Life is kinda funny.

We live our lives, but life itself kinda does its own thing. So do we really, but life’s bigger so it affects us more; we don’t really affect it so much. We just go along with the flow in our own unique way, like fishies in the sea.

Life is funny, but it’s not a joke. Jokes have punchlines, which you can kinda predict. The most I can predict is what my Pinkie Sense tells me. I don’t think the filly me would have ever imagined finding the Elements of Harmony after leaving the family rock farm.

Which is why I find it a little funny that I ended up looking over a beaten Canterlot after a changeling invasion. I’m not being mean—the invasion was—but it’s not like I ever imagined being involved in a battle like that. It was scary, but I know that’s how life works. It’s our job to react in the best way we can.

Through the whole invasion, I had tried my hardest to put on a brave face for my friends. But now that Cadance and Shining Armor had saved the day with their magical love blast of power, I was feeling a li’l tired. A few things were in my mind, trying to grab my attention, and a Pinkie like me doesn’t feel too well when that happens. Makes it hard to focus on the important things like your friends, y’know?

So that’s why I was looking down at the streets of the city, way up high on one of the castle balconies. Leaning on the side, I wasn’t quite sure what to feel. Those icky cheeseleg bugs had ruined what was supposed to be a happy day for a happy couple, and that made me really mad. But what was even worse was that they hurt a lot of innocent ponies in their attack, and I felt sad for them.

Although at the same time, we fought them off and true love saved the day. And that was so great and made me feel so happy ‘cause it was so inspiring! But—

I sighed and rubbed my head, starting to feel thinky pains. Twilight said she sometimes gets them when she’s thinking too hard on some complicated math sums, and when that happens, she tries to do something else to give her head a time to cool down. I wasn’t sweating—actually it was kinda cold since Luna was getting ready to put the moon up—but maybe it could’ve done me some good.

The whole crazy cheeseleg battle had worn me out anyways. Party cannons are not easy equipment to use, even if they are tons of fun. I had to use explosive confetti ammo to fight off the nasty bugs, and trust me when I say that has a lot of kickback.

Rubbing my face, I turned away from the balcony and headed back inside.

Okay, it was time to find my friends. Dashie most of all. Maybe I could convince her to have some private cuddling time. I smiled at the thought, like I always do when I think of her.

I knew where they were, of course; waiting in the main wedding hall. They thought I had gone off to frolic in the castle garden’s flowers. It was a pink lie (a white lie except friendlier), but after everything we had all gone through, I couldn’t have them worrying about my muddled mind.

They were still sitting together, the Princess gone to do Princess-y things. Except Cadance, I think she went with Shining for snuggly times—snuggly times are probably part of the Princess job description too. But first…

“I’m back, girls!” I chirped, making my way over to them. They gave me tired smiles, plates of food in front of them.

“Hey Pinks,” Dashie said, calling me over with a wave of her hoof. I gladly popped down next to her, spotting that she had a nice salad sandwich.

“Aaaw, I missed dinner?” I pouted, my stomach feeling the rumblies.

Rarity chuckled quietly. “I wouldn’t really call it that. It was a light repast at most. Although I’m sure there’s a lot of spare wedding cake to go around.”

I giggled at that, ‘cause it was kinda funny. But I don’t think anypony else did. Dashie nudged me in the side, which made me aware enough to spot that Twilight was looking at Rarity, and that made Rarity look down at her sandwich.

I scrunched up my muzzle—doesn’t look like I’m frowning so much then—the awkward silence strangling the area around us. Ick.

Surprisingly, good ol’ Fluttershy broke the silence. “At least the sandwiches are nice.”

“Er, yeah,” Applejack replied, taking a bite of hers.

My stomach rumbled louder this time. Dashie poked me again, then pointed down as I stared at her. Then I saw that she’d given the rest of her sandwich to me! I smiled and slammed down on the edge of her plate, flipping up the sandwich and catching it in my mouth midair.

“Wow,” Dashie said. She’s seen all this stuff before, so I wasn’t worried by lack of anything ‘awesome’.

Sandwich in my belly, I was full for now. But the problem of the awkward silence was still persistent, like an itch you just can’t scratch. Luckily, I was brilliant at breaking the ice.

“So, what a day, huh?” I asked. Nopony really looked at me, and I just got a few nods and murmurs of agreement in return. I knew they were tired, but this was just worrying. It was time to step it up a notch.

“And we kicked major cheeseleg flank, didn’t we? Twilight was all like, fwoosh, bam, sizzle with her cool magic! And Rarity was kicking them super elegantly in the face! And then Dashie was all, zoooooooooooooo—”

Dashie’s hoof covered my mouth, and I held back the urge to kiss it. She’d kill me if I said this, but Dashie is soft. Like, baby’s bum soft.

Well, cuddly things could wait. Applejack was talking. “Sugarcube, maybe it’s best to hold back the enthusiasm until after we’ve all had a good night’s rest?”

Twilight was staring at me now, like she had at Rarity. Eesh. It was kinda unnerving.

“I’m just trying to cheer you girls up,” I defended, but I kept calm. Getting defensive would get them defensive, and then things would turn offensive. “I know it’s been a long day, but it’s not all bad—we won!” I threw my hoofsies in the air, throwing a little bit of confetti.

“Yeah, we know, Pinkie,” Dashie replied. “But, y’see, the thing is—”

“I’m going to get some rest,” Twilight announced, standing up. “Like Pinkie said, it’s been a long day.” Then she just kinda… left.

My ears lowered. I tried to reach out after her, but Dashie unhelpfully put my hoof down. Silly Dashie. Doesn’t she know when there’s a friend in need? Well, I guess she does, but…

“Let her go. Things have been… pretty rough today,” Dashie explained.

“Especially considering her brother was mind controlled by that… beast,” Rarity said, frowning with disgust.

“Y’all know what’s the worst thing?” Applejack asked us. My stomach turned. I could see the others wince. We all knew the answer. “This could’ve all been prevented if we had just heard her out in the first place.”

I held my tummy, feeling like I just got hit in there by my party cannon. Dashie and Rarity weren’t looking at anypony, while Fluttershy just fiddled with her hooves.

Again, I broke the silence. “We should go talk to her, girls.”

“We should, but there’s a time and place, darling.” Rarity held up a hoof before I could respond. “We’re all tired. A good night’s rest should give us time to formulate our words properly. This isn’t something we can just blunder into.”

I nodded and sighed. A very deep sigh. Like a whoopie cushion, but without the funny.

Dashie wrapped a wing around me. She felt warm and secure. Kinda what I needed right then.“You okay, Pinks?”

“Tired,” I answered. “Might go to bed and rest my head.” That little rhyme was funny, but it didn’t matter much right then.

“Yeah, me too.” Dashie patted me on the back, then stood up. I went with her, giving everypony else a small smile.

“Nighty night, girls. Don’t worry about bed bugs; I think we kicked all of their nasty little flanks.” I felt a little better seeing my joke raise a few smiles. Kinda like a weight that was clamped on my heart got a tiny bit lighter, y’know?

Dashie led me to the rooms we were staying in. ‘Cause she still had her wing wrapped around me, I guessed she wasn’t gonna let me sleep alone tonight. Dashie’s protectiveness over her friends is where her loyalty really shines. She just never shows it off a lot—that’s funny ‘cause her ego is like an airship. Really grand!

She took me to my room—well not really my room, just the one I had there—and we sat down on the bed. Not as bouncy as the one back at Sugarcube Corner, but it was comfortable enough, and big enough for the both of us.

Even with Dashie’s protective wing wrapped around me like a snuggly blanket, I didn’t really know what to say. I guess she didn’t either. We were probably still taking in everything that had happened that day, before trying to move onto the next. I sighed, deflating like one of my balloons, and flopped down on the bed.

“Hey,” Dash said, lightly rubbing my mane. “It’s over now, right?”

“Yeah. I’m glad it is, don’t get me wrong, buuuut…” I lazily waved a hoof around. “Long day, y’know? Maybe Celestia put up the sun longer so we wouldn’t have to fight in the shade?” The bad black bug busters could’ve hidden really well in darkness.

Dash snerked a little. “Yeah, probably. She’s cool like that.” She paused, then lay down next to me. “Something else is eating at you, isn’t it?”

I shuffled on the bed, trying to avoid her pretty eyes. But I just couldn’t. She was cuter than even Dinky, and I couldn’t bring myself to look away. I don’t like to talk about myself much because…

It’s hard to explain, ‘kay? Because it’s not like I dislike myself. I actually think I’m kinda neat. But I live for my friends, and I don’t think I should drag them down with my problems. And living for my friends is what I love to do, so living for them is living for me! You geddit?

Dashie was special though. She was probably the only pony who could break that and make me confess. And she could do it without a lamp.

“It’s just that…” I started, then stopped to pull her close. “I…” Licking my lips, my tummy trembled. “I could’ve lost you.” Even imagining it made me feel sicky, so saying those words… I shivered.

Dashie tightened her wing hug on me. “Hey, don’t worry about me. I’m super-awesome, remember?” After a small bit of silence, she added, “And so are you, so we were both fine from the beginning.”

I tried to smile, I really did. It never happened. Thing is, I could deal with any of my other friends—and I mean this in the nicest way ever, honest—passing. Dashie though… if she ever went, I dunno what I’d do. I’d be lost, and I haven’t been lost for a very very long time. Almost forever long.

I rubbed my eyes. No tears, Pinkie. It’s time to say it again. “I love you.”

“Love ya too, Pinks.” Dashie smiled.

And then so did I.

“How about we get some sleep, huh? Luna’s put the moon up, so that’s kinda our cue…” She stood up, then flapped her wings and hovered over the bed. Then she picked me up and used her hindleg to kick back the covers. I felt really warm inside as she tucked me in, then settled in next to me.

“Love ya, Dashie,” I said again. I just really wanted to ‘cause she’d done all that for me!

She grinned, patting down her pillow. “Yeah, I know. Hard not to love me.”

“I don’t think you get it, silly.” I giggled, then leaned forward and planted my lips on hers. Maybe I should’ve asked, ‘cause Dashie gets kinda awkward about these things. But right there, right then, I needed to show my love to her the best way I knew how.

Best thing was, she actually returned it! Okay, it was a teensy bit awkward. And yeah, she did look as pink as I did after. And yeeeah, she was mumbly and grumbly afterwards, but we had shared that kiss. That moment was ours.

“Night…” Dashie mumbled, turning over so her back faced me.

Smirking, I leeeeaned over and whispered in her ear. “Nighty night. Love ya.” I may have nibbled her ear afterwards.

Dashie grunted, her ear flicking. “Okay, Pinkie, I think I get the message by now.”

Peering over, I could see that her face was still red like a cherry. Giggling quietly to myself, I wrapped my legs around her and closed my eyes, my head resting against her. It was weird; while we slept together, the troubles of the world outside seemed like they were in a whole ‘nother dimension.

I didn’t mind too much. We’d go back after our trip together in dreamland. And then we’d make things better.

When I woke up, Dashie was still asleep, snoring away real cute like. She was also facing me now, her hooves wrapped around me. The grogginess that I had felt was instantly replaced by that warm happy feeling I had last night.

If I didn’t have a Pinkie Plan cooked up in my head already, I would’ve stayed and cuddled her. But when a Pie has things to do, they ‘just do it’. That’s Dad’s phrase, by the way. He used to say that a lot to me.

I slipped out of Dashie’s hug, then tipped on my hoofsies towards the door. It opened with a little creak, but Dashie’s snoring drowned that out. Hehe, silly Dashie.

The castle kitchens was where I was heading, ‘cause I had an important mission to fulfill: Operation Pancake, Code Twilight. I knew eating pancakes in the morning had cheered her up before, but she seemed to be feeling even worse than she was then! So there was only one thing better than pancakes in the morning.

Pancakes in bed!

Also my stomach was making the rumblies. That was something I had to sort out too.

Guards were awake already, unless they had taken the night shift or something. Either that or royal guard armor came equipped with special emergency coffee beans and a cute li’l mug.

I trotted down the loooong halls and soon found myself in the castle kitchens. I was kinda shocked to see that nopony was even in here. Not even a janitor with his trusty mop! Just how early had I gotten up anyway?

Shrugging, I skipped to the fridge to get ingredients for pancakes. Twilight never slept too much anyway. She liked to stay up so she could get the most out of her day. Just like me!

There was just one more thing I needed and luckily, it was hung up everywhere! Taking down one from a hook, I put it on. It was a chef’s hat (Rarity calls them a toque for some reason)! Wearing a chef’s hat always ups your cooking skill, duh. Why do you think chefs wear them in the first place?

Mixing bowl and cooking tools at the ready, I got to work, humming a chipper tune as I went about my business. I put my pancakes in a whole lotta pans and started flipping them about, sometimes even switching pans for each pancake, ‘cause I was just that good.

My ears twitcha-twitched and I glanced over at where the sound came from. Somepony was staring right at me, with a plate carrying a slice of cake in their hoof.

“Hi Princess!” I cried, bouncing over to her. “Whatcha doing down here?”

She looked at the cake, then at me, then the cake, then me again. “Early morning snack.”

“Those are always great!” I replied. “You doing okay after…” I waved my hoofsie around. “The thing yesterday.”

“Chrysalis may have knocked me down, but I’m far from done just yet.” Celestia split off a slice of cake with a fork and ate it. She was covered in a few bandages, but overall, she looked as radiant as ever. “And what might you be doing down here?”

“Making pancakes for Twilight.” Seeing Celestia’s eyebrow raise somehow urged me to explain. “It was a long day yesterday and…” I sighed as I faced the truth again. “We could’ve stopped a lot of that if we had just listened to her in the first place. Now she’s probably mad at us and feels really hurt.” The thought alone made my smile drop.

Celestia put her cake to the side and approached me. “No relationship is ever perfect, Pinkie Pie. Sometimes even the strongest of friendships slip up, and ponies make mistakes. Even I do. But what’s important is that the fire of friendship gives them the drive to move forward, and repair what was damaged.”

She gently put her hoof under my chin and raised my head, so I could look into her amazing eyes. She was warm, like being back home all snuggly in bed with Gummy. I still had to keep flipping the pancakes though. “This simple act of making pancakes is a good first step.”

I smiled, just a little. She was just so lovely and kind. “You think she’ll like them?”

“I do not doubt your cooking abilities.” She smirked and ate another piece of cake. “But it will show her that you still care, at least. That alone is a good start.”

My smile got bigger and I could smell that the pancakes were almost done. “Yeah, you’re right! And then we can have an apology party and—” Celestia nudged me gently and I stopped. Time to take a breath. “First step, right. We got to do some serious talking.”

Celestia nodded in approval, just as I flipped the pancakes right onto a plate.

“Pancakes are done!” I announced, then scurried over and inspected them. I took in a big whiff of that lovely smell, and I think I heard Celestia doing the same. “They look great! Now for the final touches.” I put the pans away and got out loads of different flavoured syrups, and sprinkles.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I could see Celestia gracefully start to make her exit. Quickly, I turned and held my hoof. “Celestia! Wait!” She stopped and spun to face me.

I gulped and hesitantly asked her a question. “Are… are you mad at me?”

She actually blinked at that, which made me blink ‘cause I didn’t expect it. “Why would I be mad at you, Pinkie?”

Okay Pinkie, deep breath… and go! “‘Cause I didn’t listen to Twilight which meant that everything that could’ve gone wrong did go wrong, and then you got hurt and then we tried to get the Elements of Harmony, but we failed so we didn’t even save the day like we usually do!” I finished and sucked in some air for my poor airbags.

“Considering the circumstances, and what you did to try and fix them, don’t you think it would be a bit unfair to get angry with you?” Celestia smiled and cupped my cheek. “My little pony, you did everything that could have been expected of you.”

“Are you sure?” I asked.

“Yes,” she replied.

But I still wasn’t convinced. “Pinkie Promise that you’re sure.”

Amazingly, I didn’t even do the gestures and she knew them already! “Pinkie Promise,” she said, with one of her Celestia Smirks.

“Well okey dokey lokey.” I started loading the finished pancakes onto a plate and tray. “I gotta get these to Twilight before they get cold. Thanks for the morning chat!”

Celestia smiled. Warmly. Duh. “Have an excellent day, Pinkie. Remember to take things easy and slow.” Then she took her cake and walked off with it.

Balancing the tray on my curly wurly puffy fluffy mane, I skipped all the way to Twilight’s room. There was only one little problem.

The door was locked.

Eugh, what was with my friends always locking their doors when they go to sleep? Don’t they want a sleepy snuggle buddy? Or breakfast in bed? Nevermind, ‘cause I had a plan: lockpicking!

I got out a strawberry flavored lollipop and proceeded to lick it down for a few moments.

Once I had chewed up the core, I put the stick in the lock and twiddled it about a bit. After a lot of trying, I succeeded and opened up the door. Twilight, of course, was sleeping away in bed.

Obviously it would’ve rustled her pretty bad if I had just jumped on the bed and shouted at her. So I got on the tips of my hoofsies and sneakily snuck around the bed, placing the tray just under Twilight so the sweet smell of the pancakes would gently wake her up.

She did take a whiff, but then she rolled over, which was not in my plans. Another thing that went unplanned was my tummy, which was starting to rumble. I bit my lip, staring at those delicious pancakes… I licked my lips.

Some movement in the bed (luckily!) distracted me. Twilight let out a tired groan and pulled up the covers to hide against the sun, which was shining down right on her. I grinned—Celestia is real good.

That meant that I could start getting Twilight to wake up, since she was gonna do that soon anyways. “Twiiiiiiiliiiiiiiight,” I whispered.

Another groggy groan. “Pinkie?”

“Yep. Morning, sleepy head,” I greeted her, but I was careful to make sure I said things softly.

Twilight sat up with a groan and rubbed at her eyes. “Is it morning already?”

“Yeah. Guess what I got you!” I pointed at the pancakes I had put just below Twilight.

She stared at the tray, blinking a couple times. I held back a giggle. “Pancakes?” she asked, with that snarky Twilightness she often has. Twilight Sparkle? More like Twilight Snarkle, am I right?

“Pancakes... in bed! It worked so well when you were all sad about that accident with your eyes, but you were feeling even worse yesterday, so there was only one thing better than pancakes in the morning to cheer you up,” I did a little twirl and presented the tray, “pancakes in bed!”

“Pancakes do sound good, I have to admit.” Twilight didn’t exactly sound enthusiastic about them, but she had just gotten up, so…

So she needed a little prompting! “Then eat up, silly! Then we can talk.”

“Do you have any for yourself?” Twilight levitated up the knife and fork, despite her grogginess, ‘cause she’s super great like that.

Oops. Kinda forgot about that. Oh well. “Nope, all for you!”

“I wouldn't mind sharing.” Twilight gazed at the big stack o’ pancake I had made for her. “It looks like there's plenty here. At least for me. Not sure about you though. And Celestia help us if Spike comes in...”

“It's all for you! Not for me,” I insisted.

“Well alright then.” Twilight stuck her cutlery in and got started. “Thanks.”

“No problem!”

I stood by and let Twilight chow down on the pancakes. Even if she got a little less tired, she never became really perky. She ate slowly and really didn’t pay attention to me.

I frowned, fearing the worst. “You okay? Didn't I use enough sauce? Are they too thick? Too thin? Too much pan and not enough cake?”

“No, they're perfect, really. Just a bit worn out from... everything.” Oh great, that was what I expected her to say. Imperfect pancakes were easy to fix, but I knew this was a whole different pan to fry.

It took me a couple seconds to realize I actually hadn’t said anything yet. “Yeah. Everything's a li'l crazy right now.”

“You can say that again.” Twilight stared at a piece of pancake on the end of her fork for a little bit before eating it. “And here I thought planning a wedding at the last minute was going to be the worst of my problems.”

I actually nearly repeated what I had said, but thankfully my brain held up the stop sign just before my mouth crossed the road. “Mhm…” I felt my ears lower and I exhaled a small sigh. It was enough with the fluff. It was time to say what I came here to say. What I had to say. “And, um, I just wanna say that I'm really sorry, Twilight.”

Twilight’s fork and knife stopped, but she didn’t look at me directly. “What for?”

“'Cause I didn't listen and believe you when you said something fishy was up, and because of that everything went way worse and ponies got hurt and your brother got mind confuddled for even longer and we all thought you were crazy and—” Pause for a breath. “—we could've stopped it all if we had just listened!”

There was a pause. Then a long sigh from Twilight. “Yeah, I wish I could say that didn’t hurt, or that it wasn't a big deal, but... it was.”

I nodded. But it was barely noticeable, and my mane sagged a little. “So if you wanna shout at me or throw a pancake in my face or something, I'll understand.”

Twilight stopped to think about it, which was better than an awkward silence, I guessed. “Even if I wanted to, I just don't have the energy for it right now. Besides, I don't think being mean to you would help with anything that happened.”

“Yeah…” I bit my lip and confessed, “Honestly, I didn't think those pancakes would help anything either 'cause it's already done with. But I made you them for you anyway, 'cause I wanted to, and you deserve some kindness right now.”

Twilight nodded slowly. “Yeah, thanks for that at least.” She absently ate a little more, cleaning her mouth with a napkin when she developed a chocolate moustache. “So why didn't any of you believe me? After everything we've done together? Doesn't my word mean anything to all of you?”

“It does! Really!” I exclaimed. “But—” I went down onto my rump, then scratched my head. “I can't speak for the others, but... I guess I didn't wanna believe that anything was gonna go wrong. I really wanted this wedding to the best for Cadance and your brother, and then that'd make you happy too.”

Twilight grumbled, readjusting herself in bed. “Kind of got the impression you were all wound up in the whole thing.”

“I'm not gonna make excuses.” I held up a solemn hoof. “I let myself get distracted, and that made me neglect your concerns, and I should've been a good friend and heard you out. But since I didn't, that makes me a bad buddy, and I'm super seriously sorry for that. If I could move the sun and moon backwards to go back in time and change everything that went wrong, I'd do it.”

Twilight made a grunt of agreement. “I guess I can forgive you then. It's just ... going to take some time for me to get over this. Given everything that happened.”

That was it. I couldn’t take it any longer. My body was literally crying out to me that I had to do this. “I'm sorry!” I cried, then leapt over and hugged Twilight.

She returned it… but it was kinda stilted. Like she was holding back. It wasn’t a happy hug. “We'll work through this, I promise. You girls are my best friends, and I don't want to lose that.”

“And I Pinkie Promise that I'll keep working at it until it's fixed.” I performed the usual motions. “I love you, Twilight—not in a Dashie way—and I don't wanna stop being friends ever!”

“Yeah, I love you too.” She smirked. It wasn’t as confident or as clever as the ones she usually did… but it was something.

I didn’t say anything else, I just wanted to hold and cuddle her. She was one of my best friends and I had just—just… ignored her! And now she was hurt because of it. Because of me. My stomach twisted and I squeezed her lightly. Call it a gut reaction.

I told myself to change subject. Start small, start casual, and build things up from there. Otherwise the dam was gonna break and that’d be messy; soggy pancakes aren’t tasty at all. “So whatcha gonna do today?”

“I'm not quite sure yet. I was thinking of seeing Shining and Cadance. And my parents. You know, check up on the family.” Twilight shrugged. “Maybe see Princess Celestia if she isn't too busy.”

“You should try talking to everypony else. I'm sure they really wanna say sorry too.” If I knew them like I thought I did (and I do), I was right in assuming that.

Twilight fidgeted a little, placing down her knife and fork. “Probably. I guess I wanted a bit of time to cool down. I was worried if I talked to them right now I'd just go off on them and go into a big rant. It might make me feel better, but…”

“At least ya didn't rant at me.” I rubbed her shoulder gently. “But you could. If you want to.”

“I'm just upset all of you didn't listen to me. It's like everything we've been through didn't mean anything because all of you just wanted to try on wedding dresses.” Twilight sighed again, then spoke a little more quietly, “Every time I come to everypony with a big problem, it seems like they ignore me more often than not.”

My heart skipped a beat when she said that. And not in the good way when Dashie flies by my bedroom window. “It's—um... how to explain it…”

“Explain what?” she asked, flicking her ear.

“Mind if I ramble a little? 'cause it's just a theory. And I don't even know if it'll fit yet.” Sometimes the ol’ Pinkie noggin gets a little crowded, ‘cause there’s so much in the world to think about. So I occasionally quietly ramble to myself to think things through. Some ponies might call it crazy but listening to myself helped me file things more orderly. Also I already had a reputation for being crazy. A crazy good time that is.

“Go ahead,” Twilight replied, waving a hoof.

“Okay, 'cause I think that maybe—just a teensy bit—we didn't listen 'cause we think you're really super and amazing and talented enough to handle anything life throws at you! You handled Nightmare Moon, the ursa, winter wrap up, saved us all from being Discord meanies... loads of stuff!” I frowned. Now that I had said it, it did sound like a really dumb excuse. “But, that doesn't excuse us from ignoring you and being really dumb so…” I sighed and rested my head on the bed. “I dunno.”

There was a moment of silence where nothing really happened. Twilight didn’t even eat the pancakes. We just sat and thought. Twilight would normally be like that, but this was more important—thinking with the heart.

“Doesn't mean I don't need the help of my friends when I ask for it,” she finally said, rubbing her foreleg. “It got pretty bad there for a while.”

“I know…” I rubbed my chest, feeling some pretty bad emotional heartburn. “I wish I knew what to do right now, 'cause I don't think an apology cake is gonna work right now.”

“Probably not,” Twilight agreed. “This might be one of those things that takes time.”

That sent a shiver down my spine. It sounded way too… bad. “Don't leave Ponyville because of us. Please.” I leant forward and nuzzled her, but she didn’t return it.

“I won't,” she enforced. “I promise. I'm not really into impulsive decisions like that.”

“Goodie. 'Cause I'd miss you a lot.” Things in the library just wouldn’t be the same without a dorky librarian to scare every time I hid in the bookshelves. And if Twilight went, that’d probably mean Spike would too, and I really like Spike. He’s cool.

“Yeah, so would I. I couldn't imagine my life without all of you.”

“Phew,” I whispered to myself. That was something. Twilight didn’t wanna leave, so we had a chance to patch things up before they got too sour. I felt the need for another hug, so I did so. And this time, she actually embraced it properly. It felt comforting.

“What do you want me to do right now?” I asked, still cuddling her.

“I don't know... maybe just be here for a bit.” Twilight rubbed the side of her head. “Yesterday was a long day.”

“I can definitely do that,” I replied eagerly, giving her a quick nuzzle. She gave one back, which felt very nice, and I flopped onto the bed beside her, resting on my back.

“It's going to be okay, right?” Twilight asked. I could hear the edge of nervousness in her voice.

“Me and you? The wedding? Or, like…” I dangled my hoofsies in the air. “Everything?”

“The first, then the second, and a lot of the third,” Twilight answered, pushing down my legs.

“The first: for sure.” That was an easy question! “'Cause I'd never give up on a friend.” I gave her a smile and continued, “The second? I dunno. Kinda depends on what Cadance and Shining are feeling like, right? And the third?” I nodded in the same way Twilight does when explaining a really hard math problem. “Yeah. I think the one kinda li'l good thing the whole big bad invasion showed was how tough we are, and how we'll keep fighting for goodness, joy and stuff like that.”

“I… guess?”

“I mean, that's why we're here, right?” I offered.

“I thought I was here to help arrange a wedding for my brother that I didn't know about until a few days ago.” Huh. Y’know, for a mare who’s so good at planning, you would’ve thought all her family was like that.

I giggled a little. And it felt kinda good to laugh again. “No, silly. Like, here in general.”

“That's a big question, Pinkie,” she said, smirking. “One I'm not allowed to get into since Princess Celestia forbid me to study philosophy without supervision.”

I blinked. “Really?”

“There… may have been an incident where I started studying existentialism, and then ran around the palace screaming ‘I'm not sure I exist!’” I could see a faint blush paint itself on her cheeks.

Cute as it was, I was very confuddled. “Extendalism?” I extended a lot, sometimes. Even if my body did things I was never sure about, I never asked myself ‘Well Pinkie, do you reeeally exist?’

“It's a school of philosophy. It's kind of complicated.” After a frown she added, “Very complicated. I’m not sure why I even wanted to study it. But I guess I didn’t have the benefit of hindsight then.”

“Oooooh right. Well I think that if you feel, you laugh, you smile, you're you.” My tummy rumbled, reminding me of my own existence. “And right now I feel hungry.”

Twilight pushed the tray my way. “You can have the rest if you like. I'm full.”

I was skeptical. I mean, I had made them just for her. “You suuuuure?”

“Couldn't eat another bite,” Twilight said, contently patting her belly.

“Okey dokey.” And then I unleashed the beast. The pancakes never stood a chance. The bed sheet didn’t either.

“Sure thing…” I think Twilight shuffled away from me a little. Couldn’t tell for sure. Too busy eating.

I was done moments later, covering my mouth to prevent a burp from coming out. “Mmmmm.” Resting against the bed head, I rubbed my tummy and looked at Twi. “Are you feeling any better?”

Twilight levitated the tray off the bed. “A little. Good enough to face the day anyways.”

“With a smile?” I asked, brimming with hope. “'Cause I think your smiles are really lovely.” Everypony’s smile tells a different story. Fact.

“Okay, a little smile.” Twilight meant what she said, smiling just for me. Her smile was great: getting across her amazing brainpower and wit while also revealing that she’s a mare who really loves to be around her friends.

“Yay, a Twismile!” I hugged her. Final Twihug of the morning, I reckoned. “I better let you get ready for the day, huh?”

Twilight gave me a hug back. Yay! “Yeah, I need to get cleaned up and everything. I think I just about collapsed when I got to my room.”

“I don't blame ya.” I hopped out of the bed and picked up the tray, putting it on my back. “I’m gonna go to the hospital and cheer some ponies up.” I decided a while ago that it was the best way to spend my day. Just because the battle was over didn’t give me a reason to just lay around and rest. A lot of ponies fought hard, and some got hurt, so it was up to ponies like me to help them feel better.

“Good luck with that,” Twilight said.

“I'll do my best!” I cheered, giving Twilight a firm salute.

She nodded and slided out of bed, stretching her limbs. “You always do. I’m always a little amazed at how you can constantly keep going but…” Oopsie. It looked like a yawn really wanted to get out of her. “I guess you’re Pinkie Pie.”

I snickered to myself. “That and working on a rock farm really develops your stamina.” That’s the honest truth, but I decided to hold off on telling Twilight that my sisters probably had more stamina than even I did. They were definitely stronger. “See ya later, Twilight. Hope that smile of yours gets even bigger soon.”

“I suppose that's two of us.” Twilight started heading towards a door. Probably her en-suite. “Have a nice day, Pinkie.”

“You too!” I chirped, then hopped out, feeling a little better going out than I did sneaking in.

Author's Notes:

While I realize a lot of this chapter isn't majorly RainbowPie... bear with me. Context cannot be ignored, especially in the aftermath of an invasion. Expect more though!