Pinkie Pie

Pinkie Pie, full name Pinkamena Diane Pie, is a female Earth pony and one of the main characters of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic. She is an energetic and sociable baker at Sugarcube Corner, where she lives on the second floor with her toothless pet alligator Gummy, and she represents the element of laughter. Pinkie writes and performs many songs, and she is the source of many of the show's comical and cartoonish gags. She is called Ponka Po in some merchandise.

Development
Lauren Faust was inspired to create Pinkie Pie by her childhood toy G1 Pegasus pony, Surprise. The previous Pinkie Pie is a G3 pony whose coat is pink, with a lighter shade of pink for her mane and tail, and her cutie mark is three balloons with curved strings. Faust had published of the G1 pony Surprise which was developed into the current Pinkie Pie. Hasbro published a recolor of the image in their "Style Guide for Pinkie Pie", complete with Pegasus wings. Pinkie Pie ultimately remained wingless, with an exception in The Cutie Re-Mark - Part 2, and her wings were given to Fluttershy, who was back then an Earth pony called Posey, and merchandise eventually gave the name Surprise to a member of the Wonderbolts. She shares some personality traits with the G1 pony named Clover.

According to Lauren Faust, she "used to have a 'power' of sorts when she ate too much candy", which she called a "Sugar Rush". She'd plow through doors in a fit of speed, which would cause the Cakes to have to replace their front door on a weekly basis.

Pinkie's mane and tail "poofing up" when she's happy and going flat when she's sad was conceived by Jim Miller for The Cutie Mark Chronicles and repeated in future episodes by James Wootton.

Faust said that when the show was being developed, she encouraged the crew to keep the "wacky gags" exclusive to Pinkie. The Season 1 DVD commentary for Winter Wrap Up says that Faust had dictated that "only Pinkie Pie could do certain crazy gags and other characters wouldn't do it."

According to The Hub's Twitter account and Facebook page, Pinkie Pie's birthday is May 3. In the year 2012, this day was seventy-five days after February 18, the premiere date of A Friend in Deed, an episode in which Pinkie says that her birthday is not for another seventy-five days.

When asked on Twitter if Pinkie and Marble are twins, Hearthbreakers writer Nick Confalone replied "it comes down to your definition of twins for non-humans" and "Marble/Pinkie not identical twins, if they were I'd call them twins." Characters who have been referred to as twins include Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake, Flim and Flam, Cheerilee and Cherry Blossom, Tofu and Tempeh, Antonio and Francesco, and Spa ponies.

Regarding The Saddle Row Review, Jim Miller was asked "Are we gonna see more of THAT one Pinkie Pie from today's episode?" and replied "No plans. It was a gag."

Merchandise, commercials, and cameos

 * Main articles: toys, merchandise, commercials

Pinkie Pie is featured in many commercials and her likeness is used for many toys and other merchandise. Several cards in the collectible card game have quotes from The Art of Fun, an in-universe book written by Pinkie Pie. The collectible card game's Absolute Discord expansion set card #36 C of Ponka Po shows her disguised as in Spike at Your Service and gives her the description, "Who could this mysterious mustachioed mastermind be?! Nopony knows..."

Pinkie Pie makes a brief cameo in the seventh episode of season one of The Aquabats! Super Show!. She is one of many background elements during a musical number of one of the Aquabats.

Quotes
"Isn't this exciting? Are you excited because I'm excited I've never been so excited, well, except for the time that I saw you walking into town and I went [gasp] but I mean really, who could top that?"

- Friendship is Magic, part 1

"Hey, you know what this calls for? A party!"

- Friendship is Magic, part 2

"Okie-dokie-lokie."

- Multiple episodes

"Whatcha doin'?"

- Multiple episodes

"She'll become a crazy cat lady!"

- Referring to Rarity, Suited for Success

"FOREVER!"

- Green Isn't Your Color

"I'd never felt joy like that before! It felt so good I just wanted to keep smiling forever! And I wanted everyone I knew to smile too, but rainbows don't come along that often. I wondered, how else could I create some smiles?"

- The Cutie Mark Chronicles

"My friends laugh with me, not at me."

- The Return of Harmony Part 1

"Too old for free candy? Never!"

- Luna Eclipsed

"Oh, I never leave home without my party cannon."

- Sweet and Elite

"Oh my gosh. Hold on to your hooves – I am just about to be brilliant!"

- Hearth's Warming Eve

"Unicorns are snobs!"

- Hearth's Warming Eve

"Nopony breaks a Pinkie promise!"

- The Last Roundup

"Applejack! (deeply) You Pinkie Promised!!"

- The Last Roundup

"Nailed it!"

- A Friend in Deed and Equestria Games

"Come on, ponies! I wanna see you smile!"

- Magical Mystery Cure

"Alicorn party!"

- Magical Mystery Cure

"Best coronation day ever!"

- Magical Mystery Cure

"Parties. Are. Serious!"

- Pinkie Pride

"Ha-ha, just kidding. OR AM I?!?!? Sometimes I can't even tell!"

- Trade Ya!

"We did it! Ponyville won the medal count! And only by one medal."

- Equestria Games

"Yeah, I get that a lot. Now about those bubbles..."

- My Little Pony Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks

"I don't like it. I don't like it one bit. I know smiles. And those smiles? They're just not right."

- The Cutie Map - Part 1

"Laughs don't come in barrels. They come from inside you as your body's response to delight."

- The Cutie Map - Part 2

"No glowing tushies here!"

- What About Discord?

"Maud... [sniffs] You know me so well. You really are the most thoughtful gift-giver in the world! I'm gonna love it five-ever! That's even longer than for-ever."

- The Gift of the Maud Pie

"Buuuut now that you mention it... I could use more confetti for my party cannon. You wouldn't believe how much of that stuff I go through in a day!"

- The Gift of the Maud Pie

"Well, look at the bright side! At least they didn't call you Rainbow Trash!"

- Newbie Dash

"Fluttershy and Twilight in Appleloosa! No, me and Rainbow Dash in Las Pegasus! No, Rainbow Dash and Twilight in Yakyakistan! No, Twilight and Twilight in Twilight's castle! Oh. Me! Me! Oh, me... and Rarity! Ooh! I hope it's some faraway place that nopony has gone before!"

- Spice Up Your Life

"Y'know, some ponies get excited about the silliest things."

- Spice Up Your Life

"It's piñata o'clock!"

- P.P.O.V. (Pony Point of View)

"There’s no doubt, friendship is the best thing ever. But friendBOATS are great too!!"

- My Little Pony Facebook post

"Woohoo! Ponyville forever!"

- Hub ad bumpers

"I'm glad we're crushing tiles and not candy! What a waste of good candy!"

- My Little Pony Puzzle Party