Friendship is Magic Issue 86

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic #86 is the eighty-sixth issue of IDW Publishing's. In the issue, Pinkie Pie and Maud Pie help their sister Marble make friends by helping her throw a party.

Summary
At Sweet Apple Acres, Pinkie Pie is making a giant, multi-layered cake for Cranky Doodle Donkey and Matilda's anniversary (with Maud Pie standing by as her assistant) when Marble Pie suddenly bursts in shouting for help. In an effort to overcome her shyness and make new friends, Marble has taken Pinkie's advice and decided to have a party. However, over two hundred ponies have RSVP'd for the party, and Marble is worried about letting them all down.

Just as Pinkie offers her and Maud's help, the cake she was making for Cranky and Matilda's anniversary topples over. In addition, Maud is not confident in her own party-throwing abilities. Pinkie reassures Maud and gives her a list of supplies to buy for Marble's party while she spends the night making a new cake for Cranky and Matilda's anniversary. On the train ride to the Pie family rock farm, Maud and Marble realize that Pinkie's list is too hard to read, but Maud is determined to decipher it.

The story then shifts back and forth between Pinkie and Maud's perspectives. As Maud spends the night deciphering Pinkie's hard-to-read list of party supplies, Pinkie spends the night making a brand new cake for Cranky and Matilda. The next morning, Maud and Marble go into town to buy the party supplies, though the sleep-deprived Maud has a hard time staying awake. Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie leaves Cranky and Matilda's anniversary cake for Mrs. Cake to deliver while she takes the Friendship Express to meet up with her sisters. Unfortunately, the train gets delayed due to a rock slide on the tracks, so Pinkie resolves to get to the rock farm on foot.

With Pinkie's train delayed, Marble fears her efforts to throw a party and make new friends are ruined. With her pet Boulder's advice, Maud tries to "think like Pinkie", and she consumes enough candy to give herself a sugar rush and Pinkie-like mane. With this sudden burst of energy, Maud takes charge of the party-planning efforts and guides her family members in putting Marble's party together. Eventually, the party is such a hit that Marble successfully makes many new friends and thanks Maud for her help.

When Pinkie Pie finally makes it to the rock farm, she discovers that Maud already put the party together by herself. Maud explains that she did what Pinkie would do—stepping outside her comfort zone and doing whatever it took to make her sister happy. Pinkie Pie is moved to tears by Maud's sentiment, and the two, completely exhausted from their respective ordeals, sleep through the entire party.

Quotes

 * Maud Pie: Pinkie, Boulder hypothesizes that your happiness for your friends is causing you to overestimate what is physically possible in pastry physics.


 * Maud Pie: Do you feel it, Boulder? I'm about to be pulled into a group hug.


 * Marble Pie: I don't know how to throw a party! Especially not for two hundred ponies! It's gonna be terrible!


 * Pinkie Pie: It's a good thing you have two sisters who are experts at throwing great parties, huh?
 * Marble Pie: Do you mean... Maud?


 * Young Maud Pie: I invited all of my friends. There's Flint and Quartz and Opal and Granite and Obsidian and—
 * Young Pinkie Pie: There's so many! This is the greatest party ever!
 * Young Maud Pie: —Sandstone and Dacite and Basalt and Pumice and...


 * Marble Pie: My party is ruined!
 * Maud Pie: Not if your big sister can help it.


 * Maud Pie: Okay, Boulder. This isn't so different from geology when you think about it. Don't scoff. I'm being serious.


 * Pinkie Pie: Did I tell you I was planning a party for my sister?
 * Passenger Pony: Yes, ma'am. You've mentioned it three or four times already.


 * Maud Pie: Well, I guess if I'm going to think like Pinkie, I have to eat like Pinkie.


 * Maud Pie: The sugar is starting to work! I... I can see where all of it goes. I can see how it all works together. I found my inner party animal!


 * Pinkie Pie: You did this, Maud? You put the whole party together by yourself?
 * Maud Pie: I wouldn't say that. I had to ask myself, "What would Pinkie do?" The surprising thing was, I already knew the answer, because I've known the answer for years. My sister would go out of her comfort zone and do whatever it took to make her sister happy. So that's what I did.
 * Pinkie Pie: That's exactly what I would do! I love you, Maud!
 * Maud Pie: I love you too, Pinkie.


 * Maud Pie: It's exhausting work being Pinkie Pie.