In the years we spent with Pinkie Pie (me, my parents, Sansana, and other members of my family), one thing I didn’t hide from her was my interest in video games. The fact of the matter is I don’t think I could’ve hidden it from her if I’d wanted to. And, that, combined with my interest in and appreciation for the “My Little Pony Friendship is Magic” cartoon series, which grew thanks in large part to raising one of the element bearers, as well as my interest and enjoyment in working with computer programming languages, especially the Basic language, lead to a discussion between the two of us about designing a game based on the cartoon series, one that showed where Pinkie had lived before coming to me and where she’d be going back to when it was time for her to return.

I remember Pinkie being honored and grateful when I suggested making her the main character of a video game, although she wanted some version of me to be in the game as well. Then, when I suggested her character in the game could be the main character that could be influenced, and a human-type character could be the one that could be controlled, she seemed to like that idea the best.

When I’d shared the “Cupcakes” story with Pinkie, she was frightened; and I figured she didn’t like the story. So, I was very much surprised when she suggested that there be two main stories, based on if the gamer influenced the video game Pinkie Pie toward doing good or bad, and a variation of the “Cupcakes” story would be the result of the gamer influencing her toward doing bad from the beginning of the story. While it did make sense to me, I just didn’t expect to hear Pinkie Pie suggest it.

In the process of designing the game, or at least getting the process started, Pinkie helped me write code that would interpret text documents into three-dimensional movement, as well as a program that would help in producing text documents for that purpose. She surprised me further by modeling a version of herself using software I already had on my computer. And, I must say, her model of herself was really impressive. She even made documents that produced a walk cycle, a run (or gallop) cycle, and several other animations that were adaptable under all sorts of circumstances. Instead of just numbers, she had mathematical formulas that the computer could use to tell where a limb should be and where it should be pointing.

I left the pink earth pegasa (She hadn't yet earned her horn at the time, and we had never really decided on names for the mixtures of races. Alicorn for a pony with earth pony powers, pegasus wings, and a unicorn horn was already known based on information from the series.) in charge of modeling, while I did the main coding. And, while she made only a few models, including hair that could be styled, models representing the races and genders of Equestrian ponies, and basic house structures; they were surprisingly adaptable, and would shape themselves to the character or characters in question.

The main trick was to write scripts that the characters could follow, while remaining just flexible enough to allow for the gamer to freely explore the world Pinkie and I were designing, if he or she so chose. And, fortunately, that proved to be a simple problem to solve. The programming language I was using was flexible enough to allow for such a thing.

I seem to remember it was the beginning of Pinkie Pie’s fifth year with me that she made the suggestions and assisted me with the project. And, she did this during her time away from planning and throwing parties. How she made such time I may never figure out; but, thanks to her, my completion of the video game came much more quickly than it could’ve without her. Indeed, without her help, it probably would’ve taken me several decades to complete the video game project. I didn’t get it done before Pinkie’s ten years were up, but she was definitely the major contributor to getting it done.

And, helping me design a video game became one of the things she did along with planning and throwing parties, learning from any source she could about anything she could to help her pegasa friend, and helping other members of the family. My experience is that there seems to be an inherent energy that goes along with helping others. And, perhaps Pinkie had tapped into that energy. It'd likely explain how she remained so energetic while doing so many things.

I still remember that night when Pinkie earned her horn, the night of that successful party she'd thrown. As I'd mentioned, she, Sansana and I were talking about how well it had turned out, when the pink pony suddenly stopped; and the horn sprouted from her head.

I suppose I wouldn't be alone in thinking that, seeing how the horn sprung up from Pinkie's head, it was not unlike how I'd imagine Jack's beanstalk sprouted from the ground, except that there were no leaves, and the horn didn't wind around itself. Instead, the threads of the horn just pointed straight up, not turning in either direction.

Once again, Pinkie didn't seem to be in any pain while her horn sprouted, just uncertainty as to what was going on.

The horn reached, I'd say, maybe half a foot before it stopped growing. And, when it was done, the pink pony looked at me and asked, "Daddy, did I just grow a horn?"

I answered, "I believe you did." Then, I asked, "Do you know if it's yours, or Diane's?"

Pinkie tapped her chin with a front hoof in thought for a while, then said, "Well, I don't want to hurt you or Mommy. If you could bring something in here and put it on the table, maybe I can see if I'll be able to move it with my magic."

What Pinkie was proposing sounded like a good idea to me, so I got up and went to the kitchen. Not wanting the pink pony to hurt herself or anyone else, I decided to choose an apple from a nearby bowl, which I brought in (the apple, not the bowl), and set in front of Pinkie.

While I was sitting down, Pinkie thanked me for the apple. Then, while we watched, she closed her eyes and looked down; and her horn started to glow and sparkle.

Now, before I continue, let me just way that, after having seen how this seemed to work in the "My Little Pony Friendship is Magic" series, my wife and I were surprised at how well it seemed to work for Pinkie. The apple got the same pink glow as what was coming from Pinkie's horn, and started to rattle on the table. I suppose, if an outsider had walked in on the demonstration, whoever it was might think the apple was possessed or something. And, I suppose, in a way, it was. With Pinkie's magic.

The pink pony opened her eyes when she heard the rattling, not expecting any sound to come from the fruit.

And, as soon as she did, her horn and the apple stopped glowing; and the apple stopped vibrating.

Pinkie looked at me, and I said, "It's alright. You were making the apple move. It's a good start."

Encouraged by my statement, Pinkie tried again, looking down and closing her eyes; and her horn started to glow pink again and sparkle, and the apple also started to glow pink. And, this time, the apple did manage to rise maybe an inch off of the table.

It might've been my laughter, or maybe it was Sansana's shout of excitement, that broke Pinkie's concentration. Whatever it was, the pink alicorn looked up again and opened her eyes, just in time to see the apple drop back onto the table.

When she looked at me with a sad expression, I said, "No, it's alright. You did it. It was up off the table for a few seconds, but you did it. Now you just need to learn to control it. But, beyond that, Pinkamena, we know that the horn belongs to you, and not your sister. The two of you together are an alicorn."

After hearing what I said, PInkie started to smile again as she jumped over the table and into my arms and, hugging me, said, "Thank you, Daddy. Thank you."

I seem to remember Sansana joining in the hug.

As I’ve already mentioned, Pinkamena’s horn allowed Pinkie to prevent unexpected expulsions during the parties she'd throw for children, particularly between three and eight years old. And, not only that, but the design of her horn also made it into the game the two of us made.

In fact, there are three designs for unicorn horns in the "Hey, Batter!" game: one with the threads pointing straight up as they do on Pinkie's horn, one with the threads spiraling to the right, and one with the threads spiraling to the left. I'm not entirely sure how the direction of the threads affects how a pony uses magic, but I know that the more common unicorn horn seems to be the left-spiraling one.

At any rate, to wrap it all up, while it was years after Pinkie left before I completed the game, I would probably have never even thought of designing such a game without the influence of the pink party pony.

There were other ways that Pinkie proved her friendship to me, but the video game was the main one. And, my main way of proving myself a good friend to her was when she came to me for advice on any subject she needed help with. But, I’m sure I’ve already demonstrated that. Of course, I’ll show that it wasn’t just the first five years where I proved myself a good friend to the pink party pony.

Perhaps the greatest demonstration of friendship was between the two conjoined twins, which, as far as I could tell, went further than them simply being conjoined twins. Diane always looked out for Pinkamena, warning her of potential problems or pointing her to things that would make her happy. And, the two, especially after Diane earned her wings and Pinkamena earned her horn, were really an unstoppable force when predicting and preventing potential accidents during the parties Pinkie would throw. I dare say that Diane proved to be the best friend and guide that Pinkamena could ever have, and I don’t remember it being anything but a pleasure to raise Pinkie Pie. They had their share of difficulties; but, sometimes with the help of family, including me, sometimes without it, the two pony spirits in the body of Pinkie Pie always managed to get through them.