//------------------------------// // Pinkie Promise // Story: By and by // by Bysen //------------------------------// To this day, Pinkie didn’t know if she had remembered the gun only held two bullets or if she had truly intended to kill her father that day. She lived with Blinkie now… or rather Elliot. She’d finally gotten her Cutie Mark. Though Elliot wished she had gotten it through different means. But she at least felt good she could help someone that meant so much to her sister. A red heart, with a gold ring around it, that Elliot swore was actually brown like Pinkie's band. It symbolized her caring for all those all around the world. She’d always loved learning about other cultures and had learnt a lot about the buffalo. She had given Bysen a buffalo burial. Every tribe had their own customs for funerals so they couldn’t be sure which was his, but they took every step to come as close as possible. Wrapping in him in cloth, burying him in his brave regalia and phoenix feather headdress. All of his clothes, except for one piece. Pinkie took his wedding band, and her own and put them in a small lock box. That box went inside another lock box and that went inside another. She made sure that she smiled when she touched them. They absorbed emotions Bysen had told her so she didn’t want any of what she was feeling now to ever seep into them. Ever. “Are you doing to at least see me off Pinkie?” Elliot asked. She and JD where leaving today for Zebfrica to aid those who needed it there, leaving their house here in Ponyville to her sisters. Elliot had learnt the language and the customs and was ready to go. “How long are you going to mourn him? It’s almost been a year.” “One year today. And yesterday was our anniversary.” Pinkie commented. Her tone cold and pained. Her mane was puffy once more and she’d smiled a lot in the last year, but she’d never been truly happy since then. “Oh… I didn’t kno… actually I did, I just didn’t check the calendar and I’ve been so obsessed with my own stuff and I didn’t even think of you and I’m so sorry, for all of that, it’s just that I, I mean me and JD have been so busy lately and…” she stopped realizing Pinkie didn’t need excuses, or to deal with her neurotic-ness-ism. “Look, Pinkie Pie, promise me you’ll try to be happy while I’m gone. Ok?” “Don’t make a girl a promise you can’t keep.” Pinkie told her sister, paraphrasing something Bysen had once said. But was telling it to herself too. “Promises are made to be broken.” “No they’re not. And I’ve never known you to break one.” “I didn’t… Bysen did.” Pinkie said as she began to cry. Not because she missed him this time, but because she blamed him for this. “He promised he’d never leave. We made a special promise between us and he broke it.” “You know he didn’t do that. He… he loved you Pinkie. As much as I do. Don’t… he loved you because you were so happy and joyful, he wouldn’t want to see you so sad.” Elliot told her sister, for the honestly-who-knows-how-many-th time. “He never left really. He’s still there; Dad said he wouldn’t move him.” “I don’t believe that promise either…” Pinkie sighed. She hadn’t said a word to her father other than ‘goodbye’ since then. And didn’t plan to. “I’ll never know someone like him again. I loved him, he made me happy and I made him happy. He was my friend… my only friend.” Pinkie sighed. She’d said that a few hundred times too. Of course she had her sisters but… even they had other friends like Lyra and Vinyl or Mootilda. “Pinkie, will you make me a promise?” “I don’t see the point.” “Just… promise me, you’ll try and make some friends while I’m gone.” “Promises mean nothing.” “Then why was his promise to you so important?” “Because… I don’t know. It was special. We made up this little joke thing with it.” Pinkie said while half-mimicking the routine she’d created. “It was silly.” “Tell me about it.” Elliot said putting a hoof on her sister’s shoulder. This was the first time she’d heard about this ‘silly promise’ thing. And despite Pinkie’s words, her tone show it was indeed important to her. “Well, it goes like this. ‘I Pinkie Promise to… um, try and make some friends. Cross my heart,” she said as she ran a hoof across her chest. And it felt… weird. But not bad. “hope to fly,” she went on as she flapped her hooves… and she felt a breeze that wasn’t from her flailing. She looked around slightly, before continuing. “stick a cupcake in my…” she felt something. Like a warm hoof on the side of her face. She placed her own hoof to it. “eye…”’ She began to cry. She could feel something. Him? It couldn’t be. But it was. But it wasn’t… maybe it was her imagination. But it made her... happy. To gives one's name is to gives one's soul. She grabbed Elliot and hugged her tightly. Elliot returned the hug, fearing she’d only made things worse. But when Pinkie finally pulled away, she wore a smile that quickly spread to Elliot too. “Thank you. I’ll make friends. Lot of friends! And every single one will be as important to me as Bysen was… still is.” she said before turning and looking out the window. Taking a look outside, she saw two pegasi. One yellow with a pink mane and one blue with a rainbowed mane. “I’m going to go make some friends right now.” The End.