//------------------------------//
// Burial 
// Story: The Remaining Five 
// by ABagOVicodin 
//------------------------------//

	The podium remained unused for the fifteen minutes of recollection that everyone took part in. It was the longest fifteen minutes of Ponyville's existence. Despite this, everyone was perfectly fine with stretching the silence. Heads were slowly looking up at the podium, as memories were ended and smiles appeared on the faces of the enamored. The smiles did not last for long, since memories were called such a thing for a reason. Princess Celestia's purple eyes stared at the emptiness in front of the town hall, before they shifted to the Mayor, who was blowing her nose on a handkerchief. A complete examination of the crowd showed just what Celestia was afraid of, depression and fear. You could start Cloudsdale's Cloud Factory with the amount of tears that were shed today.

Her most faithful student did not deserve this kind of pain. While she could not speak for Luna, Celestia had spent well enough of her time mourning over past friends, lovers, and ones who showed true friendship. It was selfish, but Celestia had no tears to cry for the party pony. She wanted to, she wished that she was capable of crying. But after seeing the death of Starswirl the Bearded, the banishment of her sister, and the transformation of Discord, she had cried enough tears for a lifetime. How selfish she was, sitting in her chair and thinking about the deaths of past ponies, when there was a corpse inside of the coffin in front of her. She was one of the most powerful beings in Equestria, and yet she was unable to dissipate the plague of depression on the crowd. What use was her?

This was harmony, although it wasn't the kind that Celestia would prefer. The absence of one mare brought silence and recollection, a kind of congruity among all of the ponies in Ponyville. But at what cost? Celestia's magic was unable to dispel this collection of depression and regret. Although she was able to call this harmony, who would want this? The practical part of her mind told her that the Elements of Harmony was now missing one. Her wide range of knowledge did not cover what happened when one of the elements was missing. Celestia and her sister were the ones to use the Elements before the main six, and due to this, a problem was never brought up. Fear started to flood throughout her body as the unknown spread throughout her mind. She should have seen this coming. The past seven days were a blur in her mind, as she tried to sit in that chair and remember.

Celestia had the responsibility to take care of her subjects, and her eyes slowly closed as Nightmare Moon's return flared up in her memory. She was unable to create any kind of agreement between herself and her sister, and she took the cowardly way out, imprisonment. It saved her subjects, but if Celestia had enough adept magic power to banish the element of Discord, then why was she unable to come to an agreement? Why was she unable to stop Discord by herself, and instead had to risk her faithful student and her friends to save Equestria? Why was she unable to fight back Chrysalis, and instead was defeated in one magical spell? And now, as she sat here among the citizens of Ponyville, was she unable to prevent this catastrophe? Why was she so... useless?

Her purple eyes turned to Cadance, who had her head buried into Shining Armor's chest. She was the only one who could possibly change the mood of the room. Pinkie Pie spent her whole life making others happy, and although she would want everyone to be smiling, a spell to create it was not suitable. Celestia wanted to stand up, walk over to that podium, and use a combination of her words and magic to make everyone happier. But the correct words to do so had escaped her mind, and her fear of angering her faithful student was taking over her judgment. She honestly expected to have more ponies angry at her. She was the princess of the kingdom, one who was capable of eliminating any other spell in existence. It was a shame that death was not a spell, it was life.

Twilight's head looked up at the podium, her eyes watering as she realized that the funeral should be wrapped up soon. If not, she was sure that every pony would be perfectly fine with ignoring their duties, and replicating memories in their head until their own timely passing. A random thought passed through her head about the time spell, and whether or not she should have used it for something as idiotic as reminding herself of an abstract catastrophe. She should have saved it for an actual one. She pushed herself onto her hooves, and slowly walked over to the podium. Her head looked up at the crowd, as a tear slid down her right cheek, “Thank you all for coming. Please take as many snacks as you wish. Pinkie's coffin will be buried tonight at 9 PM. Have a... Good day.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kindness, Generosity, Loyalty, Honesty, Magic, Laughter. The six inseparable traits that created Harmony, both in this life and the next. Raindrops made soft pattering noises on Pinkie's coffin, as the remaining five stood over a six foot hole in the ground. A crowd stood behind them, spreading out in a half circle due to the large amount that decided to stay. Not a single pony left the funeral, everyone wanted to see Pinkie off. Her coffin remained on the grass, directly below the hole. Not a single pegasus wanted to clear out the clouds. Leaving the funeral, even if it was for one moment to clear the clouds, was not worth leaving their friend. The rain would be allowed to fall, for today. Twilight and Rarity stared into each others eyes, their glances simply telling the same thing. Neither of them were ready.

Princess Celestia stood over Pinkie's grave, her gaze on the six feet of depth. She, just like the rest of the crowd, did not want the coffin to be placed into its perfectly shaped room. But the thousands of years that she lived in Equestria was telling her the words that no pony else wanted to hear. Which is why she didn't want to share them, “She had to be buried sometime.” Celestia looked towards Twilight, who tilted her head down with Rarity since either unicorn was not ready to lift Pinkie into her resting place. A part of Celestia wanted to do it herself, to have the honor of helping one of her best friends into her final days on the surface. But she already had her turn, and due to her previous actions, Celestia was sure that she did not deserve this honor.

Princess Luna bit back tears, the absence of Pinkie Pie bringing back memories that were long since repressed in her subconscious. The one thousand years that were spent trapped inside of the moon, thinking about her own actions and the selfishness of her sister. She wouldn't (and couldn't) challenge her sister's decision. After all, the thousand years had already passed, but there was a reason that the two of them weren't exactly speaking like Applebloom and Applejack were. Hurt feelings, a thousand years of them, were between them both. Her return to Equestria and the elimination of Nightmare Moon from her body was an event that she would always rejoice and thank the Elements of Harmony for. But what was there to thank her sister for?

The first thing that Luna remembered doing when she acquired her room in the Canterlot Castle, was visit all of the houses that her previous friends were living in. While the Canterlot folk did not run away from her like the Ponyville citizens, none of them remembered Luna, probably because her friends have been dead for at least nine hundred years. When this realization hit her, Nightmare Moon almost struck twice. Her sister got to watch the slow transformation of Equestria into a larger country, while Luna lived in a state of stasis until her anger and jealousy created enough power to bring her back. Her sister was sad, she could tell, but she could never empathize with the feeling that Luna held deep in her chest. Her friends were dead, and Luna never got to see them grow up, or live. If anyone could empathize with the remaining five's loss, it would be her.

Blue hues stared at the many flanks and backs, as this particular colt was trying to capture a view of the coffin. This was the worst event that he had ever seen, and due to the technology that he was in control of, he had seen a lot. Doctor Whooves took a step back from the crowd, and he started to walk along the edges of the crowd. He eventually managed to slip in between two lines of the crowd, and managed to get into the front row. The TARDIS passed through his mind, and guilt flooded through his body as he realized that he could have prevented this funeral, if he was aware of Pinkie's antics. No one knew why Pinkie died, but if he had tried to look a little bit into her mannerisms and plans for that week, he was sure he could have stepped through time and prevented it. However it was too late now, even if Whooves wanted to save Pinkie, her death was now locked in time.

The four Cakes remained close to each other, the water soaking each of their clothes as they stood there, waiting for their daughter to be placed into the hole. Even though death was never a concept that passed through their household, now that both parents were able to think about what they lost, both Mr. and Mrs. Cake wished that Pinkie's death could be switched with theirs. Pinkie had more years on her life then both of them, she was slowly turning into a better parent, and her impact on Ponyville was largely negative, that many people wished she would run for Mayor, because who wouldn't like a fun mayor that made everyone smile? The two baby Cakes looked down at the hole, confusion spread among their faces. Why exactly was a pink box hovering right next to a large hole? What was the purpose of all of this? And when was Pinkie going to come back?

Cranky Doodle Donkey and Matilda's eyes stared down the hole, realizations popping into their mind at the most inconvenient times. The one who did the most good in the city, was the one who ended up dying first. The good were never supposed to die young, especially a mare who brought two star crossed lovers together, even when it was none of her business. Not only that, but Cranky and Matilda were definitely growing on the years. His lack of hair was not because he liked wigs. He was going to die soon, and with the lack of impact that he had on Equestria, who was going to care when he couldn't run anymore? Matilda was a given, but perhaps he should have changed his name and his attitude. Pinkie Pie managed to gather the entire city and beyond to attend her funeral. Cranky would be surprised if five people came to his.

The two unicorns could wait forever, but they knew they could both hold off on this until they died of starvation. Twilight and Rarity focused their magical power, purple energy engulfing one half of the coffin while the other was covered in light blue magic. The coffin was slowly raised from the ground, and every single head in the crowd watched the wooden creation as it hovered over the hole, and slowly sank downward, until it was unable to be seen in the dark. Both unicorns felt a small tap on their horns, indicating that the coffin hit the bottom, and they let go of their magic. Spike handed a shovel to the remaining five, before taking one himself, and all six started to shovel dirt into Pinkie's new home. More sobs, sniffs, nose blowing, and flat out crying could be heard through the scratching noises of the dirt interacting with the shovels.

The last shovelful of dirt was deposited on top of the bulge in the ground, and Spike took all six of the shovels back, as Pinkie's friends refused to move. The crowd slowly started to disperse, as every one started to walk back to their houses for a night of recollection, if their mind wouldn't allow rest. Princess Celestia bowed her head to the remaining five, before she flew up into the night and disappeared with a teleport. Princess Luna glimpsed one last time at Pinkie's grave site. “Never Stop Smiling.” She read to herself, and a small smile moved across her face. “If only it was that easy.” She thought, before a teleport marked her exit as well. Twilight looked down at the grave site, a small smile of defeat creeping along her face. Would this be considered a ghostie? Should she giggle at it? Laugh maybe? Twilight turned away from her friends and disappeared in a glow of magical energy, leaving four at the grave site. Fluttershy wiped her eyes with her wing, and Rainbow Dash moved over to give her a hug, while Rarity and Applejack embraced so that they could cry on each other's shoulders.

There was one last thing that the remaining five had to do, as they stood here among the ruins of their friend. “Spike, take four letters... please.”