?
Mrs. Cake was still talking. "We're gonna give you a week to catch up on chores and abide by our rules, and if you don't…"
"You won't be able to stay here," Mr. Cake finished.
Pinkie Pie panicked. I won't be able to stay here? I can't leave! "Well, where else could I go?" She wrung her hands.
"I'm sure your family will welcome you back at the rock farm," Mr. Cake comforted.
But it wasn't comforting. It was horrific. "But I can't go back!" Her heart pounded and she began to sweat. "I-I don't have anywhere else to stay!" She started hyperventilating. "I mean, what did I do wrong? Why don't you want me here anymore?"
"Pinkie, calm down. We're not making you leave…."
She was already having a full-on meltdown. Tears soaked her face and clouded her vision. "I-I can't go back! You don't know what it was like there!"
Mrs. Cake stumbled over her words, trying to encourage her. "Pinkie, I know it must've been… boring there, but you have a family who loves you!"
Pinkie fell to her knees and bent over, touching her forehead to the ground. "No! No!" She clutched her head and shook it. She tried to speak again, but it came out as mumbles and sobs and gasps. As she remembered the way her family treated her, she started hyperventilating again. Her body heaved and she coughed, but only stomach acid and saliva came out. It happened again, and she noticed how lightheaded and dizzy she felt.
"Pinkie?" Mrs. Cake cried.
Pinkie's vision darkened and narrowed. She groaned and fell onto her side.
And everything was black.