Monday, November 2, 2015 / Early Morning
Today's Horoscope (Virgo): Don't try to make excuses for your friends today.

Principal Celestia will be returning to the dorm this evening.

After breakfast, I head out with Twilight to walk Spike. It's getting pretty cold; Twilight's wearing a royal purple sweater today. I'm wearing the thickest shirt I own and my light jacket; I probably need to go shopping for heavier clothes soon.

"We've only got a few weeks to get ready for the next Shadow," Twilight says.

I nod. "We should go to Zodiac soon."

"Yeah." Twilight sighs. "I hope Pinkie's gonna be okay at school today. There's a lot of pictures and video of her from Halloween flying around on Canterbook."

"I'm pretty sure that's what she wanted," I say.

"Yeah, but aren't you worried she might go too far with this?"

I frown. "I think she'll calm down sooner or later. Besides, Pinkie can handle herself." I laugh. "If anything, anybody that tries something with Pinkie might not survive it..."

"Flash!" Twilight snaps. "This is serious! You saw her Wednesday night..."

"Twilight, I really think this is just her way of dealing with stuff. Just...if she needs us, we'll be there for her, but..."

Twilight sighs.

Monday, November 2, 2015 / Morning

Ten minutes into homeroom, Principal Celestia makes an announcement over the PA.

"Good morning, everyone! The Fall Formal is next Friday. If you're interested in running for Fall Formal Princess, please sign up on Canterbook. Voting will open on Wednesday."

The Fall Formal...

I'll need to find an outfit for that. Something that isn't a tuxedo.

Monday, November 2, 2015 / Lunch

When I join my friends for lunch, Rarity is already going on about dresses and planning. "Did you sign up to run for Princess?" I ask her.

"Well of course, darling," she says.

I look at Twilight. "How about you? Did you sign up?"

Twilight blushes. "I...I don't think..." She looks down into her mashed potatoes. "I...think I shouldn't run..."

"Aww, but you said you were gonna run!" Pinkie pouts.

"I-it's just..."

"It'd be awfully nice if my date to the Fall Formal was the Fall Formal Princess," I say. "I mean, assuming you'll be my date..."

"Of course I'm going with you," Twilight says. She runs her fork through her potatoes. "I..." She sighs and pulls out her phone. "Alright, I'm in."

We all cheer.

Monday, November 2, 2015 / After School

After school, Rainbow Dash asks me to help her exercise. We kick the soccer ball back and forth for half an hour, then go for a light jog. After that, I work on homework until time for dinner.

Monday, November 2, 2015 / Evening

After dinner, I head out to do a little grocery shopping, since I'm almost out of sodas and need some more snacks.

When I get back to the dorm, I notice Celestia's door is ajar. I hear Cadance and Celestia talking in Celestia's room.

"I'm just concerned about her," Celestia says. "The videos that went up all over Canterbook today...you must admit it's a bit alarming. And my sister tells me she received a rather...graphic present for her birthday..."

"Pinkie's just...a little..."

I knock on the door. Celestia looks up. "Yes, Flash?"

I walk in. "Listen, about Pinkie..." I explain to them everything I know about Pinkie's difficulties with her family, her having given up on tennis because her parents aren't giving her money for nonessentials, her sister moving away, and the revelations from Wednesday night about Pinkie's crush on me.

"Wow," Cadance says. "I...I had no idea so much was going on with her..."

"I recall Maud," Celestia says. "Very odd girl." She sighs. "She's the only member of the Pie family Pinkie gets along with?"

"Apparently," I say. "I'm worried about Pinkie too...she's my friend. But as to the way she's been acting lately...I think I kinda get it." I look Celestia and Cadance both in the eye. "Pinkie's stressed out and frustrated. She's looking for some kind of release valve. I think she's, well..." I shrug. "I know sometimes when I get frustrated, I get, you know..."

"Horny?" Cadance suggests. She smiles. "Yeah...I can understand that."

"I can too," Celestia says. "Still..."

"The thing is...I haven't known Pinkie that long, but I do know she, well...really throws herself into whatever she does," I say. "But...I don't think she's going to do anything stupid. I mean, really stupid. If she finds a boyfriend or something else to distract her, she'll probably settle down."

"I hope you're right, Flash," Celestia says.

I leave Celestia's room...and find Pinkie standing just outside, out of view, her eyes full of tears.

I grab her hand and pull her to my room.

"Pinkie..."

"Everybody thinks I'm a slut now, don't they?" she asks.

"No, of course not!"

Pinkie sighs, rubbing at her eyes with the heel of her hand. "I'm so stupid..."

"No, you're not," I say. "Look...you're going through a lot lately. Everybody has their own way of dealing with stuff."

"Yeah, I heard you telling Cadance and Principal Celestia that," Pinkie says. "Do...do you really believe that?"

"Of course I do," I say. "I think you're just blowing off some steam...it's just that, well...you can be a little over-the-top."

Pinkie smiles and sniffles. "Yeah..." She looks down at her hands, which are now folded in her lap. "You know," she says quietly, "I...I really did want to have sex with you...so many times, I thought about just coming up here and..."

"Pinkie, don't," I say.

"No, I have to," she says. "There are a lot of cute boys at school, but...but until I met you, I never even thought about..." She sighs. "I guess...I just wanted to do something selfish. I like making people smile and laugh...seeing somebody else happy makes me happy...but lately, I...I haven't been very happy." She frowns. "I guess I've been a little crazy this past month or so..."

"It's not selfish to want to do something just for yourself," I say. "But...maybe tone it down a bit?"

Pinkie laughs. "Yeah..." She gets up and hugs me, then heads out. I practice my guitar with the amplifier unplugged for a little while, then go to bed.

Author's Notes:

Social Link Status:

0. FOOL (Zodiac Investigation Team): rank 3
I. MAGICIAN (Twilight Sparkle): rank 7
IV. EMPEROR (Coach Shining Armor): rank 5
V. HIEROPHANT (Vice-Principal Luna): rank 2
VI. LOVERS (Nurse Cadance): rank 5
VII. CHARIOT (Rainbow Dash): rank 5
VIII. JUSTICE (Principal Celestia): rank 2
IX. HERMIT (Coco Pommel): rank 7
XV. DEVIL (Juan the Janitor): rank 3
XVII. STAR (Pinkie Pie): rank 7 (Rank UP!)
XVIII. MOON (Trixie Lulamoon): rank 7
XIX. SUN (Vinyl Scratch): rank 4