As she reached the top of the stairs, Twilight gave Pinkie’s bedroom a quick scan, then moved further in so that Fluttershy could follow. They stood in the center of the room, looking for any sign of their friend, but Pinkie didn’t appear to be anywhere.

“Maybe she left?” Fluttershy asked.

Twilight shook her head. “Mrs. Cake says Pinkie has been in her room since yesterday. You know… since her prank.”

“Oh,” Fluttershy said softly as she lowered her head.

“It’s not your fault, Fluttershy. And it isn’t Pinkie’s fault either. That’s why we need to find her. I don’t think she realizes that.”

Twilight started to walk towards the balcony, in case Pinkie had decided to hide herself outside, when a squeak from nearby drew her attention to Gummy, who was laying in his basket next to Pinkie’s bed. Twilight stared into his blank eyes and wanted to imagine that he understood the need to find Pinkie. She was about to ask if Fluttershy could sense anything from him, when Gummy turned his head to look at the closet.

Figuring it was worth a shot, Twilight approached the closet and knocked on the door.

“Pinkie? Are you in there?” Twilight asked. After a few seconds of no answer, she knocked again on the door. “We’re kind of worried that you’re taking this harder than you should be. I know you want to be alone, but we really want to talk. Besides, it has to be uncomfortable in there.”

Twilight listened carefully for any noise coming from the other side of the door. Hearing nothing, she sighed and looked back at Fluttershy, who was biting her lower lip. Slowly, Twilight tried the door handle and found it unlocked. She paused briefly, handle halfway down, then took a breath and swung open the door. “Pinkie? I’m sorry, but we need to—oh...”

Pinkie sat on her closet’s floorboards with her head hung low. She sniffed and looked up, her eyes puffy and red.

“Pinkie, yesterday—” Twilight shut her mouth and shook her head, rethinking her words. “Pinkie, you don’t have to do this to yourself. It wasn’t that big a deal.”

“Not a big deal?” Pinkie asked weakly. “Twilight, I broke a Pinkie Promise. Me!”

“Accidentally! And Fluttershy has already forgiven you. Haven’t you, Fluttershy?”

Twilight stepped aside to allow Fluttershy to come forward. However, before Fluttershy could speak, Pinkie had scrambled out of the closet, pulled Fluttershy into a hug, and was blubbering another apology.

Fluttershy hesitantly raised a hoof, then patted Pinkie’s back. “There, there. It’s, um, it’s okay.”

“Oh, Fluttershy,” Pinkie said, drawing back. Her lips slowly rose into a quivering smile. “You’re being so brave, but I can see it in your eyes. The scars. The pain. The fear. And it’s all m-my f-f-f—” She broke down and pulled Fluttershy into a tighter hug.

Twilight rolled her eyes and used her magic to pull the two apart. “Alright, enough,” she said flatly. “It was a water balloon, Pinkie. A simple prank. Rainbow Dash thought it was hilarious that you were able to launch so many so accurately from a catapult, and she was the one that got hit by most of them. Fluttershy only got splashed a little.” Twilight held a hoof to her forehead and took a steadying breath before continuing. “I know you made a promise that pranking Fluttershy is off limits, but this was an accident and she forgave you.”

“I was dry after a few minutes,” Fluttershy added.

“Exactly,” Twilight said. “So, let’s all forget about the past and do something fun to cheer up. Okay?”

Pinkie gasped. “That’s it! Twilight, you’re a genius!”

“Well…” Twilight blushed. “I wouldn’t say suggesting we have fun is really something genius worthy, but—“

“No, no, not that part,” Pinkie said. “All I need to do to fix this is to go back to the past and stop myself from doing the prank.”

Twilight stomped her hoof. “Whoa, Pinkie, stop. I hope you’re not suggesting I cast that time travel spell on you, because I won’t. You know what trouble it caused last time, and besides, it doesn’t actually allow you to change the past. It would just end up that you trying to stop your prank was what caused Fluttershy to get splashed in the first place.”

Pinkie waved a hoof nonchalantly. “Oh, don’t worry, Twilight, I know that spell won’t work. You told me the same thing last time, after that chemical explosion caused all your hair to fall out. You were so sad when the doctors told you that you’d be bald forever and ever. That’s why I built my own time machine that does allow me to change the past.”

“You built a—” Twilight blinked. “Wait, what chemical explosion? My hair hasn’t fallen out.”

“I know! No need to thank me. Now, you girls wait here. I’ll have this fixed in a jiffy.”

Twilight and Fluttershy watched Pinkie bounce across the room and down her stairs. Then they looked at each other.

“Well…” Fluttershy said. “She seems happier. Do you think we should follow her?”

“I…” Twilight sighed and sat down. “I say we give her a minute and then make sure she isn’t attaching clocks to a cardboard box or something.”

Fluttershy barely had time to sit down before they heard the sound of hooves frantically rushing up the stairs followed by Pinkie bounding into her room.

“Twilight? Fluttershy?” Pinkie said between pants. “Is it you? And I mean you you. Not those ponies that don’t look, sound, act, or even are ponies like you are.”

Twilight stood up. “Pinkie? What—“

Pinkie held up a hoof. “Okay. Not bad. Wait here.”

After scampering up the balcony stairs, Pinkie threw open the doorway and dashed outside. Twilight walked to the base of the stairs and could hear Pinkie muttering, “...and the blue looks right. Only one sun, no dark citadel, and Yag’n’goroth the Blighter isn’t bellowing the words of madness. So far so good.”

Pinkie galloped back inside, slid down the banister, leapt over Twilight’s head, and landed before Fluttershy, who cried out and fell back on her haunches.

“Alright, Missy.” Pinkie fixed Fluttershy in a glare. “Flipper flap! Monkey wrench! Two plus two!”

“Pinkie, you’re frightening me,” Fluttershy whimpered.

“Fluttershy!” Pinkie declared, beaming wildly. She wrapped her forelegs around Fluttershy and pulled her into a hug. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t want to scare you, but I had to make sure you didn’t have a brain weevil. Forgive me?”

Slowly, Fluttershy returned the hug. “O-okay…”

“Pinkie!” Twilight yelled. “Explain yourself. What’s going on?”

”Hold on, just a minute.” Pinkie let go of Fluttershy and turned to face Twilight. “I just need you to answer a few quick questions. It’s really, super important. Are the Cakes bakers? Did we defeat Nightmare Moon? Is Princess Celestia crazy fat? Is Rarity a unicorn? Are the trees taking over? And, finally, did I accidentally splash Fluttershy in a prank gone wrong yesterday?”

“Uh… yes, yes, no, yes, I hope not, and yes.”

Pinkie held a hoof to her chest and let out a long sigh. “Then I think I got everything back to normal this time. Or normal enough. Twilight, you were right. If my adventure today has taught me anything, it’s that I shouldn’t get so worked up over an accidentally broken promise. Especially after I was already forgiven. Can we go have some fun now?”

Twilight and Fluttershy smiled.

“Yes, Pinkie,” Twilight said. “Let’s go have some fun.”