As I start the game again, I hear a skidding sound, followed by Pinkie Pie's voice, abnormally angry, calling out, “You get back here!” As my character turns toward the source of the sound, I see Pinkie Pie running full speed toward my character, roaring out, “You'll pay for what you did to them!” Then, the last thing I see before the screen goes black is Pinkie Pie's face filling it.

At this point, it's notable that Pinkie, in spite of having been frozen in mid-gallop, has clearly seen me, and has somehow managed to follow me.

As my character wakes up, I hear Pinkie Pie saying, “Good, you finally woke up.”

Then the light turns on, and it should be clear to anyone that plays this game that the player's character, in this case my character, is suspended above the floor of a basement room on his side. My character looks around to show me that he's strapped by his arms and legs to a slab of concrete, suspending him sideways against a wall.

I ask, “Where am I?”

As my character looks toward the opposite wall, Pinkie Pie's glaring face rises into view as she answers, “Where you are isn't important. What is important is you'll never hurt another pony as long as I can help it.”

I say, “I'll have you know I didn't hurt any of those ponies, and I have no intention of hurting any ponies at all.”

Pinkie Pie turns away from me and, as her mane and tail slowly uncurl, the mane managing to uncurl to one side of her head, she walks away and retorts, “Then, what's this I heard from you about eating horse meat? And, you even enjoyed it!”

I watch through my character's eyes as Pinkie Pie approaches what looks like a serving tray covered in a yellow table cloth. I answer, “I didn't know it was horse meat at the time. But, you're right. I did like the way it tasted. I have to hand it to the Tongans. They did a good job preparing that horse meat.”

I pause for a moment to see how Pinkie Pie responds. From what I see, she only pauses for a moment when I talk about the Tongans having prepared the meat well, then continues on her way to the serving tray.

I continue, “Do I regret ever having eaten horse meat? Behold, verily I say unto you, nay. Do I regret having had horse meat only once? Again I say unto you, nay.” Before I continue, let me say that yes, I'm aware of the pun. It's just something I couldn't resist. “And, it's clear to me that you didn't … “

I hear Pinkie Pie growling as I start my last statement, and she doesn't let me finish before she pulls the table cloth away from the serving tray and says, “I don't want to hear your excuses.” As she noses around on a surface that's clearly deeper than a typical serving tray, she adds, “Maybe you'll think twice if a horse, or a pony, feeds on you.”

I respond, “Well, if you're not going to listen to me, then there's no reason for me to stay here.”

I can only see through my character's eyes Pinkie Pie grabbing something using her front hooves, although, being the one who programmed the game, I know she's most likely trying to grab a butcher's knife. She states, “I don't see how you're going to get out of here in one piece.”

I answer, “I just have a few words.” Then, as I can see Pinkie Pie indeed managing to grasp a butcher's knife in her front hooves, I count in English, “One, two, three, four,” and my character inward-blocks with his left arm, breaking the strap holding it in place.

At the sound, Pinkie Pie fumbles and drops the butcher's knife, then turns to look at me. Seeing my character's free arm, she starts, stumbling backward into the serving tray and tipping it over. Still focused on me, she says, “It can't be.”

As my character continues to focus on the alarmed pink mare, I say, “Well, then, let me reiterate.” Again I count, this time in Spanish, “Uno, dos, tres, cuatro,” and my character kicks with his left leg, breaking the strap holding it in place.

Pinkie Pie is clearly panicking now, so much so that she can't even move her legs backward or forward. She's even sweating as she whimpers, “Stop doing that. I'm not f-f-finished with you y-y-yet.”

Now I say, “Here comes the tricky part.” Again I count, this time in Samoan, “Tasi, lua, tolu, fa,” and my character kicks with the last strapped leg, breaking that strap.

Newtonian physics take over as my character, unhindered by all but one strap, falls ungracefully to the ground, though still supported by the strap holding his other arm in place.

At this point, Pinkie Pie stretches out on the ground, points her face down between her front hooves, and cries, “Please don't hurt me! I wasn't really going to do anything to you. I just wanted to scare you, that's all.”

One last time, as soon as my character is standing, I count, this time in German, “Ein, zwei, drei, vier,” and my character breaks the last strap.

The sound of the last strap breaking startles the now sobbing Pinkie Pie, and it's clear that sobbing is all she can do at this point.

Presently, my character approaches the pink mare and, when he's close enough, sits on one leg and uses his right pointer finger to lift her head so she can look at him, and he can look at her, in the eyes.

I say, “Pinkie … Pinkamena … Diane … whatever you prefer to be called right now, I never wanted to hurt you or any other pony. I only told those stallions about my experience eating horse meat so they wouldn't attack me any more.”

Considering Pinkie Pie may still not be willing to hear the rest of the story, I don't even bother trying. Instead, my character stands up, about-faces, and approaches the only door in or out of the basement room.

On the way out, I add, “What happened here remains between you and me. Outside of this room, I will say nothing more about what happened here.”

I programmed this game, and even I don't know for sure if it's what I said or something else that gives Pinkie Pie the motivation she needs. All I know is before I can finally reach the door, she's there, mane and tail curly again, in classic canine begging position, saying, “I won't let you leave unless you Pinkie promise.”

I've seen enough of the Friendship is Magic series to know what the Pinkie promise is, and how much it means to Pinkie Pie. And, I'm also aware of how stubborn Pinkie Pie can be. But, at the same time, I can also be pretty stubborn; and I have no intention of making a Pinkie promise. Instead, I plan on making a promise that means more to me than a Pinkie promise: I plan on making a Maori promise. Thus, I say the words, “Ki tahi au,” and the pink party pony is immobilized.

My character proceeds out of the basement through the door, up the stairs, and out of what appears to be a large shed, or perhaps the remains of an old factory. Whatever it is is immaterial. What matters now is my character is free to go where he wants, or where I want, which happens to be back to Ponyville.

I'll never see it myself, at least not in the game play; although I've provided a way so any gamer who wants can see what happens when the game resumes. As I've programed the game, when it resumes from this point, Pinkie Pie, alone in the basement, growls in frustration and wonders aloud to herself why she couldn't get a proper Pinkie promise out of her prisoner. Eventually, she'll return to Sugar Cube Corner in Ponyville, where the next part of the story begins.

In the mean time, it isn't until my character is back in the outskirts of town, when my character is alone, before I give the game the order to “continue.” But, this provides me the best opportunity to save. I'll resume later.

Author's Notes:

So, thus far, the gamer's first encounter with Pinkie Pie hasn't been the most friendly he could've hoped for. We may never really know what she was intending to do with the butcher knife, and that may be for the best.

In the next chapter, Gilda, yes, there's a connection to the Friendship is Magic episode, "Griffon the Brush Off." For that matter, yes, the chapter also serves as a connection to the fan fiction, "Cupcakes." Expect more of them later on.

Also, after this, the chapters get longer. In fact, the second- and third-last enumerated chapters each cover between fifty and sixty pages, with spacing at 1.5 lines and a one-line header and a one-line footer, with an extra line between them.

In the mean time, the game designer proves to the stallions that he was intending to make friends with them, and his effort proves successful. He also shows Pinkie Pie that he intends to be a force for good in this video game version of Equestria. But, Pinkie Pie will still have the choice of what she will do with that knowledge.

We will never know, in this story or in subsequent stories, precisely what Pinkie Pie does to Gilda after the two leave the party early. Oh, well. Anyone for cupcakes?