Pinkie Pie lay with lidded eyes in her usual spot, shaded from the crescent-dimmed moonlight by the giant oak she had claimed as her home. The wind lent itself to the tree, sounding off an illusion of sea waves crashing against the shore. It was a nice thought, a happy thought of a time she had seen the wide expanse of water. She had swum through the chilling sea, fingers of ice only momentarily grasping at her flesh before releasing her to a more comfortable embrace as her body grew accustomed to it. It had been refreshing like nothing else.
Leaving the water welcomed the presence of the sea breeze; warm-air-turned-cool on her wet body, and the salty air filled her lungs with such refreshment. It was a moment away from the craziness, away from the parties and the ponies. It was just a joyous moment in nature’s bliss.
Now, Pinkie could no longer feel the wind’s cool touch, with every passing day a reminder of a memory that could never be relived.
Pinkie opened her eyes lazily, refusing to move an inch more. She had no energy left to move, or rather, she had no desire left to move. The same could have been said a week ago, too, though that had all changed when Lore Scripture came to deliver her to Tartarus. He had sensed her hesitation—her pain—and offered to help her make things right. He had taught her the tools she would need, and she was given the chance to make things better. Everything had been spread before her, and she had screwed it all up.
Rainbow Dash feared her, and everything she tried to do made it worse. It had spiraled out of control since the incident at Sweet Apple Acres. Rainbow stayed away from her friends, and aside from feeding Tank, she would stay away from her own home. Pinkie had done nothing but to make the uneasy mare feel like the target of her wrath.
Pinkie Pie’s eyes swiveled toward her tomb stone—still blank from near a week before. If Rainbow Dash ever worked up the courage to visit her again, the smooth face of that stone would do nothing to settle the mare’s mind. Pinkie sighed and rose from her bed, dragging her hooves to the stone.
She studied it for a moment. Lore Scripture had erased the contents of that stone, calling it a blank slate—a new start for her to make things right. It was his contract to her and it awaited her signature. Whatever his intent was, her cutie mark needed to don that stone once again.
Mimicking what Lore had done before, she placed her hoof on the stone’s surface and closed her eyes. She pictured it in her mind, and pictured her cutie mark on it, with every curve of the balloons chiseled precisely in the stone. A faint glow invaded her closed eyes before dissipating. Opening her eyes, Pinkie was greeted by her cutie mark, a perfect copy of its original self.
Well, that was back to normal, but Pinkie still felt a hole in her heart. It just wasn’t fair! She had done everything she could to tell Rainbow Dash she forgave her, and everything had just worked against her.
She just wanted to see a smile—a legitimate smile—on Rainbow Dash’s face, but that seemed so out of reach now. She couldn’t even smile herself anymore.
Scowling, Pinkie turned to face the oak and lashed out at it. Invisible blades struck the bark, leaving scrapes and cuts of various lengths and depths, until finally she let go of the image in her mind. She read the words in silence. They were the last thing she had asked of Rainbow Dash before she died, and Rainbow had not heeded it.
Pinkie threw herself back into the grass and studied the night sky. A pony she knew as a filly had once told her that when somepony died, they would join the stars in the sky and smile down upon you through both the good and bad times. Well, if that were true, why was she stuck here on the ground, desperate for a smile to light her way? Just a single smile from Rainbow Dash would…
Pinkie blinked up at the sky, or more precisely at the winged figure in the sky. She didn’t need the moon’s help to recognize the radiance of that rainbow mane. Pinkie held her breath and waited to see what Rainbow would do. The mare shook her head sadly and flew off toward town.
Pinkie pounded the ground with her hoof. Another night of being ignored because of her stupidity. It just wasn’t fair!
“No!” Pinkie growled, forcing herself to her hooves, “Stop feeling sorry for yourself, Pinkie Pie! Get out there and make things right! Don’t give up until it’s too late!” The only question was how to do that.
Pinkie’s eyes followed the fading rainbow trail to the tips of Twilight’s castle in the distance. It made sense, if a pony had a question they couldn’t think of an answer to, they would go to Twilight!
Pinkie smiled determinedly and ran on with a purpose that she had once thought lost.
~~~
Twilight’s castle, known by those outside of Ponyville by its more formal name, the Castle of Friendship, shimmered vaguely in the light of a crescent moon as Pinkie Pie approached. Light seeped through the gap underneath the entrance, holding any darkness escaping the faint moonlight at bay. Pinkie pushed herself through the unopened door without issue.
Inside, the castle lobby was left mostly unchanged from when she had last visited a year ago, with perhaps the addition of a few new banners and potted plants. Even with what Pinkie believed were the only new additions, the large lobby was still fairly barren, with a long, red carpet running the length of the room. The floor would normally give off a dull sheen in the day, but with the night it was a lifeless gray, amplified by the desaturation of the spirit realm. The door at the far end of the room was left ajar, with rays of light casting across the room to touch an unremarkable section of a far wall.
Pinkie closed the distance to the door in a moment; words gave quiet echoes from the map room on the other side.
“—think you are just overreacting.” It was Twilight’s voice, surprisingly lacking the slurring of sleep. It must have been another of Twilight’s late ‘library dates,’ as Pinkie liked to call her study sessions.
“I’m telling you, Twilight, I’m not!” Rainbow growled, “I know what I’ve been seeing! It’s been like this all week long, and it doesn’t matter where I am, things just fly around without warning.”
Pinkie pushed through the door with the same ease as she had earlier. Rainbow Dash paced back and forth in a short, 5-step span, with Twilight seated in one of the nearby thrones encircling the Cutie Map. To Pinkie’s surprise, Spike and Starlight Glimmer were both absent. Perhaps they had been able to escape the pains of another late night of books with the Princess of Books, another of Pinkie’s terms for Twilight.
Rainbow grimaced as she came to a stop and rubbed her hind leg. “I mean, c’mon, Twilight… How do you think I got this? It wasn’t during practice, I can tell you that much.”
Twilight looked at Rainbow thoughtfully, “You said you hadn’t had any sleep the night before. You could have just hurt yourself while helping with Applejack’s fence. Exhaustion can cloud your mind, so you could have easily turned and bumped a loose beam, and it could have fallen and hurt your leg. I’m sure they’re heavy, so it’s feasible.”
“I think I would know the difference between a board falling over and being THROWN at me!” Rainbow shouted frustratingly, “I saw it, Twi. I know I did. So yeah, maybe I did doze off a little, but I shook myself awake and there it was: a wooden beam just floating there, with no unicorns in sight.” Rainbow continued her pacing for a moment before flinching in pain again. She sat down beside Twilight with a sigh. “Look, Twilight… I’m not crazy. I know what I saw. Please, believe me…”
Twilight studied Rainbow for a moment before finally nodding, albeit slowly. “Okay, Rainbow, I believe you, but I’m still not sure what would have caused something like that…”
“Ghosts! Don’t look at me like that, it’s gotta be!” Rainbow argued, “I swear, Pinkie just hates me for what I did, and her ghost is trying to kill me, or at least make my life miserable…”
Pinkie winced. Her fears had come true, confirmed straight from the mouth of the victim. She had set out to ease Rainbow’s suffering, and she had only made it worse. Much worse if Rainbow thought she was trying to kill her. Pinkie felt moisture in the corners of her eyes, she fought it back with an effort.
“Rainbow,” Twilight stepped from her chair to Rainbow, laying a hoof on her shoulder, “Listen, all of us have hurt from Pinkie’s passing, but we’ve all managed to move on, somehow… I’m afraid you still haven’t, and I feel like you aren’t trying to.”
Rainbow closed her eyes tightly and trembled at Twilight’s touch. Pinkie had seen that look many times before when Rainbow would visit her grave. While Rainbow wouldn’t cry every time she visited, there were times that she came close. This was one of those times, with Rainbow straining to maintain her composure, trying to play the strong mare she had always tried to show to the public. Pinkie wasn’t sure if she would win out on this one.
Twilight continued, “I know it’s hard, Rainbow, but you need to try to come to terms with what’s happened. I promise you that everything will feel much better once you do.”
Rainbow shook again, and vainly sniffed back a tear. “I see it every night, Twilight—that terrible, good-for-nothing cliff. I just see it crumbling, only I don’t. It’s like I’m not in my own body, and I can see myself racing away from the cliff with this… this proud smile on my face. I’m oblivious to everything.” Rainbow’s tears finally fought through the mental barrier she had set. “I look down at you guys and expect to see applause at my Sonic Rainboom, and Pinkie’s fireworks, but you’re all freaking out, running toward the show, and that’s when…” Rainbow sobbed, the barrier all but gone now as Twilight brought her head into the nook of her shoulder.
Twilight shushed her, patting Rainbow’s back, “You had good intentions, Rainbow… You just wanted to celebrate our friendship, and we all appreciate it, but nobody could have known that the cliff was unstable,” Twilight continued, “You have to remember that, Rainbow. What happened to the cliff was not your fault.”
“But it was, Twilight,” Rainbow squeaked, “That cliff would still be standing if… if I hadn’t done the Sonic Rainboom. The force from it was too much… I killed her, Twilight… It was me, and I was too blinded by pride to see it, and the fake cheers in my head blocked out—it blocked the crashing of the cliff, and...” Rainbow choked up, “I could have reached her in time…”
“That’s nonsense and you know it.” Twilight’s words were stern, though soft as a pillow. “Nothing anypony could have done would have changed events much beyond what we have now. As sad as it is, accidents can happen, and we can’t change them.” Twilight gently pushed Rainbow back to see her face. “Now, please, find peace with what happened. I’m positive Pinkie wouldn’t want you feeling this way. She would want you to smile, and I think that’s the best way to celebrate her life.”
Pinkie could only nod, her lips trembling through a faint smile. Twilight had managed to do what she had failed to over the past week, and based on the smile donning Rainbow’s face, however forced it may have been, it seemed to have worked.
“Thank you, Twilight…” Pinkie whispered to herself.
“Now,” Twilight began, giving Rainbow a small smile, “I think you should go visit Pinkie Pie tomorrow and let her know that you’ve finally found the means to move on. Let her know that you will find that happiness she would want you to have.”
Rainbow Dash’s smile seemed genuine now, an eagerness in her eyes. “I’ll go tonight. I owe her that much.”
Pinkie’s eyes widened. Rainbow Dash may have finally found the peace she had been seeking, but Pinkie wanted more. She would only have one more real shot at sending a message to Rainbow Dash, and she wanted her to know for certain that she was forgiven. A part of her argued that she should quit while she was ahead, to not risk losing the ground she had gained, but her mind was set. Pinkie had one more shot to put any remaining fears in Rainbow to rest, and she intended to take it.
She closed her eyes and pictured the gravestone, her cutie mark chiseled on its face. She saw the great oak, imagined its limbs swaying, and its leaves rustling in the wind. She imagined she was there…
~~~
The blinding light faded to the familiar scene of her oaken home by her tomb. Pinkie surveyed the scene to form a plan; the pieces to the puzzle were here, she just had to figure out how to place them. She spotted the crudely carved letters in the trunk of her tree and smiled. Good, that could help.
Pinkie heard the vague, yet unmistakeable sound of flapping wings. She looked to the sky and saw the rapid approach of a rainbow mane glinting in the shallow moonlight. Pinkie sighed to herself; she would have to improvise for the rest of her unformed plan.
Rainbow Dash landed several yards away from the tombstone with a muffled thud, and Pinkie instinctively dodged out of the way. Rainbow stared at the tombstone, unflinching, before finally inhaling heavily and pushing herself forward. She stopped a few feet from the stone and let go of the breath she had been holding in.
The moonlight angled just right to conceal the stone-etched cutie mark in shadow, but Rainbow looked at it as if it was the only thing she saw. “Hey, Pinkie Pie,” she began, clearing her throat, “I, uh, I’m sorry for avoiding you for so long. I just—I mean, I wasn’t sure if you wanted to… see me.”
Rainbow brushed her hoof in the tufts of grass in front of her, staying silent as if to wait for a reply. When none came, she sighed and continued, “I just got these crazy ideas in my head that you hated me for what happened to you… And, I guess I forgot that it was never like you to hate somepony, or to hold a grudge. I just hope that you can forgive me.” The mare closed her eyes and bowed her head.
Now was Pinkie’s chance to act! She quickly looked at the stone, and then at the carving on the tree before nodding to herself and closing her eyes. She reached for the stone, placing her hoof on its surface as she had done earlier and imagined her cutie mark disappearing. She felt the stone smoothen its features, and immediately she followed through with an image of a message. She saw the stone give way to her words, like soft clay in a potter’s hooves. The message had to be simple, the first prong of a multi-phased attack of love and forgiveness. She finished off the sculpting by concentrating the glow that normally engulfed the entire stone into a cool blaze of blue light forming to the letters of her message.
Rainbow Dash opened her eyes and gasped at the display, reading the words quietly to herself, “Look to your left…” Rainbow swallowed and did as she was instructed, giving off another gasp at the message she had not seen on the tree.
Pinkie smiled and added a softer glow to the message she had previously carved out in frustration—a message she had originally written as a reminder to herself, but would now serve to aid in her cause. The words blazed a cool blue.
Never stop smiling.
Rainbow Dash trembled again, but this time not fighting back the tears that desperately yearned for release. “That—” she choked on the word. She hoarsely cleared her throat before continuing, “That was the last thing you said to me… Pinkie Pie, are you… are you really there?”
Pinkie smiled, her own tears threatening to fall from the sheer happiness that overwhelmed her. She was almost done; she just had to add the cherry on top.
The wind blew and Pinkie glanced up at a rustling in the leaves that was not like the rest. A white sheet of loosely-crumpled paper was snagged on one of the twigs. Her eyes widened at the recognition of it. Fate had a funny way of playing things, and it had delivered her a winning card to her final gamble with spectral magic.
Before Pinkie could loosen the page on her own, a faint glow pulled it from its held place and let it gently ride the air in a rocking motion. She blinked at the page and looked behind her. Lore Scripture smiled at her and nodded, letting go of his magic.
Rainbow Dash flinched when the page landed softly on her head. She hesitantly took the page and held out the page to read.
Please don’t blame yourself. I forgive you, Dashie.
- Pinkie Pie
Rainbow let out a half-laugh-half-sob and held the page against her in a tight embrace. “Thank you, Pinkie… Thank you so much!”
Pinkie ran to her friend and embraced her in a huge of her own. Rainbow shivered as if in response, but her smile grew wider. Pinkie could hear Rainbow mumbling thanks repeatedly as she rocked the page back-and-forth. She held on tighter, her mind willing her hooves to not pass through her friend. Though she was a ghost, the hug was as real as if she were alive there with her friend.
After a moment, Rainbow pulled away from the page and looked at it. “I promise, Pinkie, I will never blame myself. You will live on every time I smile.” Her smile widened to its brink. “And I promise you that I will never stop smiling.”
Lore Scripture approached the tomb stone with a light grin of his own and placed a hoof on its surface. A moment later, the markings on the stone returned to the original balloons of Pinkie’s cutie mark.
The fading glow caught Rainbow’s attention and she turned with a slight start, though the smile never faded from her face. “I’ll come back soon, Pinkie Pie, and I’ll update you on what everypony’s up to.” She jumped into the air, her wings catching the air in a hover. “Thanks again, Pinkie. You’ll always be my friend.” With that, the pegasus dashed into the sky, riding the wind into the distance.
Pinkie watched her go with a content smile on her face.
Lore Scripture sat down beside her and nodded in satisfaction. “You are a quick learner, Pinkie Pie. Quite a remarkable student, indeed.”
Pinkie blinked at him. “Huh?”
Lore stifled a chuckle. "You learned many things I did not think you would learn in such a short period of time with spectral magic. The ability to teleport, for one, is a difficult feat,” Lore observed, “Though, I suppose you do have a very active imagination, so that would benefit you.”
Pinkie nodded at the older spirit with a smile, “Well, I had a great teacher! It really wasn’t that hard. Well, except for the mirror… that was exhausting to put back together. Oh, and the teleporting made me a little dizzy...”
Lore Scripture laughed, “I suppose that it would be dizzying if you did not know how to brace for it. Do not worry, Pinkie Pie, you will grow accustomed to it with time and practice.” He stood up to face the horizon, with an eager look in his eye. “For now, It is time for us to depart, Pinkie Pie. My master awaits our return to Tartarus.”
Pinkie’s smile disappeared as she looked back to where her friend had been. “But, what about Rainbow Dash? Or anypony else that comes to visit me?”
“They will come to speak to the stone, Pinkie Pie,” Lore said, “It is to honor you, but you do not need to be present to hear it. Your soul will always be bound here, and you will always hear them speaking to you as a small voice in the back of your mind. They will be there for you in their words just as you will be forever present in their smiles.”
Lore Scripture began forward, speaking over his shoulder, “Now, come along, Pinkie Pie. Tartarus awaits.”
Pinkie Pie followed reluctantly, but took a moment to look back one more time at the great oaken tree and tomb she had called her home for so long. She may be gone, but she would never be forgotten. She would live on in the lives of her friends with one simple legacy she had left behind.
Never stop smiling.