//------------------------------// // Easier Said // Story: Last Mare on Earth // by Coyotek4 //------------------------------// Tirek, Chrysalis, Cozy Glow … all three stare in disbelief as Pinkie Pie beams and waits for a reaction. “Yep … I forgive all three of you in the name of Equestria and all the world! You are all forgiven!” The threesome continue to stare as Pinkie’s smile begins to fade. “Come on now, they’re forgiven … time for something to happen now, right? …” Pinkie gazes up at the sky, her exuberance giving way to confusion. “That had to be it, right? I forgave them … we forgave them! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR???” Pinkie’s gaze shifts from the sky to the three confused former foes. Tears form in her eyes. “I don’t understand,” she says between choked sobs. “I did all that work, freed you all, forgave you … for, for nothing? …” She crumples to the ground and sobs quietly. “I’ve had enough of this,” Chrysalis curtly states as she spreads her wings. “Where do you think you’re going?” Tirek asks incredulously. “Back to the hive to take back what’s rightfully mine!” “Didn’t you hear what Pinkie Pie said?” Cozy Glow adds. “Like I’m going to take the word of a madpony! This could be just another trick, for all we know! Well, you two can stick around if you like, but I have more important things to attend to.” Chrysalis takes one final look at Pinkie, shakes her head in disgust, and flies off. Tirek gazes at the changeling for a moment, then walks towards the entrance to the courtyard. “Tirek, where do you think you’re going?” Cozy Glow asks. “Chrysalis could be right, you know. In any case, there’s nothing for us here.” “But what about Pinkie Pie?” “Not my concern … and she shouldn’t be yours, either.” Tirek turns away from the two ponies and heads out. Cozy Glow watches as the centaur disappears from her sight, then turns her attention to Pinkie, still sobbing and inconsolable. She flutters over to Pinkie and addresses her. “Uh … Professor Pinkie?” The jarring address momentarily snaps Pinkie out of her funk. She wipes away the moisture from her eyes and makes eye contact with the young pegasus. “When you said that you ‘forgave’ me and Tirek and Chrysalis … did you really mean that, or did you do that because you thought that would bring everypony back?” Pinkie opens her mouth to answer but remains silent, unable to respond. She buries her head into her forehooves and sobs anew. “So you really don’t believe we can be forgiven,” Cozy Glow quietly concludes. “It’s OK; I understand.” Pinkie’s head shoots up. “No, no … I didn’t mean to … I do believe … honestly …” “Do you?” Cozy’s demeanor stiffens as her eyes narrow. “I was responsible for you and your friends being locked away in Tartarus. Tricked you into imprisoning yourselves. Captured Counselor Starlight. Drained all the magic from Equestria. I coerced an army of students to attack non-ponies! So tell me Professor … WHY DO YOU BELIEVE A PONY LIKE ME CAN BE FORGIVEN???” Pinkie’s tears quickly dry as she rises to her hooves to address Cozy’s question. “Why do I believe you can be forgiven?” she repeats with renewed determination. “Why don’t I start with your counselor, who took away the cutie marks from an entire village and forced them to serve her?” Pinkie’s question catches Cozy off-guard. “Counselor Starlight? She …” “Oh, she didn’t stop there; she took away MY cutie mark as well, along with Twilight and all my other friends! But let’s just skip past that and get to the part where she nearly destroyed Equestria by blocking my friendship with Twilight!” “That can’t possibly be—” “It’s all true! Every word of it! And what did we do once Starlight finally came around? Did we send her to Tartarus? Turn her to stone! No … we forgave her. Twilight became her mentor. And look how that turned out! So why would it be that she could be reformed and not you?” To this, Cozy has no response. “Oh, but you’re different, right? Of course you are; you’re a filly! We would lock up a filly in Tartarus rather than try to bring her around to the true power of friendship. Maybe … maybe that’s why everycreature disappeared; because we forgot a basic tenet of friendship: forgiveness. Well I see it now, and I am truly sorry for how everything turned out … not because of the effect on my life, but because of the effect on yours!” “But what I did … the way I acted …” “You mean like how you failed a test because you thought it would help the CMCs?” Cozy is again silenced by Pinkie’s question. “That’s right … I know all about that. You didn’t do that to be hateful or hurtful, and you didn’t do that in an attempt to gain power. You did that because you cared for them. Because you wanted to help them. It was a selfless act, and you know it.” “I … I …” “I don’t know when or how you came into contact with Tirek. And I don’t know how much your actions were affected by him and how much was your own doing. And yes, what you did was horrible … but what pony is completely without fault? You made a big mistake, and all of us were hurt by your actions … but there were better ways to handle things, and we messed up. ‘We’, as in me and Twilight and Celestia … we messed up.” Fresh tears start to form, but this time from the young pegasus. “Professor, I’m sorry for everything,” she wails as she hugs Pinkie. “I promise, I’ll be better. I swear to you and …” “It’s OK,” Pinkie calmly replies. “We’ve both made mistakes … a lot of us have, really. But we’ll get through this.” “But … but how?” Cozy asks. “It’s only the four of us left in the world now, right?” “I don’t know anymore,” Pinkie responds in earnest. “But we’ll figure something out.” “OK … uh, Professor?” “You can just call me Pinkie; all my friends do.” “Um, OK … uh, Pinkie? Did Counselor Starlight really do all that?” “Oh yeah … and once, she brainwashed me and the others to complete a friendship test.” Cozy laughs. “Are you serious?” “Eh, we got time. It all started when Twilight had to go to a conference right here in Canterlot …”