- PINK AMUCK
- You see that? That big, flat thing in front of you? That is the legendary “Fourth Wall”. Give it a big hug and a kiss, because it’s about to go bye-bye.
- >Pinkie Pie is her usual cheerful self.
- >She’s trotting along the main thoroughfare of Ponyville.
- >She’s feeling really good today.
- >And all that good feeling comes bubbling to the surface...
- >Song cue? Song cue.
- >”My name is Pinkie Pie,”
- >”And I am here to say,”
- >”I’m gonna make you smile, and I will brighten up your da-a-a-ay!”
- >”It doesn’t matter now,”
- >”If you are sad or - what the hay?”
- >With a rubbery screech, Pinkie Pie comes to a stop and looks around.
- >Ponyville is not there.
- >Her friends are not there.
- >In fact nothing is there.
- >She’s standing by herself in the middle of a big white space.
- >”Hello? Anyp0ny?”
- >As the silence grows ever more awkward, Pinkie Pie looks around.
- >”Pssst! Hey! Whoever’s in charge here! How about some scenery?”
- *click* File > Open > Backgrounds > Sweet Apple Acres.png *click*
- >Pinkie Pie giggles as the barn and farmhouse materialize out of nowhere.
- >”Oh, it looks like I’m going to visit Applejack today!”
- >She starts to bounce towards the barn, singing another song.
- >”Pinkie Pie went to the farm,”
- >”Ee-i-ee-i-oh!”
- >”And on this farm she saw an igloo,”
- >”Ee-i-waitaminute...”
- >There is an igloo there.
- >Sweet Apple Acres has been replaced by a glacier.
- >With an igloo built on it.
- >”Wow, somebody sure is being indecisive today.”
- >”Fortunately, I have songs and wardrobes for just about any occasion.”
- >Pinkie Pie exits, stage right.
- >”The new script editor needs to get on the ball. Ride herd on these crazy writers.”
- >Pinkie Pie re-enters, wearing her Winter-Wrap-Up outfit, complete with ice skates.
- >She starts skating along the glacier, singing a new song.
- >”Gone away is the bluebird,”
- >”Here to stay is the new bird,”
- >”He sings a love song,”
- >”As we go along,”
- >”Walking on a... tropical... island?”
- >Pinkie Pie stops skating on the warm sand and goggles at the lush palm trees and colorful tropical birds.
- >She turns around.
- >”Really?”
- >Tsking softly to herself, Pinkie Pie once more exits stage right.
- >She re-enters a moment later wearing a lei and a grass skirt, and playing a ukulele.
- /LOL, how do you play a ukulele with hooves?/
- >This mare just loves to sing.
- >”Aloha Oe,”
- >”Aloha Oe,”
- >”E ke onaona noho ika lipo,”
- >”A fond embrace,”
- >”a hoi ae au...”
- >She’s all by herself in whitespace again.
- >”Hmph. Okay look, can I be serious for a moment?”
- /LOL, I dunno, can you?/
- >”I know this job can get boring sometimes,”
- *click* File > Close > PinkiePie.swf
- >”...and there’s a lot of temptation to play around,”
- PinkiePie.swf is active. Are you sure you want to close it?
- >”But there is such a thing as a deadline, and..”
- Yes. *click*
- >Pinkie Pie vanishes.
- /Hah. Showed you who’s boss./
- >”WHAT? How DARE you close my file while I’m TALKING TO YOU!”
- The cursor begins to move on its own.
- /LOL-wut?/
- >”You just don’t know who you’re DEALING with, buster!”
- *click* File > Open > PinkiePie.swf *click*
- >Pinkie Pie enters stage left.
- >She’s pushing her Welcome Wagon ahead of her.
- *click*
- >Pinkie Pie smacks the large red button on the side of her wagon.
- >The wagon trembles and pops open.
- >Flags wave while confetti and streamers are hurled into the air.
- >And it doesn’t make a single sound.
- >Pinkie Pie looks at the silent wagon in wonder, than back out, her expression clearly annoyed.
- >She pulls a lever and the Wagon stops jumping about.
- >She turns a crank and the wagon closes back in on itself.
- >Then she pulls out a sign and holds it up.
- >The sign reads, “You’d better turn those speakers back on if you know what’s good for you...”
- /Okay. This’ll show her./
- *click* Import > Sound Files *click*
- *click* Sounds > Un-mute *click*
- >With a satisfied grin, Pinkie Pie smacks the large red button on the side of her wagon again.
- >The wagon trembles and pops open.
- >Flags wave while confetti and streamers are hurled into the air.
- >And it makes a sound like a garbage truck dropped off the Empire State Building.
- >Pinkie Pie actually jumps in shock at the cacophony.
- >She scrambles to the lever and yanks it, silencing the appalling racket.
- >She examines the wagon thoughtfully and taps one of the calliope keys experimentally.
- >It sounds like a foghorn.
- >Pinkie’s temper snaps.
- >She rears up and kicks the wagon.
- >Applejack would have been proud of that kick.
- >The wagon flies off stage right, making a sound like an NHRA funny car with the throttle wide open.
- >Somewhere off stage the wagon explodes with a thunderous fart.
- >A few bits of debris bounce back onto the stage.
- >Pinkie Pie, her temper expended, produces a push broom and sweeps the debris off.
- >Dropping the broom, she looks out and opens her mouth to speak.
- >A variety of monkey sounds issues forth.
- >Pinkie’s eyes go wide and she stuffs both of her fore-hooves into her mouth.
- >She tries again.
- >An elephant trumpets.
- >Looking around uncertainly, Pinkie Pie opens her mouth just the tiniest little bit.
- >”Meow.”
- >She GLARES out.
- >The cursor starts to move on its own again.
- *click* Edit > Undo > Sound changes *click*
- >”Okay, I’ll tell you what. Let’s just pretend that the last four minutes never happened.”
- >”You and I both know what we have to do, so how about some appropriate scenery?”
- >She picks up the broom and exits, stage right.
- *click* Tools > Pencil *click*
- >A crude Ponyville street scene is quickly sketched up.
- >Complete with a stick-figure Spike in one corner.
- >Pinkie Pie re-enters.
- >”Seriously? You call that scenery? Where’s the color?”
- *click* Tools > Paintbrush *click*
- >”HEY!!!”
- >From out of nowhere, Pinkie Pie is suddenly painted to resemble a tie-dyed T-shirt.
- >Fuming, Pinkie Pie pulls out a copy of her Model Sheet and waves it around.
- >”LOOK at the model sheet, it specifies PINK! PINK, YOU SLOP ARTIST!!!”
- *click* Tools > Eraser *click*
- >The horrible, retina-searing colors are eradicated, leaving only her eyes and muzzle.
- >”There’s a few thing missing here, buster...” she warns.
- *click* File > Import > Platypus.swf *click*
- >And just like that, there is a pink platypus there.
- >Oh, this is just TOO much fun.
- >The pink platypus begins to walk.
- >Or perhaps waddle would be more appropriate.
- >”It’s okay, I understand the need to get it out of your system.”
- >”After all, even I play pranks on my best friends.”
- >”Except for Fluttershy. She’s so-o-o-o sensitive, after all.”
- >”Hey, I feel funny. And not funny-ha-ha. Funny-strange.”
- *click* File > Open > Mirror.png *click*
- >”Oh, look there’s a...”
- >She squints at the mirror.
- >”...there’s a...”
- >She waves a flipper experimentally and realizes that she is looking at her own reflection.
- >”EEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!”
- >”Is this My Little Platypus? NO! IT’S MY LITTLE PONY!!!”
- >The cursor begins to move on its own again.
- *click* Edit > Undo *click*
- >Just a pair of eyes and a muzzle again.
- *click* Edit > Undo *click*
- >Tie-dyed Pinkie Pie makes a comeback.
- *click* Edit > Undo *click*
- >Pinkie Pie is back to normal, but apparently very cross.
- >”Alright, enough fooling around already. Let’s get this show STARTED!”
- *click* File > Open > ClosingCredits.swf *click*
- >Music starts.
- >Credits flash by.
- >”My Little Pony!”
- /Oh look, there’s my name!/
- >”My Little Pony!”
- >”NO! NO! NO! NO!”
- >The credits screen shatters and collapses into a heap of fragments on the stage floor.
- >Pinkie Pie is standing there, breathing hard and holding a very large wooden mallet.
- >”Okay. I’m the Element of Laughter. I get it.”
- >She tosses the mallet aside. It lands with a loud crash, and the music judders to a halt.
- >”And I’m REALLY trying to be nice here.”
- >”But you just keep pushing me.”
- >”Now you’ve forced me to use force.”
- >”Like I said earlier, Mister Rembrandt, you just don’t know who you’re DEALING with here.”
- >”And all I can say is, I hope you’re prepared to reap the whirlwind.”
- >You laugh.
- “Yeah. What are you going to do?”
- “I’m out here and you’re in there!”
- >”Oh, really? You think so?”
- >From some dimension only she has access to, Pinkie Pie produces a large pie with whipped cream and a cherry on top.
- >”Care to make a bet on that?”
- “Sure. I’ll bet that there’s not one thing you can do to me.”
- >”Hmmm.”
- >Pinkie Pie appears to carefully weigh your words.
- >”You lose!”
- >There’s the wind-up...
- >And the pitch...
- ***KER-SPLAT!!!***
- You are an animator at DHX Studios, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
- And a pink, marshmallow hoof has just emerged from the monitor on your workstation.
- Bearing a large pie with whipped cream and a cherry on top.
- Which you are now wearing.
- It tastes like banana cream.
- And you’re fairly certain that there is currently a maraschino cherry lodged in your left nostril.
- “Nope.”
- “That. Did not. Just. Happen.”
- In a state of shock, you do the first sensible thing you’ve done all evening.
- You turn off your monitor.
- You glance at the clock on the wall.
- Great googly-moogly, is that the time?
- No wonder you’re hallucinating. It’s late as hell.
- Long past time to go home.
- Confound these deadlines.
- They drive you to work yourself into a psychotic break.
- That’s the only rational explanation for what you have just experienced.
- And you keep telling yourself this as you pull a towel out of your gym bag and clean the pie off your face, discarding the cherry in your waste basket.
- Better to go home, clear your head, get some sleep, and finish up in the morning.
- “Hey James,”
- Your boss, attention fixed on his own monitor, doesn’t seem to hear you.
- “Wootie!”
- “Hmm?” He looks up, massive dark circles under his eyes.
- “I gotta call it a night, man. My brain has gone on strike and the rest of my body is just itching to join the picket line.”
- James Wootton glances at the clock above his desk.
- Apparently he didn’t realize it was so late either.
- He stretches in his chair, rubbing his eyes.
- “Yeah, I think I’m gonna pack it in too, dude. See you in the morning.”
- “Okay.”
- “Were you shaving?”
- You must still have some banana cream on your face or something.
- “No, it’s... never mind. Night.”
- You stumble out of the building.
- The only other guy here at this hour is the Security Guard.
- He lets you out.
- You make it to the parking lot and get in your car and drive home.
- Thankfully traffic is light at this time of night. You’re exhausted.
- You unlock the door to your home and let yourself in.
- Closing the door behind you, you turn on the lights.
- Pinkie Pie is on your couch.
- Not a painting. A pink marshmallow pony is on your couch.
- You drop your gym bag in shock.
- >”So, I’m in there and you’re out here, right?”
- “What?”
- She hops off the couch and bounces over to you, grinning like a maniac.
- >”So there’s nothing I can do to you, right?”
- “What?”
- She stops right in front of you.
- >”Well, I hope your body is ready, because there are no brakes...”
- You swallow in cold fear.
- Pinkie Pie produces a small blue artillery piece from nowhere you can identify.
- >”ON THE PARTY TRAIN!!!”
- She fires the cannon, and suddenly, balloons, confetti and streamers are EVERYWHERE.
- And your house is full of dancing technicolor ponies.
- You don’t get any sleep that night.
- Your neighbors hate you.
- TO BE CONTINUED?
- With a fond tip of the hat to the legendary Chuck Jones, and his 1953 animated film, “Duck Amuck”.

