Since she knew she’d be returning to Equestria before the end of the year, in 2008, Pinkie Pie was very careful not to plan any parties after December 18th. And, it seemed as though the whole town was fine with that, as they rented Pinkie’s party house on that day to throw her a returning-home party.

As has already been indicated, Pinkie Pie’s life with me was not without difficulties and problems. With her example, she defined various problems that the Pinkie Pie in the video game faced, including the effect diabetes would have on her, as well as fasting. Indeed, she showed me, by her example, how she’d cope with all sorts of problems, or at least how I could help her cope with them.

Besides the problems she had with human children at the parties she’d host at her party house, she had been attacked once, in her sixth or seventh year with me as I remember, when one child’s parents, after she, that is Pinkie Pie, had decided to stop the child from entering the party room, recognizing him as one of those that’d come in unclothed and eliminate in front of an audience. The father, I suspect, had decided to go pony hunting after seeing her in town. At least, when Pinkie Pie came home in a panic that day, she told me someone was shooting at her. It was days before she’d go into town again, and she refused to go alone, which was just fine, as I wasn’t about to let her. Still, considering she’d come home without any injuries that day, I have to wonder if she hadn’t had some kind of divine protection with her already. That, or the guy was a lousy shot or was only aiming to scare her. If that last part was true, he'd succeeded.

Later that day, I got a phone call from a man who threatened to kill Pinkie Pie if she didn’t allow his son to attend her next party. I asked Pinkie if she’d refused to let a little boy attend her last party, and she mentioned one child that she’d turned away because he was always coming in naked, and, as she put it, “peed and pooped in the party room every time.” She even gave me the name of the child.

I just had to do a little research to find the names of the boy’s parents, after which I called them. And, as it turned out, I recognized the voice of the man who had called earlier as he answered the phone. When I asked if he was the father of a boy that Pinkie had refused entrance to her party house, he said that he was.

If you'll remember how I mentioned earlier about the father or mother of a child talking about their "perfect child," this is the most extreme example. During our conversation, I talked about how Pinkie was within her rights to refuse to allow anyone who was not following her rules, and he responded that his son would never break any rules.

I had Pinkie Pie talk to him on the phone and explain what the man’s son had been doing at those parties, and he kept expressing his disbelief, stating that his son would never break any reasonable rules, and that Pinkie Pie should ease up on him.

I can’t remember if it was me or Pinkie Pie who suggested that the man come to the next party with his son, but I promised that I’d attend the party as well. The man agreed; and, when the time for the party came, I made sure he didn’t have any weapons on him before I let him near Pinkie Pie.

Well, with his father there to watch him, the little boy entered the party room fully clothed; and, when he needed to urinate or defecate, he excused himself and went to one of the stallions’ rooms to do whatever he needed to, then returned.

In fact, all the children were on their best behavior: all came in fully clothed, and all excused themselves to use one of the appropriate bathrooms when they needed to, then returned to the play room. Evidently, for the children to behave well, at least one child's parent had to be there, which wasn’t that much of a surprise to me. As the old saying goes, “A watched pot never boils.”

At any rate, as for the father, thinking that Pinkie was being irrational about his son, he decided that his “perfect child” shouldn’t attend parties at Pinkie Pie’s party house from then on, and started throwing competitive parties at his own house that would be at the same time as the ones Pinkie Pie threw. I don’t know how successful he was, based on attendance at Pinkie Pie’s parties, but at least there was one less literal party pooper.

I believe what Pinkie said, about children attending her parties with what seemed to be no other purpose in mind than to defy her rules and eliminate in the party room, especially in front of an audience. Still, I had to wonder if she wasn’t battling the symptoms without getting to the real problem. Since the problem had been going on before I’d gotten married to Sansana, I doubted that she, that is Sansana, could be its source. But, still, I had to wonder if there wasn’t a relative of one of the children that attended Pinkie’s parties that wasn’t the cause of the problem the pink party pony so frequently faced. These years after she returned to Equestria, my daughter, Ariela, kept her party house going; but there’s never been a recurrence of the problem that Pinkie Pie so often faced. Children attend the parties thrown there by Ariela, but they always enter fully clothed, and always excuse themselves to use one of the appropriate bathrooms, then return when they’re done. As I mentioned before, I can only guess that one of the children, or maybe a relative of that child, just had something against Pinkie Pie.

At any rate, as I said, at the beginning of that last year, Pinkie Pie marked December 19th on the calendar as the first day she’d have no parties, that she’d give herself a week to prepare to return to Equestria. And, up to that day, when she wasn’t helping me with my video game, planning or throwing or cleaning up after parties, or teaching her human siblings, she was watching episodes of “My Little Pony Friendship is Magic,” making a careful study of the environment she’d be returning to, including the behavior of her friends and family there. Frequently, I’d find her sleeping in my study room, mumbling something about one of her friends back in Equestria. Seeing her like that, I hoped she wouldn’t kill herself before she could return to her original home.

That was Pinkamena's activity. Diane was a different story, as I noticed I was seeing less and less of Pinkamena's twin sister as time went on. And, I must admit, it worried me.

There was one time in November of that last year when Pinkie caught her last cold, and Diane withdrew altogether, leaving Pinkamena to face the ordeal. It gave Pinkamena experience in facing sickness, her first experience, really; and her only experience of that sort living with me. But, it made me really worry about the straight-haired pony that had always faced sicknesses before. Fortunately, with my help, Pinkie survived the ordeal.

In the mean time, Sansana, Russel, and Ariela, as well as my parents, asked if they could be there to meet Pinkie Pie’s friends and sister when they came for her. It seemed like a good idea to me, although I also had to agree with the pink party pony that six humans and nine ponies in one building, even if the ponies were as small as Pinkie Pie had been before she got her wings and horn, might be cramped. As nice as it might be for six humans to meet the eight ponies that’d be coming to meet Pinkie Pie and take her back to Equestria, arrangements for that purpose might be difficult to make. Still, we all hoped that there might be some way of making such an arrangement work.

Then, there was the matter of the family remaining unified after Pinkie Pie was gone, which, in spite of my reassurances, was still a major concern for the pink alicorn. Sansana and I have had a few more children after Pinkie Pie returned to Equestria, and they’ve gotten to know their big pony sister through their older siblings and the episodes of “My Little Pony Friendship is Magic,” which I’m sure pleased Pinkie Pie to hear about that time she called me. But, at that time, she proved that the joined forces of Pinkamena and Diane didn’t know everything.

Also, Pinkie had more than just human friends. She had made friends with horses and ponies that were owned by humans in and around town. And, when December came around, Pinkie made a point of visiting each of those horses and ponies and saying her farewells to each of them. I don’t doubt, based on their behavior, that they understood the pink party pony. And, I’m sure it was more than just them being equines.

The last party was attended by humans of all ages, all there to celebrate the time Pinkie Pie had spent with them and the impact she’d had on their lives, and to bid the pink pony farewell. I seem to remember the party lasting for most of the day, and consisting of people entering, spending enough time there to salute Pinkie, then leaving a few minutes later. Generally, those always in attendance were me, my parents, and my wife and Russel and Ariela.

After the party and the cleanup, Pinkie Pie turned over the party house keys to Ariela; and the seven of us, which consisted of Pinkie Pie, Sansana, Russel, Ariela, my parents and me, spent the last week at my house. You know, as I remember, on Christmas Eve, we all walked back to my parents’ house before leaving them there, as the rest of us five returned to my house to await the arrival of Pinkie’s friends and sister. I seem to remember them saying something about it being better to leave room for the visitors I was going to get than to meet Pinkie Pie's friends personally.