Inkie Pie stood in front of her bathroom mirror. Wincing, she ran her hoof over the soft purple bruise underneath her left eye. Her face stung from the injury.

With a sigh, she reached into the cupboard beneath her sink and grabbed the cosmetic bag she kept there for such occasions. With a delicate, professional touch, she ran the the concealer and foundation over her skin and blended it until there was a likeness to her normal fur color. She noted with a frown that a hint of purple still glared through the heavy make-up. Grabbing her comb, she parted her mane over the left half of her face, a style she often wore as a filly. Now, it served a different purpose.

Studying her reflection, she attempted a small smile that looked more like a grimace of pain. She sniffled as a few stray tears pricked her eyes.

In a bright pink room, and even pinker mare popped open her eyes with a start.

Her tail quivered.

Her left ear wiggled.

She blinked twice.

She sat up with a start. The Pinkie Sense was calling to her! Running over the quirks in her head to find a match to the sequence, she let out a gasp and dove for the phone on her bedside table.

The ringing sound of the phone broke through Inkie's misery as she lay on the cold tile floor. Sitting up, she opened the door and poked her head out, looking around before darting over to the corner table that her phone rested on. Picking it up, she flopped onto her bed and put the receiver to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Inkie?" cried a high pitched voice.

"Oh, it's you Pinks." Inkie sat up with a tiny smile.

"What's wrong?"

She hestitated, "How did you...?"

"Pinkie Sense."

"Oh..." Was all she could manage.

"So, what is it?" Her sister's normally bubbly voice sounded very concerned.

"It's...nothing."

"Nothing."

"Yea...nothing..."

"...Prove it."

"What?"

"Pinkie Promise."

Inkie struggled silently for a second in an attempt to form the words, then collapsed on her bed with a groan. "Okay, you got me...it's not...nothing."

Pinkie's voice was soft, "Are you going to tell me?"

"No..." Inkie trailed off, "It's...I can't...I don't like...talking about this stuff... on the phone." she finished lamely.

"Come to Ponyville and tell me then."

Inkie sighed, only Pinkie would think of something so sensible, yet stupid. "I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm busy."

"It's only twenty minutes on the train from Manehatten to Ponyville."

"No, Pinkie."

"Oh, okay." pause..."I'll come up to Manehatten for the day and see you then."

"No!" Inkie shrieked, the last thing she needed was her sister seeing the dump she lived in.

"Well...then..."

Inkie sighed, it had been a while since she'd seen her sister, even left the area. "Okay...fine. I'll be on the next train."

PInkie let out a cheer. "See you then!"

Inkie placed the phone back on the table with a frown. Better go touch up on that cover-up again if she was going to see her sister. Pinkie Pie could be nosier than a cranky old neighbor when she wanted to be.

The train from Manehatten slowed to a halt, and a light grey mare stepped off, surveying the crowd on the platform. Suddenly, she was assaulted by a speeding cannon of pink that threw itself around her in a crushing semblance of a hug.

"Hi, Inkie!!!" it squealed.

Inkie winced and untangled herself from her sister's grasp. "Nice to see you too, Pinks."

Pinkie bounced in front of her, a grin stretched wide across her face. "So, what do you want to do? I thought we could go back to Sugarcube corner and get some lunch. Mrs. Cake offered to make you a sandwich, since your not big on sweets. But that's only if you want to, of course, cause there's plenty of other great restaurants in town, and-"

Inkie stuck a hoof in her sister's mouth. "That sounds fine, Pinkie."

A steady stream of lighthearted conversation bounced between the two as they walked back to the little bakery. By the time they walked through the door, Inkie had a small smile playing on her face. She really ought to visit her sister more often, it was nice. Sitting down at a table, Pinkie began munching on a cupcake, while Inkie enjoyed the daisy sandwich given to her by the friendly blue mare. Once they were done with their food, Pinkie turned to her sister with a more serious tone.

"Now are you going to tell me what's going on?"

Inkie looked down at her hooves. "It's...not important."

"Inkie, I'm your sister, you can tell me."

She shook her head, her mane shifting with her movements. Pinkie eyes narrowed as he studied her sister's face. "...Why are you wearing your mane like that?" She slowly reached out a hoof towards her face, "You haven't worn your mane like that since you were a filly." She gently pushed back the tangle of hair in front of her face. Inkie winced as Pinkie studied her eye with a frown. She ran her hoof across the make-up surrounding Inkie's eye, eliciting a yelp of pain from the mare. Pinkie's hoof jumped back, but a glint of purple from under the cover-up told her all she needed to know.

"Who was it?"

Inkie sighed, "Thunder." Her sister stared at her, aghast. "I was...making dinner . I got a call from Blinkie...it distracted me. The meal burned, and he...got...mad." she whispered, trembling slightly.

Pinkie's normally bright visage seemed to have dimmed slightly. "Has this...happened before?"

She looked down, "Yes...it's happened five or six times."

"Then why do you stay with him?!"

Inkie shrugged, "Because...I'm not like you. I've never been good at following my own path."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Inkie bit her lip, twirling her mane with one hoof, "Mom and Dad...they expected certain things from us. Sure, you ran off as a crazy party pony with a random dream, but you made it work. You have a steady job, your parties are famous, you're friends with everyone you meet....you're even an element of harmony, for crying out loud!" she trailed off, studying the bight, cheerful room they sat in. "Even Blinkie...married, with two kids, and running the rock farm at twice the profit of what it earned when we were fillies...she's done something with her life. Me?" she glanced at her flank, the cutie mark of a gemstone intertwined with a silver cord, "My special talent is jewellery making. It isn't a stable career option, and I never had a grand dream like you. I'm just the sibling that failed, that her parents set up with the son of their friends because they were worried I'd end up alone." she laughed softly, "My life is in Manehatten now. I live with Thunder, I try to be the good, obedient marefriend. Who knows? Maybe one day he'll ask me to marry him. I'd have to say yes...I have no job, no money. What would our parents say if I showed up on their doorstep telling them I'd quit on the one good thing they thought they'd done for me?"

Pinkie stared at her sister, tears brimming in the corners of her eyes, "Inkie...I choose what I do in life because it makes me happy. Believe me, It wasn't smooth sailing when I first got to Ponyville, but I didn't settle for anything but what I loved, because I didn't want to compromise myself." She took her sister's hoof, "You deserve only the best, and an abusive boyfriend in a city that you hate is not that. I'm sure that if our parents knew...they'd say that to." Inkie sighed and lowered her eyes.

"Inkie," said her sister, "Does Thunder make you happy?"

"No." she whispered.

Pinkie smiled lightly, "Then I think you have your answer...don't compromise yourself, Inkie."

"But...where would I go?"

Pnkie thought for a moment, then smiled, "Rarity has a friend who runs a jewellery shop, just across town, she's been looking for a shop assistant for ages!"

Inkie frowned, "Even if I got the job, I'd still have nowhere to stay until I had enough money for an apartment."

Pinkie waved a hoof dismissively, "You can stay with us! I'm sure Mrs. Cake won't mind--Right Mrs. Cake?"

"What, dear?" asked the blue mare in a tired voice.

"Inkie could stay with us for a while if she wanted to move here, right?"

"Of course, dear."

Pinkie turned back to her sister with a triumphant smile. "See?"

Inkie groaned, "Alright, you have a point. But...I...I don't know."

Pinkie sighed, "You don't have to make a decision like that today...just think about it." she looked into her sister's eyes, "You deserve to be happy."

Inkie waved goodbye to her sister as the train left the station. She looked out the window as the train inched through Ponyville. Birds chirped in the tall, green trees, and ponies went about their daily business in the busy streets with their bright colored houses.

She could see why ponies liked living there, it really was...a beautiful place. And then, staring at the happy little town, for the first time in quite a while, a large, bright, genuine smile broke out on Inkie Pie's face.