Sigh... Family Reunion [Pinkie]

[Inkie Pie]

Sigh.....

A greyscale filly truged through ponyville, looking totally lost. Her saddlebags where packed to the brim, and an extra bag was held in her mouth. She looked like her legs would give way from all that weight, but she just kept going.

Even with the help directions from a few helpful ponies (Wow, did everypony in this place know where to find her sister so easily?) she still felt like she would never find this... Sugarcube Corner or her sister. Of course, that was only moments before she found herself standing in front of what looked like a gigantic gingerbread house.

"Wow... Pinkie Pie lives here?" Inkie Pie mused to herself. Of course, her mouth still had the bag in it. So it came out more like "mow... Mimmy mi wimmeer?"

Slowly, the little filly dragged herself inside. She wasn't sure if Pinkie would be expecting her or not. In fact, she wasn't sure what she was supposed to expect herself. It had been so long since she'd seen her sister, and all she really had to understand a situation was in a sealed letter, apparently for Pinkie's eyes only. She gave a muffled sigh, trotting up to the front counter and giving the bell a little ring. While she waited, she set down her mouth-bag and started to inspect the various cakes and pastries on display.

[Pinkie Pie]

Pinkie Pie was sitting very still.

Flank raised high in the air, forelegs crouched low to the ground, brows furrowed, and tongue poking out in obvious concentration, the earth pony slowly, and carefully, iced the cupcake, blue squirting out of the tube in perfect spirals.

"Gotta be juuuuuuust right....."

She topped off the icing with a little ice-cream like hook at the top, then leapt up and grinned victoriously down at the single, flawless cupcake on the ground.

"Perfect!"

Pinkie, in one measured swoop, lifted the cupcake off of the ground and onto the counter with her nose, and, just as she was setting it down, heard the ring of the bell, signifying a customer. The mare, eyes inverted U's in delight, hopped, even more excited then normal, if that was possible, into the front room; thrilled by her success at frosting the perfect cupcake.

Naturally, she didn't think of the other half a dozen that needed frosting.

"Sugarcube Corner! We sell pies, cakes, and perfa-lerfic cupcakes! What can I getch-" She opened her eyes then, and started at, well, the lack of a customer.

"Hello?"

Pinkie looked around, eyes wide in curiosity and confusion, before she realized it could be Sweetie Belle or another of the fillies from the nearby school.

Naturally, she flipped upside down and laid, back-down, on the counter, and eyed the filly hidden by the counter upside-down; mane brushing the floor.

"Oh! Hi!" And, after a pause, "Who are you?"

But, despite her question, the filly sure did look familiar... maybe...

Pinkie tilted her head left, then right, then, finally, it came to her (when her head was so spun around as to almost be right side up).

"Inkie!!"

Pinkie dropped to the floor with an audible thump, then, with naught a pause, righted herself and wasted no time in tackling her little sister.

"When did you get here?? Are mom and dad here? And Blinkie?"

Faster even then she'd tackled her sister, Pinkie was hopping around the violet-eyed filly, sproing sounds accompanying each leap.

"How long are you staying? Are you staying here with me?"

She then tossed both forelegs over Inkie's back and nuzzled her head.

"This is gonna be soooo fun!"

Typical of Pinkie, she'd probably more then overwhelmed Inkie. Pie.

[Inkie Pie]

At first, Inkie just waited. Sure, she was glad to see her sister, but her face sure didn't show it. She just waited until her sister... flopped onto the counter and stared at her upside-down? Looks like Pinke had gotten even more wacky... if that was even possible.

Inkie frowned even more (again, if that was even possible) when Pinkie had to ask who she was! She lowered her head sadly, starting to turn and walk away.

"Oh... I should have known you'd forget about me... I'll just go home I gu-OOF!" next thing she knew, the filly was on the ground, pinned by Pinkie.

Inkie just stared up blankly, and without elaborating, she simply answered. "Just today, no and no." She somehow managed to reach into one of her bags and pull out a sealed letter, addressed to Pinkie. "Mrm rnd Drd wrnted me to grve thish ta yur." She answered through clenched teeth. The letter... wasn't exactly good news, but it certainly might be for Pinkie.

Dear Pinkamena,
How have you been? Things have been going well here at the rock farm, all except for your sister, Inkamena, we're afraid. She has been getting along alright, but she never really was the happiest pony in Equestria, as we're sure you remember. She has been even more sad as of late, in fact none of us recall even seeing her so much as smile since the day you left for Ponyville. We've decided that it would be best if she went to Ponyville to stay with you. It will probably do you both some good to spend some time together. Maybe you could help her make some friends too. Thank you Pinkie.
Love,
Mom, Dad and Blinkie

[Pinkie Pie]

"Oh... I should have known you'd forget about me... I'll just go home I gu-OOF!"

Pinkie giggled. The mare may have seemed excited 24/7, but she sure was a heck of a lot more excited right now then she was any other time; her sister was here!

“Of course I didn’t forget about you, Inkie! How could I?”

The greyscale filly didn’t seem all that enthusiastic, but that did little—nothing, actually, to damper Pinkie’s hyperness.

In fact, seeing her sister only reminded Pinkie why she so cared about making people laugh in the first place. Because, sometimes, that was just what a pony needed.

"Just today, no and no."

Pinkie furrowed her brows.

“All alone? And you carried these bags?” The pink pony brightened, and trotted over to the bag her sister had deposited in front of the counter. She lifted it with her teeth and mumbled cheerily around it. “Cumn, wull pthzz nna kchn!”

Without any further clarification, Pinkie indicated Inkie to follow her, and hopped into the kitchen, bag cemented in her grinning teeth until she set it down.

She wasn’t quite sure why she’d wanted to bring the bags in the kitchen. Did it matter?

"Mrm rnd Drd wrnted me to grve thish ta yur."

Just like her sister had moments ago, Inkie spoke around the letter in her mouth, which Pinkie took, flattened on the counter, and read.

If anyone could tug at Pinkie’s heartstrings, it was her family; and especially her two sisters, so the beginning of the letter nearly made Pinkie sad… though making Pinkie sad took more then a few less-then-hopeful words. Everypony knew that her parents weren’t exactly optimists.

But, just as quickly as the feeling came, it passed, and, by the time she finished the letter, Pinkie was more then chipper again, and bounded towards her sister.

“Oh, Inkie, this is going to be so much fun! We’ll have parties all the time and it will be like a slumber party every night and you can help me bake and I bet the Cutie Mark Crusaders will just love you—‘cause you’re a blank flank just like they are!” Then, Pinkie realized that she could have a great. big. huge. humungous. gi-mazingly-normous party! Everypony who was anypony would want to come meet her little sister from the Rock Farm!

“Come on, Inkie, we better get started! We’re going to have a party tonight!”

The pink pony whizzed past her sister and shot the party cannon in the front room, then grabbed her invitation basket, Gummy, and waited anxiously at the front door for Inkie to follow, hopping on alternating hooves in anticipation.

This was going to be the best day ever.

[Inkie Pie]

Inkie finally pulled herself to her hooves, just in time to follow her sister into the “kchn”, which sounded like it was supposed to be “kitchen”. While Pinkie read the letter, she waited quietly by her side, looking around the room. Truth be told, she was very curious to know what the letter was about, and why only Pinkie was supposed to read it. However, she remained respectful and didn’t look over her shoulder. After all, she had this feeling of dread that she wouldn’t like what was in the letter anyway.

“I hope your parties are as good as back home.” She commented, no real tone of hopefulness in her voice, that probably should be accompanying a statement like that. But the colorless filly remained as monotone as ever.

Luckily for Inkie, she learned to deal with Pinkies’ erratic and otherwise difficult-to-follow speed of thought, taking it in slowly. “You bake? That sounds like it would be interesting, I guess.” It was as if she was intentionally trying to avoid the word “fun”.

“And who are the... Cutie Mark Crusaders?” she looked at her own blank flank contemplatively a moment. “I don’t know, I wouldn’t want to hold them back or anything. They sound serious, I’m just going to have to live with the fact I’ll never get mine...” she sighed. “But I suppose there’s no harm in meeting them...”

She started to process that last part of Pinkie’s rant a little too late. “Wait, you mean tonight, tonight? Don’t you need more time to plan a-” BOOM! Inkie will forever be lost as to how Pinkie manages to get these things nearly out of thin air. She just fired A CANNON! Inside too!

It seems that Inkie is capable of more than just sadness in her emotional array. There is also terror, and that’s what gripped her as she leapt behind the counter for cover. “Pinkie, what are you thinking? You could’ve hurt somepony! And-” The filly went quiet, realizing that the cannon had miraculously done the exact opposite of what she thought it would. I didn’t destroy the room, but covered it in decorations! Of course, it wasn’t long before Inkie squeaked in terror again, cowering behind the counter. “Run Pinkie! There’s an alligator trying to bite your tail!”

[Pinkie Pie]

“I hope your parties are as good as back home.”

Pinkie puffed up at that; chest filling with air and chin raising in pride.

“Of course! There’s no party like a Pinkie Pie party!”

At that point, however, she launched into her excited speech about how much fun she and Inkie would have. Pinkie, of course, didn’t think of this; but it really was rare that anyone could hold on to much of what she spat out at that jet-speed. As it was, Big Macintosh couldn’t catch more then two words, and that was if he was lucky. But the monotonous filly before her grew up with her erratic sister, and so she, better then anyone else in Ponyville, could follow Pinkie’s disjointed thoughts.

“You bake? That sounds like it would be interesting, I guess.”

“It’s super-duper-looper fun, Inkie!” She hopped toward her sister, eyes inverted U’s in her excitement. “I just know you’re going to be great at it!”

“And who are the... Cutie Mark Crusaders? I don’t know, I wouldn’t want to hold them back or anything. They sound serious, I’m just going to have to live with the fact I’ll never get mine... But I suppose there’s no harm in meeting them...”

Pinkie giggled, rolling her eyes at her sister’s melancholy.

“Of course you’ll get it, silly! Some ponies just take a little longer to figure out their special talent! The Cutie Mark Crusaders are Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. They try everything to try to figure out what their cutie marks are, so, maybe, when they find theirs, you’ll find yours, too!” The mare sounded absolutely positively positive that it would work out just perfect. In her mind, it would.

But then she mentioned a party, and, obviously, as soon as possible, and her sister started.

Not that Pinkie noticed. She was already getting the Party Cannon.

“Wait, you mean tonight, tonight? Don’t you need more time to plan a-”

The boom of the canon resounded, and Inkie screamed.

“Pinkie, what are you thinking?”

Pinkie, confused, looked around a moment, her mane bouncing as she tossed her head this way and that, confusion clear on her face. Where on earth had Inkie gone?

”You could’ve hurt somepony! And-”

Oh, there she was, hidden behind the counter. Why on earth was she back there?

Of course, the pink pony hadn’t really listened to her sister’s words, and so she tilted her head.

“Inkie?”

Her sister looked quiet, if slightly confused, at the decorations for a moment, before her eyes settled back on her sister and, again, the filly let out a squeal, shrinking back behind the counter.

“Run Pinkie! There’s an alligator trying to bite your tail!”

“Alligator--?” She paused, eyes wide and one half-closed, perplexed, and then turned back to eye her tail.

Then, in a way that would surely confuse her sister, she laughed brightly.

“Oh, him? That’s just Gummy, Inkie!” She bent her forelegs, wiggling her back end so that her tail flopped around;the baby alligator with it. “He hasn’t got any teeth!” The earth pony quickly bounced over to her sister, waving her tail and Gummy at Inkie.

“Inkie Pie, meet Gummy. Gummy, meet my sister Inkie.” She said, very seriously, and then leaned toward Inkie in a secretive manner, keeping Gummy out of the loop.

“He’s very picky about having a proper introduction.” She whispered, nodding solemnly.

Gummy just blinked, right eye first, then the left.

[Inkie Pie]

Inkie was still cowering behind the counter. "Cannons are dangerous, Pinkie! Are you sure that thing is safe?" She asked, still rather jumpy as she finally got back on her hooves. She was glad to be back with her sister, and a bit eager to see how this party turned out... not that she would show it. But now, more than anything, she was jumpy. She knew that Pinkie would never do anything to hurt her or put her in danger, but at the same time...

Well, Pinkie has been known to let things get out-of-hand before...

Inkie was just about to round the corner when she came face to face with the toothless baby alligator. She jumped, squeaking in surprise and residual terror... but resisted her urge to run again.

Once she was positive that Gummy was harmless, and once they were properly introduced, Inkie stared at the alligator, confused that he would be as picky as Pinkie said... but then again, who was she to doubt her sister?

"Umm... Hello there Gummy. You can call me Inkie. It's um... nice to meet you?" She stared at the Alligator, awaiting a response. But he only stared back, again with that blank stare and a few off-beat blinks. Inkie was certainly calm now, it looks like Gummy won't even- CHOMP!

Gummy, if anything, was fast. In a moment, he had detached himself from Pinkie's tail, and almost instantly bit down on her mane, dangling with his tail dragging on the ground. Inkie's eyes were wide with surprise, silently praying that this meant she liked her, and not that he would like her better with salt and a side salad...