You're going to wear a groove in the floor, Twilight thought offhandedly to herself. She'd been pacing erratically around the room for almost an hour now; ever since she'd woken up, she'd had a strange feeling in her chest.

She sighed and sat down on the edge of her bed, too distracted to notice the exhaustion that had already begun setting in. By then, she'd understood the reason she felt this way; she wasn't comfortable with Pinkie's confession. There was a lot wrong with it to begin with, like the fact her best friend thought that way about her in the first place, but there were hidden oddities, things that seemed to awaken in Twilight during their conversation.

Pinkie had been so open to Twilight, which was relatively normal; but she also said she'd hidden it for two weeks. To hold on to that kind of thing had to indicate something really deep. The way Pinkie talked to her, the position she'd put herself in, and the total stoicism she'd had towards the end of the meeting gave Twilight a strangely empathetic feeling.

There was something else, too; a difficult question that popped up recently because of it. Twilight hadn't ever even tried to figure out her sexuality; what if she was a lesbian? In which case, what else could that insinuate in her and Pinkie's relationship? What had she done?

She bit her lip, concentrating. There was no other solution she could see that was possible with the means she had.

Test and research.

Even before Rarity had diagnosed her as a 'summer' type, Pinkie had always enjoyed summer. The first day of summer was today, and, as it was still so early in the morning, she was able to watch the first sun of summer rise. The window right at the foot of her bed was enough; it was pointed to the East, and it was just tall enough to allow her to glance over the top of the trees to the beautiful orange that heralded the coming of the sun.

Pinkie closed her eyes and inhaled. The air smelled like flowers, and dew, and good old-fashioned dirt. Yup. Today would be the best day of her life.

Maybe.

She trotted energetically out the door, feeling a huge spurt of energy. The sun had barely risen - nopony was up yet. That was okay with Pinkie, of course; walking alone through Ponyville in the morning always gave her a feeling of security, a feeling of calmness.

Today, she actually had plans; she'd been invited last month to attend her cousin Tulip's birthday party. She'd picked out the perfect gift last February... she'd been preparing for quite a while.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" she said to herself, and turned to trot back into her apartment. Seeing the saddlebag already prepared on the sofa, she snatched it up with her mouth and bounced again out the door, now smiling broadly. She'd get to see her cousin again after almost, like, a year, she'd get to see the look on her face when she gave her her perfect present, and to top it all off, it was a great day.

But there were still a few things bothering her; before she took the train out to Saddlesburg, she wanted to check on Fluttershy. Her friend had left for home in a terrible condition. In truth, it rather frightened Pinkie, knowing that somepony who went through exactly what she did was so much more shaken up than her.

She'd had more than a few concerns abut Fluttershy. It wasn't just the fact that she seemed so broken-hearted; it was a moment of catharsis - a recognition that Fluttershy and her may, in fact, be the only two le - urgh. The only two... of their kind... in Ponyville. Maybe in Equestria, for that matter.

How could she visit her before the train left, though? She was pretty sure that the first one left at eight, and it took her about half an hour to walk across town to the station. Fluttershy's cottage was in the other direction; there just wasn't any way. Well, she'd be back at around noon tomorrow; maybe she'd be able to talk to her then. She probably needed some alone time anyway.

A few memories crept slowly back into her mind as she was walking to the station. Other ponies began leaving their homes for the day, often calling 'good morning' to Pinkie, who responded as well as she could. There were memories of a mixture of pain and relief, memories of empathy for her friend, and memories of a comfort felt from the time she spent with her.

She shook her head rapidly, clearing her mind, opening her ears again to the sounds of summer around her. She'd missed being herself for so long that she swore to herself that nothing would kill her mood today. This thought alone boosted her joy so much that she began bouncing again, happy at herself and at the world.

Everything was great.

She'd been so caught up with herself that she didn't notice that she was at the station until she was standing on the platform. She stopped, stared for a second at the tracks below her, and giggled. Almost walked into 'em.

The train ride was less than an hour long, but the clickety-clack of the rails and the scenery whooshing by kept her rather entertained. Before long, she arrived at the Saddlesburg station and began trotting happily to her cousin's. It wasn't far off; she still remembered the time she was five or six and visited her. They played all day along the little dusty road to her family's grand estate... she glanced at the shadows created by the oaks and willows and reminisced.

She grinned widely and noticed slightly a bounce developing in her step. Oh, the joy of the world! Of life, of freedom, of being Pinkie! A feeling she hadn't experienced recently grew slowly in her chest, begging to be released.

Pinkie happily obliged to the feeling, and began to sing an impromptu verse under her breath.

A tune began developing itself almost cinematically in her mind as she began skipping down the dusty path. The musical notes themselves were floating nicely in her mind to an empty sheet of music. GCEGEFDBGCEGEGAG...

The sunlight drifted down for the latticework of leaves above her, casting a dappled pattern of light on the ground in front of her. The birds around her almost seemed to be aiding her song, as though they were in harmony.

She decided to end her song here before she made a stupid rhyme and ruined it. That happened to her a lot. Instead, she basked in the comfort she felt as her pace began to slow and her eyes closed. Harmony. That was it. Peace and harmony.

"Pinkie Pie?"

Her thoughts were broken momentarily by a voice rather similar to her own. She opened her eyes and saw her cousin Tulip in front of her, smiling ear-to-ear. "Pinkie, I'm so glad to see you! How long has it been?" she asked, trotting up to her and giving her a friendly hug.

Pinkie accepted the hug and giggled. "It was only last summer, silly!"

"Seriously? It seems like it's been forever. I'm really excited to see you. You should see this thing we've planned out; it's fantabulous."

Fantabulous? Pinkie thought as Tulip led her quickly out of the grove of trees and into the front yard of her home. As grand as ever, the old Victorian mansion had a new addition: there was a garden now out back. Pinkie could see the plants from the walkway.

Most of what surprised her was the party she'd set up with her father, Pinkie's uncle Dorian. So far, six other ponies had arrived. Pinkie introduced herself to the relatives she knew... the other two she left alone. There were streamers and balloons and brightly colored tablecloths and, last but certainly not least, something of Pinkie's own invention: the party cannon.

Pinkie's jaw dropped comically and she raced over to the bright blue and green ceramic beauty. "Holy hay, Tulip!" she gasped, as Tulip ran to her side. "How did you... how could you have possibly..."

"Remember last year?"

"Oh, right." Pinkie had tried successfully to sneak a prototype party cannon into her cousin's birthday party. The third time she used it, it exploded. It was fantastic, and nopony got hurt, but it apparently made Tulip begin working on an improvement.

"Does it work?" Pinkie asked excitedly.

"No, Pinkie," Tulip answered sarcastically, "I spent six weeks' allowance to build something that didn't work."

"Jeez, Tulip, six weeks'?!" Pinkie asked. She admired it again; it was much smoother and cleaner-looking than the one she had at home. "Has it ever been used?"

"Actually, no," Tulip replied, "all the decorations were done by hoof. I was waiting for you."

"Aww," Pinkie replied. "Thanks, Tulip." She leaned over and hugged her cousin warmly. Tulip had been her best friend when she was young; their relationship hadn't fallen apart in almost twenty years. She felt by now that she could tell her anything. Anything at all, she thought.

But would she have the nerve to bring it up?

Twilight collected herself again and went through the probabilities, positive and negative. She cringed as a few really terrifying possibilities were dredged up from the back of her mind.

Well, it's too late to turn back now, she thought, and knocked twice on the door. when there was no answers, she leaned over and looked into the window. "Pinkie?" she called out.

"Twilight? Twilight Sparkle, right?"

Twilight turned her head to see a familiar stallion whose name failed her. "Oh, um, hi; I'm just looking for Pinkie. Do you know where she went?"

"Yeah, she, uh, left this morning. Don't know where she was going; I called good morning to her, but she was probably just talking to herself again."

"Oh. Okay." Twilight was deeply disturbed by this news. Hundreds of questions sprung into her head. Where was she going? Why didn't she talk to anypony? Was it my fault? Oh, Celestia, it probably was. "Which way did she go?"

"To the train station, I think... why?"

"No reason. Thanks. Gotta go, bye!"

"No problem, Twi!" the stallion called as she hurried away. What was his name? Twilight's mind drew a blank. All she could think about was how cruel she must've seemed; how she must've made her friend feel. She must've just left because she couldn't stand being in the same town with her anymore. She closed her eyes as she trotted down the tiled road; she felt horrible.

Closing her eyes on the crowded street wasn't a good idea. She ran headfirst into an extremely familiar pony, one whose name she definitely couldn't forget.

"Trixie?!"

Twilight looked on in confusion as the baby-blue pony recovered quickly. "The Great and Powerful Trixie wishes you would watch where you were going!" She began to walk away, but turned, doing a double-take. "Twilight Sparkle?!"

"Yeah," the lavender unicorn said defensively, moving quickly to her feet. A few bystanders were quickly promoted to onlookers as a small scene began to develop on Mane Street. "Still going on with the 'Great and Powerful' schtick, huh?"

Trixie suddenly grew uncharacteristically submissive. "Not really. Sometimes it just sorta slips out. Old habits die hard." There was a little smile playing at the corner of her mouth, but it died quickly. "Although I haven't been living up to my potential ever since you... did that thing you did, it far from suggests that I've forgiven you!"

The crowd around them amassed slowly in size. "You don't say?" Twilight said dryly, still rather aggressive. The anger was dying, though; it was clear that the once-prideful unicorn had changed. "What are you up to now? Haven't you realized that your name isn't much in Ponyville anymore?"

"I understand, I do! Back off!" Trixie said, scowling. "I've stopped trying to be famous. It didn't work." There was an icy undertone in her voice.

"So what are you up to?"

Trixie sighed, and shifted her eyes around at the significant group of ponies now surrounding them. "Get! Leave! Seriously, I'm trying to talk to somepony here." The ponies began to break off, scoffing and laughing. Trixie's eyes lingered on a few remaining ponies before returning to meet Twilight's.

"I'm planning on trying to find a job here. I've been turned out by a lot of other towns, just because of my reputation. A reputation that you earned for me, Twilight Sparkle."

"I'd love to take the credit, Trixie, but I'm afraid it was your lying that earned you that reputation." Twilight turned to walk away.

"Wait!" Trixie called out, almost pleadingly. "Can... can you help me?"

Twilight groaned. Ugh. I'm gonna have to do the right thing here, aren't I? She turned around to face Trixie again. "With what?"

"I just need to work for a living. I still have my magic, you know; nopony can take that away from me. I... maybe it'll come in handy. If anypony needs help, can oh at least tell them I need work?" She sighed. It was obviously difficult to speak with her former enemy. "I'd be forever in your debt."

"I guess, if I come upon anypony who wants help, I can just refer them to you... I guess," she said unsurely. At least it would make a great friendship report.

She turned to leave again, but heard Trixie's voice. "Twilight?"

"Yeah?" she replied without turning.

"... Thank you."

Twilight nodded slightly, and walked away to the station without another word. As she walked away, though, totally unbeknownst to Trixie, she was smiling.

Pinkie threw herself down on the chair, breathing heavily. In less than an hour, all the other party guests had arrived, and the party had commenced. By noon, they'd been through at least fifteen house and dance songs courtesy of the only local DJ.

A huge, recently cannon-decorated pavilion housed almost two hundred friends and relatives, and there was a long gold banner reading 'Happy 24th, Tulip' on it behind the bandstand. Pinkie had been dancing spastically nonstop since the songs had begun almost an hour and a half ago.

She looked happily around at all the ponies she knew, and all the ponies she'd come to know during the party. When was the last time she'd done this?

"I know. Two hundred seems like too much, right?"

Pinkie turned her head to find Tulip sitting next to her. "Tulip!" Pinkie seemed surprised. "Why aren't you dancing? It's your party!"

Tulip looked at her in disbelief. "Yeah, because I have the stamina to dance for an hour straight."

Pinkie giggled. "Oh, you and your sarcasm."

"Oh, and speaking of sarcasm," Tulip said teasingly, "how's that boyfriend of yours doing?"

The two burst into laughter. "Oh, come on, Tulip, that's mean!"

After trying to calm down a bit, Tulip continued. "Seriously, though, do you have any... interests?" She winked mischievously.

Pinkie sighed shortly. Any more force behind the breath and it would have been considered a snort. Now would be as good a time as ever. Plus, she always felt that she could tell Tulip anything. Anything at all.

"Actually, Tulip, I have something I wanna tell you. Can you... promise to keep a secret?"

"Well, sure, of course." Tulip grinned at her, totally unsuspecting of what Pinkie was trying to say.

"Tulip, I... jeez! Why can't I..." She trailed off for a few seconds, then regained control. "Tulip, I'm not interested in colts."

Tulip cocked her head, then raised her eyebrows, and blinked a few times. Oh, Celestia, what is she thinking? How will she react? Will she hate me? "I have something I wanna tell you, too."

Wait a second... no way. No way. "Yes?"

"I'm actually from Manehattan."

"...What?"

Tulip remained totally stoic. "Oh, I'm sorry, I thought we were discussing things that didn't change anything."

Pinkie opened her mouth for a second, confused. Then it finally clicked and she reached over to hug her cousin tightly. "Thanks, cuz."

"Back to the party?" Tulip asked, grinning again.

"That would be just fantabulous."

Laughter ensued.