Pinkie Pie set out to help Jimmy give his grandmother a proper funeral, but how could she approach such a feat? She never organized something like that before. Unfortunately for her, she didn't have a choice. Nopony else in Ponyville could handle it, so she had to take it into her own hooves. It was her time. She had to help Jimmy and make something his grandmother would be proud for.
She had to think of a plan, and apparently trotting around in circles wasn't helping her. Realizing this, she collapsed and held her hooves over her head in embarrassment. Her humiliation was interrupted after being touched by a slightly wrinkled hoof.
"Miss Pinkie?" he asked politely.
Pinkie looked up to be greeted by Mr. Waddle. Usually he was very up and positive, but he looked pretty concerned. Pinkie decided from this that she should try to maintain her composure. She smiled passively as she welcomed Mr. Waddle.
"Oh, hello, Mr. Waddle," said Pinkie Pie in a nervous tone.
"Are you alright? You don't seem quite like yourself today."
"What makes you say that? I'm fine." Pinkie's teeth chattered a bit.
"Miss Pinkie, I may not have good eyesight, but I can still see that something is troubling you." Mr. Waddle adjusted his glasses.
Pinkie surrendered and shrank back to the ground. "Alright, you got me."
"What's wrong, Miss Pinkie?" asked Mr. Waddle.
Pinkie let out a sigh. "A good friend of mine passed away, and I met her grandson and he's really nice but I don't know what to do because I'm supposed to run a funeral and I've never ran a funeral before but I don't want to disappoint him and... I'M FRUSTRATED!" Pinkie Pie started breathing heavily after a combination of stress and lung overuse hit her. Mr. Waddle waited a bit before responding.
"Feeling better?"
Pinkie shook her head. "Not really."
"Well... how about we take this one step at a time. Is that alright with you, Miss Pinkie?"
Pinkie gave a meek smile. "Where do we start?"
"Well, you're supposed to run a funeral. I'm actually licensed to give them, myself."
Pinkie's eyes shot wide. "You, Mr. Waddle?"
"Indeed, and I'll be more than happy to provide it for you."
Pinkie couldn't contain herself, and gave Mr. Waddle a ferocious hug. Not necessarily painful, but it sure felt uncomfortable. Seeing her happy face, however, made it just alright for Mr. Waddle. Pinkie happened to notice her grip was a little too much for the elderly pony and released.
"Heh, sorry." Pinkie gave an apologetic grin.
Mr. Waddle recovered fairly easily and waved it off. "Now now, Miss Pinkie, I'll be fine. In fact, I don't even need much equipment to set it up. I just need some chairs, a podium, and guests. Then we'll be all set."
"Be right back!" shouted Pinkie as she ran out of his eyesight. She stopped by once and delivered a podium, then again with some chairs, and once more with some of her friends sitting in them. Each time formed a small cloud of dust, and the last provided some very confused ponies.
"Oh my goodness, Miss Pinkie. I knew you were speedy, but that was quite unusual. I suppose this'll be just fine, though. Did you want to start now?"
"Just a second," Pinkie told Mr. Waddle. "Hey, Jimmy! Are you there? We've got the funeral ready!"
Mr. Waddle was a bit confused. Why was Pinkie Pie shouting at the sky?
Pinkie nodded and gave Mr. Waddle a wink, and headed to one of the empty seats. A curious Spike that sat behind her poked Pinkie from behind.
"Hey," Spike whispered. "Why are we here?"
"Yeah," appeared Rainbow Dash. "What's up, Pinkie?"
"You'll see soon enough," claimed Pinkie. Shrugging it off, Spike and Rainbow Dash leaned back, as did a few others listening to their conversation.
Mr. Waddle stood at the podium and cleared his throat. "We are gathered here today to remember and comfort those who were hurt by the loss of a very important individual. Though we may not all have had a chance to meet her, including myself, somepony has. Would you care to come up here and explain, Pinkie Pie?"
Pinkie Pie nodded and trotted up to the podium.
"Hello everypony. Thank you all for coming."
"You kinda dragged us up here," remarked somepony from the crowd. She was then followed up with a 'shoosh.'
"For several years, I have been staring up to the sky and talking to a stranger. She was one of the nicest aliens I knew!"
"Aliens?" Somepony spoke up. "That's what you brought us here for?"
"Well, not exactly. I don't know what she is! But she wasn't from our world. None of that mattered so much, as she-"
"This is ridiculous. I'm out of here!" one mare interrupted.
"You're being even more silly than usual Pinkie. I'm sorry but I'm too busy right now to deal with your shenanigans," a rather bitter stallion agreed.
The chain continued as pony after pony began to leave the area. Most of them were either complaining or silent. Some had looks of sorrow on their faces directed to Pinkie but left as well, honestly thinking that the funeral was purposeless. It was at this point that Pinkie couldn't help but break down in tears. She fell backwards and continued to sob.
The ponies who decided to stay were none other than Twilight, Applejack, Spike, Fluttershy, Mr. Waddle, the Cakes, Rarity, and a very angry Rainbow Dash whose tail was being pulled by Applejack's mouth.
"Did you see what they did to her? Let me go!" struggled Rainbow Dash.
"Ah knur ets uffly roo-" Applejack attempted to speak while holding onto Rainbow's tail. The other ponies looked at her in puzzlement before Twilight offered to hold back Rainbow Dash with her magic instead. Applejack complied and released Rainbow Dash's tail.
"Ah was trying to say, Ah know it's awfully rude of them to leave Pinkie like that, but that doesn't justify ya wailing on them like a bullheaded bronco!" said Applejack.
"I don't care! They deserve it!" Rainbow Dash continued to try and fight Twilight's hold on her.
"I don't think they're the issue here," said Twilight as she directed a hoof in Pinkie's direction. The crying from her was only growing worse and a puddle had formed underneath her back.
Rainbow Dash sighed. "Alright, let's go help her."
Twilight nodded and released Rainbow Dash. All of them trotted over to Pinkie except Mr. Waddle, who was by her side the whole time.
Twilight attempted to gain Pinkie Pie's attention and spoke up. "Pinkie, I know this is really upsetting for you, but can we talk about this?"
Pinkie Pie wouldn't let up her frustration. "I let her down! I let them both down!"
"Pinkie, I'm sure you didn't let anyone down," Twilight replied.
"But I did! They must hate me!" Pinkie wallowed.
"Miss Pinkie," Mr. Waddle spoke. "You showed to me that you were concerned for them ever since I came across you today. You are by no doubt one of the most selfless ponies I've ever known. I'm pretty sure they want to help you as much as you want to help them, from what I've heard of them so far." At this point Mr. Waddle stuck a hoof in front of Pinkie Pie for her to reach out for.
Pinkie sniffled and was indecisive for a moment. She then offered a smile and took his hoof in hers and accepted the help up.
"I'm sorry," Pinkie Pie said as she got on her hooves once more.
"Oh Pinkie," said Rarity. "There's no need to be sorry."
"Yeah," spoke Rainbow Dash. "We just want to know what happened. We're concerned for you, and if it means so much to you, we're concerned for them as well."
"How about we all talk this over some food at Sugarcube Corner? On us!" Mrs. Cake wrapped a hoof around her husband.
The rest of the ponies cheered in excitement as they heard Mrs. Cake's offer. They all gathered over to Sugarcube Corner so that Pinkie could explain her situation. Mrs. Cake put up a 'CLOSED' sign up on the door of the store. They all went in except for Pinkie Pie, who stood outside and looked up to the sky.
"I'll see you soon," Pinkie waved. "Thanks for everything."
She then trotted into the store, being a little more than her usual happy self. Something special was added to her and she knew it was there, but she couldn't quite explain it.