Pinkamena Diane Pie, or Pinkie Pie for short, is an earth-pony mare with a pink coat and hot-pink mane and tail. She sported curly hair and large sapphire eyes, a small but cute little muzzle and a cutie mark of three balloons, indicating that her special talent was partying. But the main thing that defined her character was her smile.

That thing could damn near put the sun out of business thanks to how often she does it. For that smile to go away is something that's rather concerning. I couldn't find myself being in a room without her showing those pearly whites. Which led me to question, why did she smile so much?

How could she smile so brightly all the time? It's almost annoying.

"Non-non! Are you up!?"

I turn over in my bed as I looked to the clock across the room. It was still early in the morning, reading a time of 8:24. While I would normally complain about how early this was, I find myself not saying anything at all. Not after the sleep I just got. From yesterday's running around and strutting across the town, I ended up going to bed exhausted and slept like a rock.

So this morning, I felt fully energized. I really felt great this time around. No grogginess, no signs of feeling cranky, no desires of shoving my fist into someone's mouth. Though the morning tents have started to become much more frequent. And boxer briefs aren't very good at hiding hard-ons, especially with how they could snuggle against your crotch.

But I guess that's the price of comfort.

"Non-non?"

Yawning and stretching, I called back to the pink mare. "Yeah, I'm awake."

"Then open the door, silly! I can't talk to you like this."

That's right. When she wants to talk to you, she wants to be in your face about it. But I was more reluctant due to the fact that my dick was still at half-mast. I needed to put something on before I answered the door. So I threw on the nearest pair of jeans I could find as quickly as I could so that I could hide my daily morning salute from view. Pulling up a pair of black jeans with studded back pockets, I quickly buttoned them and ran towards the door and allowed Pinkie to see me.

"Took you long enough, Nonny!"

Oh, you have no idea of what I have to go through on a daily basis. I doubt you even have a clue. "Well, I do have to put on a pair of pants to avoid any unwanted attention."

"Oh! And in speaking of attention..." Her eyes beam-lined from my face to my crotch. "Morning, little Nonny!"

DAMN IT PINKIE! "Eyes up here."

The pink mare giggled and snorted as she looked back up to me. "Poor little guy, can't even say hello."

Really, this was getting annoying. "Pinkie!"

"What? Even he has to come out of his shell sometime."

"That's not the point. That's never been the point. The point is-"

Pinkie giggled as she gave me a playful nudge. "You know, you should really think about another color. Maybe pink?"

I am NOT wearing anything pink. "What are you talking about? What brought this up?"

"Well, I'm just saying. Besides, gray seems to be a really boring and dull color. No wonder why little Non-Non looks so depressed all the time."

Did she just call my dick depressed? Wait, that's not the question that I should be asking. It should be more on the boundaries of 'how did you know that my underwear is gray?' They could be blue and you couldn't even know.

Pinkie blew some air at the crotch of my trousers and much to my surprise, I caught a breeze. I looked down to see what was going on and much to my surprise.

Thar she blows. Sails ahoy and lowered by starboard bow. Catching a mighty good breeze, captain.

"PINKIE! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THAT MY FLY WAS DOWN?" I asked red-faced while I covered my shame and zipped up my pants.

"What? Don't you think the little guy needs a bit of fresh air?"

I swear if this mare was teasing me to just fuck her into the ground in my sexually-deprived state, I might consider accommodating her. Different species or not.

"Pinkie, why do you torture me?"

"I don't mean to. I just like to have a little fun with you from time to time."

What kind of fun, if I may ask? "Um... Clarify?"

"Not that kind of fun, Nonzie." She answered with deadpan. "You're cute, but I really don't see myself that close to you... Not yet, anyways."

What the shit? She is such a tease! "Okay. So what are we doing today?"

Pinkie bounced into my room and pranced around as she started to talk. "Well, my sisters Inkie, Blinkie and Maud decided to pay me a visit tomorrow afternoon. So I needed to go to the town and get a few supplies for a party I'm planning to welcome the three into town."

And there's our bit of exposition for today. "So what kind of party did you want to plan? I know that you wanna do a welcome party, but what's gonna be the theme?"

"Well, I was thinking of something more rock related since my sisters came from the rock farm in Macintosh Hills. So I was thinking something more on the line of... I got it! The title of the party will be called: Fifty Shades of Gray!"

FUCK NO! "Um..." I swear to the God that I don't believe in, if I find so much as one vampire or one werewolf at this party, so help me... "Do you have a better name for this party?"

"Well, I was thinking about calling it Rocking Out in Ponyville, but-"

"Let's go with that!" Because I refuse to go to a party under the title of a fanfiction of an overrated piece of literature that managed to shell out even worse movies. That is not going to happen.

"Well... Okay! Whatever you say, Nons!" Pinkie found an interest in jumping in my bed as I started to grab some of my clothes and head for the shower. "I'll be right here waiting for you."

Do equines have any regard to the concept of privacy? I think they should if they can have separate bathrooms in a restaurant. "Pinkie... Get out."

"Aww..." She droned. "But I just wanted to see-"

"O! U! T! OUT!" I screamed, stomping my foot against the ground and pointing towards the door.

Pinkie giggled as she bolted out of the room, closing the door behind her. Meanwhile, I was left shaking my head as I thought about how dense she could be at times. But then again, her annoying the shit out of me was practically a way of life that I've gotten used to.

Pinkie was annoying, but she still wasn't as bad as Spongebob.

Oh God. I really hope he's not in this universe.

Later that morning, we spent quite some time at Sugarcube Corner to help Mr. and Mrs. Cake out with some orders. It seemed that they managed to draw in a huge early-morning crowd that day with the introduction of their newest treat: the lemon-meringue cupcake, deduced from their formula of the Marzipan-Mascarpone-Meringue-Madness, or MMMM for short, and shrinking it down to a third of the ingredients as well as a fraction of the size. It went without saying that the supply was far too little in relationship with the demand. We couldn't even get breakfast out of the way because we were so busy serving up food.

"Nonny, we need three more orders for lemon-meringue!"

"Got it!"

While Pinkie was busy jotting down orders, Mr. Cake and I was busy doing what we could to get the orders filled out. While I was skilled somewhat in the art of cooking, I was still somewhat inept in the art of baking sweets. Luckily, most of that process went to him instead. My job was more focused on what I could do on the decoration end.

That's where I had him beat. Where he could only decorate one cupcake at a time with his mouth or with both his hooves, I had the advantage of two hands, both capable of decorating the sweets at double the speed and almost three times the accuracy of what he could normally do. I guess hands have their major upsides when it came to stuff like this.

As soon as I finished with one tray of cupcakes, I placed them on the counter, ringing a bell and shouting out to the two mares outside. "One dozen, baked and dressed!"

As I'd made my way back to the dressing station, Mrs. Cake, or Cup for short, ran to the counter and grabbed the steaming goods. And in about fourty-five seconds, I managed to get yet another dozen cupcakes dressed and ready for takeout. Landing the next batch out on the counter, I ran into Pinkie as she held another ticket. This time, she smiled widely at me as she laid the ticket on the counter.

"Just a few more, Nonzie! I need about five dozen more so we can finish up!" She said as she trotted back to the front counter.

"You got it!"

While I started to make my way back to the dressing station, Mr. Cake, or Carrot for short, nodded his head and smiled as I started on the freshest batch of cupcakes he made.

"Gee, mister. You sure do work fast."

The small amount of praise boosts my spirits to a high after not being able to eat breakfast that morning. I nodded as I continued to dress the sweets with the meringue frosting. "Thanks. I try to make sure that I'm keeping up with you guys."

Carrot laughed a bit before turning back to the oven. "Actually, I'd like you to slow it down a bit. Any faster than this, you'd have to start dressing cupcake batter."

"Well we'll just have to keep things moving." I noted as I started to make my way to the counter with the newly dressed cupcakes.

Just as I laid the new batch down, Pinkie trotted into the kitchen. "Hey, Mr. Cake, you mind if I work in here for a bit?"

"Sure, Pinkie! I'll take over where you left off."

Carrot hurried from the stove and made his way to the outside of the kitchen, picking up the notepad that Pinkie held just previously. Meanwhile, Pinkie started filling up the pans full of cupcake batter. She seemed to be a lot faster than he was, being that he poured his in at a slower and more reluctant pace. Instead, she lined up all the empty pans and filled them with the paper cups before filling them up with batter as if it was in an assembly line.

Had it been her back here instead, I was going to look and feel like hell when we finished.

"How you doing over there?"

I stood on the side of the counter, legs crossed as I leaned over and shrugged. "Waiting on you."

She blinked with surprise. "You've finished all five of the orders?"

I shook my head. "No. I meant that I'm still needing to finish up four, but they haven't gotten out of the oven yet."

"Oh. Well keep up the good work!" She praised me with a smile.

As the minutes ticked by, Pinkie pulled out two more batches of cupcakes and in a minute and thirty seconds, I managed to dress both sets and have them out on the counter. I walked up to the counter and met up with Cup.

"Oh dear, you and Pinkie really make a good team back there!"

Feeling a little cocky, I touted my nose in the air a bit. "Yeah, we're okay, I guess."

"Do you know if Pinkie's busy? A young colt has been wanting to see her."

"Well-" My answer became interrupted with a pink hoof to the lips.

"Tell him that I'm gonna be really busy back here."

"Well, if you say so." Cup said as she walked back out to the front counter.

Pinkie removed her hoof from my mouth and sighed. "I guess we might not have time for breakfast after all."

I looked at the clock on the wall, reading that there wasn't much time left before the elevensies crowd. It seemed that the breakfast shift was definitely done for the day. "Yeah. Looks like it's all over for that."

"Sorry, Non-Non." She muttered gloomily.

"It's all good."

Pinkie started to look towards the back door and smirked as she looked back to me. "Hey, as soon as we finish, why don't we go on ahead and start our day together?"

"Playing hookie?" I asked, dumbfounded that she was willing to skip a day of work.

"Of course not, silly! Besides, I'm not even on the clock today. I just come here and help when I have free time."

Dedicated to her job because it helps makes others happy. That's what I'm assuming is gonna be her reason. "Howcome? You have the day off."

"I live here. This is my home. Yes, Mr. and Mrs. Cake owns the property, but I do have the entire place for rent. Whatever revenue I make on my daily shift, it goes back towards them. And if my tips are good, which they usually are, then I can plan parties. I also do catering and party-planning as well, so I do have a few bits coming in with each party I throw."

Doing something you love and getting paid for it. That's what I call a win at life. "Sounds pretty cool!"

The oven timer finally rang and Pinkie bolted over to remove the last two dozen cupcakes out from the sweltering heat of the oven. As she placed both in the dressing area, I readied myself to apply the frosting to the sweets. But she halted me and grabbed a bag of frosting so she could help me out.

"First to finish decides where we go out to lunch!"

Sounds good to me. "You're on!"

I pulled my bag up and started to push against the back end, priming a bit of frosting out of the tip. She looked at me and looked back to the bag she held before counting down.

"One-two-three-go!" She rushed out as she started to dress a cupcake. Despite her attempt to catch me off guard, I managed to clear out one row. I paid no attention to her as I tried my best to finish all of them as quickly as I could, but also making sure that they were somewhat presentable.

"DONE!" I shouted as I triumphantly slammed the bag on the counter.

I became satisfied of my work and, even more so, my speed. But as I saw one full tray of decorated cupcakes, I looked over to see just a single one dressed of twelve. But before I could even ask, she started to draw something on the side of my face with her bag.

"Hey, cut that out!"

"Aww! I wanted to draw a smiley face and now you ruined it!"

I wiped the frosting off the side of my face. "I thought we were racing."

"I know. But then I started to wonder how you'd look with frosting on your face!"

Typical Pinkie. "We still have to decorate those other ones." I noted as I licked the frosting off of my fingers.

"Ooh! I wanna taste!" She shouted as her tongue lapped at the frosting still smudged on my cheek.

"Eww... Slobber." I moaned as I tried to push her off, to which she retorted with a giggle.

"You know, you won the race. So that means you decide where we get to go to lunch!"

She must've gave me the race on purpose so she'd make up the fact that we missed breakfast. That's what I'm going with. "Okay. But I still don't know the town quite like you do. So I'll let you choose."

"Okie-dokie lokie!"

As she started to make her way to the back door, I tugged at her tail, trying to point her back to the pan of unfinished cupcakes. "Buuuut, not before you finish your cupcakes first."

"Sure thing." In almost an instant, she had the unfinished tray and the dressed cupcakes at the takeout counter, fully prepped and ready to go. All of which was done in what I perceived was a pink blur. She didn't even give my jaw a chance to drop as she pulled me along the way, out the back door and into the streets of Ponyville, where we would spend the rest of our day.

After a decent lunch and a quick break, Pinkie dragged me to the open market on the southern end of town. She seemed so cheerful as she sprang towards the first vendor to buy the confetti. While she gleefully hummed, I watched from behind as she approached the kiosk.

"I'd like the super-spectacular-surprise-size please."

The mare behind the desk pulled out a large bag of confetti, just about the size of Pinkie Pie's body and laid it out on top of the counter. "Big party coming up?" She asked casually.

"You know it!" Pinkie cheesed brightly as she motioned me to come over and help.

"So what's the big occasion?" The vendor asked as she exchanged the goods for bits.

"Actually, my sisters are coming to town! AHH!" She cheered as she became just as giddy as usual, if not more. "I can't wait until they actually get to meet my friends for the first time. And they'll get to meet Inkie and Blinkie for the first time. And Maud already knows them. So now I know that my big sisters will meet up with my best friends, and they'll both end up becoming friends like they are with Maud!"

I can see why she was so excited now. Her focus was trying to get her sisters and her friends to come into one gathering. She wanted the two parties to get to know each other. And certainly with the fact that Maud and the others were already friends, I guess it does make sense how the other two siblings could also become 'in like' of the other girls.

And then parties happened.

"So, have you heard the rumors?" The vendor asked Pinkie.

"What rumors?"

"Well, from what I heard, you have an admirer."

Pinkie blew air from her lips at the thought of her 'admirer'. "Well, as long as he's willing to treat me right, then we'll be okay."

Where did that come from? 'Treat me right?' That sounded almost... nah. She's probably referencing that one guy who slept with her and never called back. Fucking bastard.

"Well, I hope that you have a good day, Pinkie!"

"Thanks a bunch! Be back if I need anything else!"

While the vendor waived back at me and Pinkie, I started to carry the large bag of confetti back to Sugarcube corner as she continued her shopping.

"Nonny, where are you going!" She asked me, stopping me in my tracks.

"I can't carry too much with this in the way, I have to bring it back to Sugarcube Corner so I can help you shop some more."

"You'll be fine. Besides, I won't have you carrying too much."

Something tells me that I'm going to regret if I have to stop somewhere. Cause if we stop, I'm putting this bag down. "Are you sure?"

"I'm positive!" She nodded as she pulled on my arm, directing me towards another kiosk. The next vendor was for balloons and streamers.

Despite my time here and my adaptation to the daily commute of the market, I felt that this amount of venue-hopping was absurd. I know that there's a separate vendor for each because each pony specialized in creating the goods that they sold, but at least they could pool their resources into a superstore where we could just grab what we needed in one go. But then again, that's just the corporate outlook on things rather than the social outlook. At least here, we could see exactly who it is that makes our goods rather than confront a store and make a complaint if things don't function properly. Then there's the process of recall, shipping, all that other bullshit that I don't feel like explaining.

I already have to carry a big bag of shit. I am not going to exhaust myself further by going into details.

"Hey there, Pinkie! Got another party today?" The stallion behind the desk asked.

"No. It's for tomorrow!" Pinkie corrected. "Can I get the super-mega-amazingly-awesome-deluxe package?"

That's a mouth full. Do they really carry those sizes?

"Sure thing, ma'am!"

Pinkie looked back to me with a large smile, her teeth as bright as ever. I smiled back, despite my struggle to keep this bag from falling out of my grip. But suddenly, her attention seemed to look past me...

That's where her smile faltered for the first time today.

Despite her positive self, she managed to find something that didn't seem to click well with her. I turned around to see what it was, but all I could see was ponies walking across the street, carrying on their daily commute. Suddenly, Pinkie's voice caught my attention.

"Hey, do you think... you could just speed it up a teensy-bit? I really gotta get this stuff and go."

"Sure. But what's the rush? Party's tomorrow."

"Yeah, but you never know when you need to throw a party a day in advance." Pinkie said as she pulled out a sack of bits and counted out the amount to cover the price of the goods.

As the vendor finished gathering everything, she tossed the smaller bags of balloons and streamers to me as she dropped the bits at the counter. The pony behind the counter waived goodbye, but Pinkie was more focused on dragging me towards the next venue.

She still smiled at me, but this time I saw something that wasn't exactly her. I saw anxiety, fear even. She was scared of something and I didn't even know what it was. Her eyes even showed hints of it, though they were subtle. As she pulled me, I had noticed that her grip had gotten a little tighter. Even the speed at which we walked was a bit faster. Pinkie was either hiding something that she didn't want me to know about or she was trying to avoid something. Either way, this concerned me.

We had reached the third vendor for today. It seemed that this one was for the noisemakers. Among the kiosk, I saw an assortment of poppers, bells, whistles and shakers among other things. As she approached the counter, her greeting seemed shortened.

"Hey there. You mind if I get the largest pack of party favors you've got?"

The colt behind the counter smiled as he pulled out a rather large box of goods. "Sure thing, Ms. Pie! Will that be all for you?"

Pinkie giggled, but not nearly as much as she would on a regular basis. "Please, just call me Pinkie."

"Sure thing."

As she pulled out the sack of bits she turned around to me, wearing a smile. There was no fooling me this time. And even as she looked to the busy street behind me, her smile soon became replaced with shock. Not even counting the bits, she threw the sack on the counter and pulled the box onto her back and started to pull me into the opposite direction of where we were originally headed. Meanwhile, the colt at the kiosk was calling back for Pinkie.

"Ma'am, you overpaid!"

Pinkie didn't bother to look back as she screamed to him. "Keep the change!"

Something was completely off now. There's no way she would be this reckless with the funding of a party. We still had to go to the places that sold cups and drinks, the place that sold the cool, little party games and even somewhere else where we had to buy the banner, plus the paint. We were missing a lot of things and she wasn't stopping to correct that either.

"Pinkie, what's going on?"

She didn't answer me as we finally slowed down in another part of the market, far from where we needed to go to get our supplies.

"Pinkie?"

A long silence drew between us as she looked back to me with a weakened smile. "It'll be alright. We did manage to get some things for the party. And plus the party is tomorrow. I can always finish my shopping then."

This was far from Pinkie's normal demeanor. I know I'm stating the obvious but if you could see the worry that filled her eyes, then you'd be as shocked as I am now. As we started to make our way back to Sugarcube Corner, we were stopped by a voice calling out to Pinkie Pie.

"Pinkie! Hey!"

We looked over to see who it was. Much to our relief, it was one of the flower vendors. Pinkie walked up to her as she put on her best fear-hiding smile, which was strangely convincing. "Hey Rose, what's going on?"

"Pinkie! I've been wonderful! How's everything at the bakery going?"

Small talk is pretty much where this conversation was headed as I struggled to keep my balance with all of the stuff I was carrying. The large bag of confetti had started to slip from my sweaty grip and my hands weren't going to dry against the plastic either. As I continued to make sure I didn't drop anything, I listened in on their conversation.

"...But aside from that, Mr. and Mrs. Cake are doing just fine." Pinkie finished.

"Well that's good to hear. But I do have some news for you!"

Pinkie seemed to have cheered up a bit. "Really, what news?"

"Well, I met a colt just earlier this morning. Not only was he sweet and generous, but he was also quite mannerly."

"Really? That's great news."

"Yeah, for you."

Pinkie tilted her head with curiosity. "What do you mean?"

"Well, he purchased a bouquet of flowers for you earlier this morning and told me to hold on to them until I ran into you."

I wasn't sure of the facial expression Pinkie had as she stood motionless at the front of the kiosk, but I know that it wasn't good. Followed her long state of silence, Pinkie nearly yanked my arm clean off as she pulled me towards the nearest alley. I found myself barely able to hold on to anything while I tried to keep up with her. As we turned a corner, the sun disappeared from view. Running into a dead end, I saw that there was only one way out: the way we came. I looked over to Pinkie, who's mane had somewhat deflated.

Not a good sign.

"Pinkie, you alright?"

She looked back up to me with one of the weakest smiles she could ever produce as her eyes ran cold with fear. "I'm fine."

"That's a lie." I chided her, gently placing all of the stuff I carried down on the ground. "You don't act like this on any other given day."

"Look, we really need to get this stuff back to Sugarcube Corner, okay?" She definitely sounded as if she was trying to avoid something. Though I couldn't figure out just what it was.

"Pinkie, look. We can get this stuff over there in a bit. But I'm not moving another inch until you tell me what's going o-"

"Pinkie?" I heard from behind me. "Pinkie Pie, is that you?"

Correction: she definitely was trying to avoid someone.

I turned around to see a brown stallion with blue eyes, slowly walking up to us. And with the way Pinkie was acting, I have a funny feeling that I shouldn't like the fact that he's here.

"Oh... Hello, Caramel." Pinkie whimpered.

Yup, the ex that slept with her and never called after. Dicks like these are always a reminder of why I should never be too happy with just sex alone. The emotional baggage this mare carried because of him was more than enough to produce it's own gravitational pull. And right now, my fist was more than attracted to the possibility of meeting his face.

"Pinkie, I've been trying to talk to you all day! How's it been?" He asked, trying to sound as if he was being genuine.

Pinkie backed away into a wall as she looked to him with a scared expression, seeming as if she was familiar to this situation before. "I-I-I'm fine."

He walked up even closer to her, causing me to instinctively stand between the two of them. But just as I started to do so, Pinkie called out to me. "It's okay, Nondis. I can handle this."

The stallion named Caramel soon became face to face with her, raising a hoof to her chin. "I haven't seen you in over a year since our little breakup. What happened?"

You stopped talking to her after you had sex with her, that's what happened. Jackass.

Pinkie turned her head away from him, escaping the support of the stallion's hoof. "I... I just wasn't ready to see you again."

The stallion then politely guided her head back to himself. "Pinkie, you look absolutely stunning."

"Please don't." I heard her voice breaking as she avoided looking at him.

And just like that, Casanova decided to lift her chin up to his face, growing even closer to her. "Look, I'm sorry about what happened back then. I swear that it will never happen again. I promise to pay more attention to you. Come on. I know you've been lonely."

"I'm fine." She replied very weakly.

"No you're not. I've heard about your recent party binge. You know, the slew of parties that you threw without even sending me as much as an invite. I missed you, Pinkie."

"Stop... please."

"And I wanna show you just how much I've missed you."

Alright, that's fucking it! I can't take this bastard, fuck-dicklet anymore. Interrupting, I called out to the cornered mare. "Pinkie, who's this?"

The stallion reluctantly turned around and gave me a nod as he introduced himself. "I am Caramal, Pinkie's coltfriend."

"Ex-coltfriend." I corrected.

"Ex-coltfriend." He reworded. "But I am here to make amends to our past relationship and start back anew. If it's okay with you, we would be leaving now."

"Well, jackass, I don't see that happening."

"Good sir, my name is Caramel."

"Right! Jackass! J-A-C-K-A-S-S. That's how you spell your name, right?"

The stallion gave off a snort as he started to take his attention off of Pinkie and walk towards me instead. "Sir, I will have you know that what we do is none of your business. So if you don't mind leaving, that would be your best option because what she and I do, our relationship, it doesn't concern you."

"Pinkie's my friend. Nuff said."

"Non-Non, please..." I heard Pinkie whisper out to me.

"Look sir, I'm asking you nicely. Now sod off."

"Do you have any medical issues in regards to your loins?" I asked.

"Why is my stallionhood any of your concern?"

"Well, it seems that you have a bit of a performance issue."

The stallion snorted. "I believe that my performance is more than adequate. If you wish to know any details, then feel free to ask that mare in the corner." He stated, pointing to Pinkie Pie. I really wanna pummel the shit out of this guy.

"Well, here's a little hint you can use to increase your shitty-ass performance. What you do, limp-dick, is go to the nearest drugstore, ask for something called viagra and it will help you GO FUCK YOURSELF."

"Nondis..." Pinkie called out once more.

"I have had it up to my muzzle with you sir. If you do not back down, then I will be forced to take action."

I took two steps towards him, grabbed my balls and thrusted towards him. "Uh-huh. Your mom got some of this action, and my dick is still on her mind more than her dick-headed son."

"You little..." He seemed ready to cock his hoof back for a punch. Meanwhile, I was so infuriated over how he practically called out Pinkie in the most obscene manner, I was far from making this a fair fight. If I was going to fight him, I was going to make sure I had something blunt to hit him with. And in the corner of my eye, I could see an old piece of wood

"Hey batter-batter! Start swingi-"

All in a blur, I could see the distance increasing between the two of us. I could only feel my arm nearly being yanked out of it's socket as Pinkie tugged me along to the street. As soon as we reached the open air, she broke way for Sugarcube Corner, all while dragging me with her. And as we moved along, I could still see the stallion looking back at us, angry that his chance at Pinkie had been foiled by me.

But as the distance grew far between me and the stallion, I couldn't help but to feel a wave of relief wash over me. I can sure talk big, but even then, fighting an equine was something I didn't know how to do, let alone an earth pony breed.

Somehow, I feel as if had gotten myself into a pretty big mess.

Throughout the day until late in the evening, we fixed up much of the bakery on our own in hopes of minimizing the amount of money Pinkie had to spend tomorrow in order to purchase the other things we didn't buy for today. As we did, Pinkie seemed less than her stellar self. I couldn't even see Pinkie as the pony standing before me now.

Her mane had partially deflated and had remained that way since we met up with her ex. Even my attempts to get her to smile resulted in nothing more than failure. She continued to wear that frown all while we planned this party.

I tried to ask her what the history was between them, but she ignored me each time I brought it up. Each time I tried to get her to speak, she'd move to a different part of the room, trying to set up a party. Instead of her opening up like she normally does, she shuts me out. It scared me.

"Pinkie... I need some help with this table." I said, causing her to walk over and quickly maneuver the table to the far end of the room, leaving the center of the bakery as an open floor.

When we finished moving the table, she found herself working someplace away from me. And each time I walked towards her, she shied away from me.

I know this: whatever that guy did to her, she's still feeling it whenever she sees him. Pinkie was traumatized beyond my comprehension. And there was nothing I could do or say as long as Pinkie remained quiet. I wanted to help her, but I can't force her to do something she doesn't want to do.

I hated it. I hated him. I don't even know what he did to her, but I know I'll hate it when I find out.

Pinkie found me mumbling about him as my mind became enamored with the thought of him. As I worked, when I thought of him, I started to slam things. When the ghostly image of him staring down Pinkie Pie replayed in my head, I tightened my grip, even when I wasn't holding on to anything. My nails dug into the skin of my hands as my body shook with contempt of him.

"You shouldn't let your mind wander." She whispered to me softly. "Especially with him."

Those were the first words she spoke to me since we had gotten back. "Who is he?"

She shook her head, walking towards the opposite side of the room. "Somepony I love. Somepony I hate. Somepony who caused me pleasure and pain. A bad relationship."

I scoffed at how cryptic she became and rushed over to her. "You call him being manipulative 'love'?"

She stopped working all together as she sat on the floor, clenching her eyes shut so that she didn't have to look at me. "I used to." She whined weakly.

I offered to give her a hug, but found myself pushed away. "Pinkie, let me help you."

"No thanks. I'm fine."

Now my anger had started to direct it's attention towards her. "No. That's a fucking lie. You don't just run around town trying to avoid someone if they aren't an issue. Now what did he do to you?"

"HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU NOT TO ASK PERSONAL QUESTIONS LIKE THAT!?"

I flinched at her harsh words. It was true that she did warn me about not asking her anything personal, but this was something I had managed to get myself into out of my desire to see her happy. And the one time her smile falters is because of the mentioning of Him.

I refuse to identify that guy by a name. To do so would leave a bad taste in my mouth.

"Pinkie, I just wanted to help you-"

"You can help me plan this party. Nothing else."

A prolonged period of silence grew between us as we stood motionless. I didn't want to delve deeper if she didn't want me to, but I wanted to. I wanted to get to the root of everything that made her like this. I can't stand it anymore.

Without a single word, I resumed back to my duties. Pinkie just stood where she did, looking at me as I swept the floor. Finally getting busy, she walked into the back of the room and opened up the box she carried in when we arrived back shortly. As she started to pull out some of the party favors and sort them out, she called out to me.

"Do you still have those streamers?"

"Yeah. I pretty sure I..." Dropped it all back when we were back at the alley before ol' dude decided to pay Pinkie an unwanted visit. And along with the streamers were the balloons and the confetti. "Fuck!"

"What?" She asks, turning to me.

"Pinkie, I'll be back in a sec." I said as I made my way outside.

"Where are you going?" She asked, seeming distressed.

"Out."

The sun had long since disappeared beyond the horizon. The sky was now a mix of orange, purple and black as I frantically searched the streets for the one alley we stopped by. Fortunately, it wasn't too far of a walk from the bakery. But still, night never really was an open invitation to walk on my own.

Thankfully, it didn't take me too long to find a large bag of confetti sitting at the side of the road. I kicked myself into high gear and ran towards the alleyway. Taking inventory, I noticed that all the balloons and streamers were at the very back of the dead end, a place I didn't recall placing them at.

This was a trap, and I fell right into it.

I turned around quickly to see if there was anyone standing behind me. And much to my suspicions, there He stood. I didn't have time to play games, and there was no way I was going to let him get the better of me. I know I suck at fighting, but at least I will go down swinging.

I took a step to my left, he took a step to his right to cut me off. I took a step to my right, he took a wider step to his left. I tried to fake my way to the left again, he didn't fall for it. I made another step to the left, he didn't have to move much. I waited for about a few seconds to see if I could get an opening, but he moved first. Caught off-guard, I took a step back, he took two steps forward. I started to slowly feel against the wall to my right.

"Looking for this?" He inquired, knocking a long piece of wood off of the side of the wall where he stood.

As the wooden object hit the ground, I could literally hear my mind cry out to me in a grand chorus. "Oh shit."

In less than a second, my legs shifted to my right, but not before his hoof came in contact with my right cheek, barely grazing it. All of this happened before I could get a hold of my footing. I fell backwards, my head coming in contact with the cobblestone road below. I felt my entire body jolt with electricity as the world went black for the fraction of a second. The world around me seemed to sparkle as I was laid out on the ground. I didn't feel any pain. I couldn't feel anything at all.

But without my knowledge, my body acted on it's own. Adrenaline pumped through my veins and propelled me of the ground. I didn't feel myself get up, I just did. I had no control over what was going on with my body as my head turned to my left to see if my hands were still operational. The fingers of my hands stretched far outwards and flexed, almost machine-like, as they notified my brain that my left hand still had functionality. My head turned to my right, seeing the same thing as my body started to yield control back to me. My right hand did the same as my left. Finally registering that my hands were still functioning properly, I slowly stood back up.

"You... you weren't supposed to be here. You're not the one I wanted to come here."

While I still tried to mentally recover from that little scare, I staggered back to a more solid stance to take him on with. A slight headache threw me off, as I slowly made my way to the back.

"I wanted Pinkie, not you."

Finally recovered from the unfamiliar experience, I spoke to him. "Pinkie doesn't want you. Leave her alone."

"No. You should've left things as they were."

As he walked closer to me, I still questioned him. "Why? Why her? What did she ever do to you? What did she do to deserve what you did to her?"

He stared at me with a blank expression. "That's none of your business."

I felt my headache become even worse as my body filled with rage. I charged at him, winding back a strong right hook. He countered with a sweeping back leg, knocking me back into the ground. Walking over towards me, he bucked me in my side as I was down. An immense amount of pain filled my body as my arms were nowhere near shielding me from any blows. He promptly followed his attack with a few strikes to the side of my head, causing me to become disoriented. I tried to swing at him, but my equilibrium was so out-of-whack that I ended up hitting a wall instead.

He laughed as he stood over me, mocking me. "You see now? It's absurd that you would come and challenge me like this, especially when you yourself can't even hope to defend yourself. What makes you think that you can defend somepony else?"

"I... don't have to win... to stand up for someone." I slowly dragged out. "I just have to stand back up."

"You're just as stupid as that dumb, pink whorse."

"Fuck... you..." I barely spoke out to him.

"Excuse me?"

I took back to my two feet, but couldn't stand on my own strength. I used the wall to prop me up as I set my sights back on the asshole in front of me. "Fuck you.... Pinkie is... beautiful, incredible... cute... awesome, kind, smart... funny... she's real. And you're just some asshat who happens to have mommy issues. You smile and you snicker, but you tear down others for your own amusement."

The stallion, a blur in my eyes, laughed a bit as he stood before me, making his way towards me. "I think I might have hit you a little too hard. You're delusional."

Like a drunken alcoholic tossed out of a bar, I ran towards him screaming my lungs out. "WHO GIVES FIVE FUCKS FOR WHAT YOU THINK!?"

As I felt my fist becoming intimate with his face, I felt a hoof dig deep into my stomach. Completely out of air, I collapsed and fell over. Despite the fact that I lost this fight, I could proudly say that I managed to get a lick in. At least it wasn't a total curb stomp.

As I lied defeated on the ground, the stallion rubbed his jaw as he looked upon me with dejection as cold as the blue in his eyes. "That hurt actually."

Sending a hoof to the side of my head, the last things I heard was the sound of impact, a low docking sound followed by a high-pitched ringing and the muffled sound of him yelling at me. I couldn't make out the words, but I know that he was belittling me.

And as my vision faded in an out of view. I could see him standing over me. One flash later, I saw the shadow of another pony attacking him. One final glimpse of the world later, I saw three of them attacking him...

I couldn't tell what was going on anymore as I faded from consciousness altogether.

I had awoken in a rather comfortable bed. Unfortunately, that was the only comfort I was feeling. Everything else about me was just sore. Even as I opened my eyes, the light seemed to make my headache worse than before. Squinting became my only source of salvation from the sharp contrast of light. I had looked around me to see where I was but the only thing I could see was pink. Pink dressers, pink closets, pink bed posts, pink sheets. Everything just looked like if Pinkie Pie had a can of paint and just went to town.

But I noticed that there was a significant set of standouts in this room aside from myself. Surrounding me were three gray mares, all three a different shade of gray. More notably, one with a straight, lavender mane and a dark grey dress stood directly over me with an unchanging expression, startling me.

"He's awake." She said in a monotone moan.

"AH!" I shouted, unfamiliar with the mare who stood over me so closely. "Who are you?"

"...Sorry about that." The mare hummed. "As far as where you are, you're in Pinkie's room."

Okay... not the question I asked, but progress is progress. "Okay... who are you?"

One of the other mares walked up to me, she seemed a bit more lively than the first. "Sorry we haven't introduced ourselves. The mare you spoke to first was my younger sister, Maud."

"Hello." She droned out as she lifelessly shifted her head. I think it was a nod.

"The other one over there is Blinkie." She said as she pointed to the bluish-gray mare with silver hair on the other side of the room.

"Nice to meet you." She said with a smile. It seemed that she was a normal one. Far more energetic than the others.

"And I'm Inkie." The all gray mare said as she pointed to herself. "I'm sure that you've met our baby sister, otherwise you wouldn't be here."

"Baby sister?"

The mare named Maud stepped towards me. "Pinkie. You know, pink coat, pink mane, eyes like mine."

No way in frozen hell these three are sisters to Pinkie Pie. These three mares are blood to the pony who seems to run on fucking dark matter. Well, color me surprised. "So... you three?"

"Yeah! And Pinkie's been speaking very highly of you since we brought you in." Blinkie cheered, walking towards me.

"To hear that you managed to defend her against her ex-boyfriend... to protect our little sister. It means a lot." Inkie added as she started to walk towards the door that led to the outside hall.

Unexpectedly, I feel a set of hooves firmly grasp my still sore body tightly. Maud spoke in her usual monotone voice, but taking on a slightly higher pitch. "You mean the world to our little sister. And you've done us a tremendous favor. It's not everyday where a colt will stand up for our baby sister."

The door broke wide open, revealing a familiar face. Only this time, her entire face was covered in hair. Extremely straight hair. Pink mane, pink coat, and three balloons on her flank, yet this was a totally different Pinkie that I was seeing. One who's face was covered in tears. Her eyes showed the restlessness she held as looked at me. A scream erupted as she bolted towards me at breakneck speed.

While I still suffered from the pain of my wounds, it seemed that hers had managed to reopen. Clutching onto my bloodied shirt, she held onto me, not wanting to let me go for even a second. Her muffled sobs vibrated against my chest as she constantly apologized to me. I tried to calm her down, but she was more happy that I was okay.

"Pinkie was scared to death when we came and got you." Inkie said as she finally closed the door.

"You were unconscious when we saved you." Blinkie added.

At this point, I was morbidly curious. If they managed to save me from one of Pinkie's exes, then what happened to him since he was a repeat offender? "So... what happened to ol' dude?"

Maud, in an unexpected turn of events, clenched her teeth as she spoke more about him. "He hurt Pinkie, a lot and often. He even violated her a number of times. And since we last met, we decided that we would spare him if he had left our sister alone... But he..." Maud's tone didn't change at all but from the way her teeth clinched against her words, I could tell that she was very upset. "He tries this again. So this time, we sent him packing."

"To where?"

Blinkie smiled happily as she cheerfully admitted his whereabouts. "Ponyville General Hospital. He's on life-support even as we speak." She answered innocently.

You know, I'm finding out that Pinkie's sisters, just like her, are all their own genre of crazy.

"Ouch. So I'm guessing you've three met him before?" I asked as Pinkie shifted on top of me, burying her muzzle into my shirt.

Inkie spoke up first. "Yes. Under similar circumstances. Only last time it was directed towards our baby sister."

I didn't think that I could press the mute button on the entire world fast enough to gather my thoughts on what she just said to me. Did I just hear that Pinkie Pie, the happiest mare I know, the one who never stops smiling, was actually abused? "...Pause."

Blinkie sighed heavily. "Pinkie never told you, did she?"

I shook my head, unsure on what I could say in response. I could only verify what Pinkie had said to me rather than what I was now figuring out. "Pinkie told me that he just... got intimate and never talked to her again, pretty much abandoned."

Maud quickly stepped in. "By 'get intimate', you mean forced intercourse. And by 'abandoned', you mean forced apart. Pinkie was willing to stay with him if it meant to make him happy, but we had to explain to her that obtaining his happiness with the exchange of her physical health was non-negotiable."

I felt my entire being sink further into the ground as the news came blitzing into my ears. It was a cruel reality that I didn't know could transcend dimensions: the abusive relationship.

Pinkie tightened her grasp at my shirt, still sobbing softly as she rested on top of me.

"Nondis!?"

Familiar voices called out to me from the bottom of the stairs, seeming to gain volume as the sounds of hooves running across the floor. In seconds, the door swung wide open to reveal another five visitors. Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Twilight all breathed collective sighs of relief as they found me responsive and functional. And of the five, four of them rushed to my bedside to wish me well.

"I can't believe you did something like this!" Fluttershy said in shock.

"You're an absolute mess! At the very least you're alright." Rarity said as she offered to tend to my bruised face.

"What in alfalfa were y'all thinkin' bout pullin' a stunt like that!? Ya had us worried sick!" Applejack scolded.

"Us?" Rainbow Dash said, trying to downplay the fact that she was still worried about the state I was in. "I knew from the start that he would be fine!"

Rarity stared at the cyan pegasus with bemusement. "That coming from the mare that started stating the worst-case scenarios, making Pinkie Pie even more terrified?"

"Well... I still wasn't as bad as Twilight. She was having an episode when she realized that Nondis didn't report in." Rainbow rebutted.

As the four others bickered amongst each other, I saw Twilight still standing in the doorway. She didn't even look at me. I wanted to say something to her, but she turned around and walked down the hall.

I knew that this was going to be a long walk home.

Later that very early morning, Twilight and I walked towards the castle, not exchanging a single word. As we walked into the dimly-lit halls of the palace, she stayed in front of me, never taking a glance back at me. She acknowledged that I was there, but she refused to respond or speak. The only thing that I heard during the trek to my room was the sounds of her hooves constantly clopping.

By the time I had managed to get to the door to my room. She started to walk down another direction. I quietly nodded to her, telling her goodnight while reaching out for the doorknob. But my reach was disrupted by a magenta glow surrounding my hand.

The glow didn't just hold me, it encircled my fingers with a gentle warmth. The palms of my hand tickled as the colorful flame cradled every inch of my skin, cherishing the very flesh that still hung to my body. I looked back to Twilight, seeing her horn glowing amidst the darkness of the halls. An ethereal hum sounded as she hid her eyes away from mine.

I knew that I have put her through a lot with this. It's been a full six hours from my meeting with Caramel and it's been only an hour since I've woken up. And throughout that time, she was constantly on alert. Rest was never an option when it came to the health of the human she had taken into the comfort of her own home.

With a humbled spirit, I whispered to her. "What I did was stupid and irresponsible."

She still said nothing as she held on to me.

"I'm sorry."

"...Don't you ever..." She started weakly. "...do something so stupid again. Don't you ever go out at night on your own. Don't you dare try and fight other's battles, knowing that your life will be at risk. Think, what will I do when you end up like this again, when I'm the one who has to look over you!?"

I felt ashamed. "Sorry, princess."

"You have got to be more careful. What you did for Pinkie was beyond praise and admiration, but what would've happened if you didn't wake up..." She trailed off, taking a moment to think about if things were much worse. Her composure broke slightly as she sniffled and tried her best to keep her voice unbroken. "What would I do then?"

"I'll be more careful."

Twilight released my hand and walked over to the door, opening it for me. "You better be." She said as she waited for me to walk inside.

As I stepped inside, I felt myself being lifted to the bed. The covers retracted and allowed me in between the sheets as the purple princess gently laid me down to rest for the night.

"No busy stuff tomorrow. You stay here, and don't you move."

Chuckling a bit, I answered her. "Oui, mon capitaine."

Quietly gliding over, she gave me a quick peck on the forehead before setting out. And as the doors closed, only the darkness remained. The only thing that seemed to have kept me awake were the thoughts that circled within my head.

Pinkamena Diane Pie, or Pinkie Pie for short, is an earth-pony mare with a pink coat and hot-pink mane and tail. She sported curly hair and large sapphire eyes, a small but cute little muzzle and a cutie mark of three balloons, indicating that her special talent was partying. But the main thing that defined her character was her smile.

Despite all the times she's been discouraged, beaten, abused, tortured, violated, despite all the deep emotional scars she bears on the inside, how in the hell can she still remain so positive? How could she smile so brightly all the time? It fucking hurts me to see how she could be so happy when shit hits the fan. Why does she have an affinity to smile despite all of the hardships she's gone through?

I asked her that before I left. Her answer:

I won't let my past become my present. I won't let the sad times become a standing obstacle for me. Instead, I will accept that it happened. I will acknowledge that it wasn't my fault. And I will encourage others that what happens to them isn't their fault either. I know that what I do will bring smiles to others, especially those who have went through the same things I've went through. And no matter the pain, there will always be a silver lining.

Yes, I like to smile, but it's not to hide the pain. I like to smile because I know that I've conquered it and that I helped others conquer it too.

I cried myself to sleep that night. Not because of what happened to me, but what she went through and how she handled it in comparison to the pity parties I used to throw myself when I was back in high school. Out of all of the lessons that I've learned during my time here, I think that this was the one that really showed me that there were others that were far worse than I believed myself to be. Not only that, but that they knew how to come out of their trials and tribulations, fighting with a big smile plastered on their faces. True, not everyone was like that, but those kinds of people are strong.

That night was something I needed to evaluate. But I'm just glad that everything that I went through is already over.

Of course, my nose still bleeds from time to time.

And it's not from the beating...

Can't I just write one short chapter? I swear I keep going overboard with these. Sorry about the delay and the downer chapter. Hope you enjoy the read.