I seem to remember it wasn’t long after Sansana and I got married that she convinced me to share the “My Little Dashy” story with Pinkie Pie. She had a good argument, or she made it sound good, that my fears about sharing the story with the pink pony might not be all that well founded. She did make it sound like a good idea to share the story with Pinkie Pie.

Actually, I really shouldn’t complain against her. After all, as you’ll see, she did come through in the end, bringing all four of us closer together.

You see, for the time I’d been taking care of Pinkie Pie up to that point, I’d been watching the “My Little Pony Friendship is Magic” cartoon show with her; and she’d never really acted badly to it. Of course, she’d never had a reason to. While there had been episodes that focused on a particular pony or small group of ponies, there was no evidence or sense of complete separation from Equestria or Ponyville society. On the other hand, in the story “My Little Dashy,” Rainbow Dash had been separated from Equestria altogether for fifteen years, although, back in Equestria, it was just fifteen days.

It was also true that, except for the story of “My Little Dashy,” I hadn’t kept any of those stories from the little pink pony. Before meeting Sansana, I’d even shared the “Cupcakes” story with Pinkie, which, more than anything, frightened her. My main concern, at that point, was that Pinkie Pie would look at her life with me, then Rainbow Dash’s life with her human, and take it especially negatively that she’d had very different experiences with me from those Rainbow Dash’d had with her human. But, there was only one way to find out for sure. And, Sansana said she’d help me and Pinkie Pie get through whatever happened. So, that evening, Pinkie, Sansana, and I prepared to watch the video. And, I was the one that opened the appropriate folder and clicked on the video file.

I must admit, while we watched the video, I payed more attention to Pinkie Pie than the video. I had watched it a few times before, even read that story on which it was based.

As the story progressed, I watched as Pinkie Pie’s ears and mane seemed to melt while still remaining attached to her head, and what I could see of her smile melted into a frown. Then, when we got to the stories about other experiences Rainbow Dash and her human had together, Pinkie Pie, who had been in a canine-style sitting position, slumped down into a sphinx-style. When I asked her what was wrong, she didn’t look at me, just said something about not being able to help Rainbow Dash.

It took me asking her what she meant for her to glare up at me and say, “I came here to help Rainbow Dash! Now I can’t because I don’t know exactly what she went through! How can I help Dashy if I don’t have the exact same experiences she had?” And, she looked away from me again, and I heard her whimper and sniffle.

By habit or instinct, I started stroking her back as I said, “Now, just because the two of you didn’t have the exact same experiences doesn’t mean you can’t help her. You have had similar experiences, after all. Rainbow Dash got sick in the care of her human, and you got sick in my care. And, don’t forget that both of you earned your cutie marks with the help of a human.”

When Pinkie looked up at me again, she had tears rolling down her face from her eyes as she retorted, “B-but, Dashy’s human never had videos like these to help the two of them out. She was found in a box in the middle of nowhere! And, her human always kept her locked away! And you? You found me in your bed, you watched these videos with me, and, and, you never locked me away!”

I responded, “Well, as for the videos, it’s pretty clear, I think, that Rainbow Dash’s human did have episodes of ‘My Little Pony Friendship is Magic’ to watch with her, he just never took advantage of them. As for where you were found compared to Rainbow Dash, well, the fact of the matter is both of you found your way into the care of a human, although yours was just a shorter route than that of Rainbow Dash. And, as for locking you away, well, …”

Before I could address her last concern, Pinkie turned away from me, waved her closest hoof in my direction dismissively, and said, resignedly, “”Just, … just, … no more.” She then rose up to all fours before jumping off of the chair, then ambled in a circle in front of me and toward the door of my study room, where we’d been watching the videos, and said, “I … just … need … to be alone … for a while.” She opened the door with the curl in her forehead, then continued to amble through it.

My best guess is she was headed for her bedroom.

I turned to Sansana and started to stand up, but she put her closest hand on mine and said it was alright, that she’d go and talk to her.

I decided to allow it, thinking it might help Pinkie Pie to have another female to talk to. But, after Sansana closed the door after leaving my study room, I decided to get up and follow her, at least until she entered Pinkie’s room.

All in all, my concern seemed fully justified. The first time I shared those “My Little Dashy” stories with Pinkie Pie, she reacted as though I’d betrayed her. I think she knew, deep down, that, if I had, I hadn’t intended to. And, perhaps Sansana would help her understand that. Or, maybe she’d find some other way to calm Pinkie Pie down.

Well, it took a few minutes, probably around ten or so, before Sansana came out of the pink pony’s room, without her.

When I asked her if Pinkie was alright, she answered that she’d need a few more minutes alone to collect her thoughts, but would come to me when she was ready.

At that point it was getting time for lunch, so Sansana and I went into the kitchen and started preparing something for the three of us to eat.

And, it wasn’t until lunch was nearly ready before we heard the dining room door open and close, hoof steps toward the kitchen door, then we turned to see the kitchen door open. And, there, in the doorway, was Pinkie Pie, head lowered submissively. She slowly looked up at me and said, “Look at me. I couldn’t even run away the way Dashy did.”

I couldn’t help laughing a little at her statement.

She looked up at me and smiled at my laughter. When I calmed down again, she continued, “It’s just that, well, how am I going to help Dashy now that I’ve had such different experiences from her? What can I do?”

I knelt down on one knee and, opening my arms to her, answered, “Just because you had different experiences from Rainbow Dash doesn’t mean you won’t be able to help her. No two creatures are going to have the exact same experiences, whether they’re of the same species or not.” When she accepted my invitation and ran and jumped into my arms, I stood up, holding her, and continued, “From what I’ve seen of the videos and read in the story, it seems to me that what Rainbow Dash needs most is someone, some pony, with a connection to both her past in Equestria and her past in the human world. It shouldn’t matter so much if your experiences are a perfect match or not, just so long as the two of you have something you can talk about together. Shouldn’t that be enough?”

This time, when she looked up at me, she seemed to have the beginnings of a smile.

I continued, “Here’s another way that you can look at those ‘My Little Dashy’ videos, that they showed me an example of how I should not raise you. When Rainbow Dash was sick, her human fed her chicken soup, which has a kind of meat in it. It didn’t surprise me that Rainbow Dash got sick from it, and I wasn’t about to do the same thing to you. And, those stories weren’t the only things I had available to help me raise you. I also had scriptures to help with that.

“Now, when your time with me is over, you’ll have plenty of experiences to share with your friend, even if they aren’t exactly like hers. But, maybe that’s all she needs, is someone like you who’s also been cared for by a human. And, if that’s the case, then you already have that commonality. All you need now is to learn how to use it to the best benefit of both of you. And, I may be just the one to help you with that. So, what do you say?”

She made it clear that it meant a lot to her to hear me say those words. She buried her face in one of my shoulders, called me “Daddy” again, and said she was sorry for what she’d thought about me, and promised, Pinkie promised, through her sobs, that she’d always believe the best about my efforts toward her.

I’ll show you in the last chapter that, when Pinkie’s friends came back for her, she did recognize them. But, at that point, the question was, when those friends of Pinkie did come back, would they recognize her? And, the answer to that question wouldn’t come for seven or eight more years. One thing was for sure, though. In all the time I’d taken care of her, at least up to that point, I’d never given her a reason to run away. And, as long as I could help it, I never would give her such a reason.

Now, on the subject of how her cutie mark was affected by her earning her wings, as it turns out, it was the balloon to the right of the yellow one that grew a pair of small wings, which identified it as the balloon that represented Diane. And, when Pinkamena earned her horn, it was the balloon on the left that also grew a horn. That yellow balloon in the middle never did change.

Now, on to the subject about how Pinkie got her own room. Well, the fact of the matter is there really isn’t that much to tell. She decided, after her first year with me, that she was old enough to have her own room. So, I decided it was only fair that she take one of the extra bedrooms, of which she chose the one closest to the master bedroom. Of course, since the house was built, that master bedroom had been mine, at least until I married Sansana.