//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 
// Story: Fading Friendships 
// by future pegasister 
//------------------------------//

I just couldn't believe it. I just couldn't. The night was horrible: the wind roared and practically tore at Sugar Cube Corner, as if it wanted to reach inside and just wreck everything.
That night, there was supposed to be a triple maximum storm, because the pegasi had missed three major storms and had to make up for it; big time.

I was tucked into bed, listening to the raging blizzard outside; it was very loud and scary, but it also had a twisted and terrible beauty about it. I couldn't sleep, so I decided to go down stairs and start baking the treats for tomorrows' picnic to celebrate Scootaloo's birthday. 
Being in the kitchen always calmed me down, no matter how stressed I was; I checked the list Dashie gave to me to see what Scootaloo would like. I smiled to myself; the first words written on the list  were 'Cupcakes with Rainbow Icing'.
I simply adored making them. 

The real rainbow was really spicy, so I only ever used a drop of it; making the cupcakes them selves was easy-peasy, just the normal mix with one exception: a secret ingredient! I plonked the eggs into the turquoise bowl and beat them with a whisk, humming under my breath; then I added the milk and the flour, beating them until they gained the "Pinkie Pie stamp of approval", as I liked to call it. Next I added the basic optionals: essence of vanilla, brown sugar, a touch of orange (Scootaloo loved exotic flavours).Then: my secret ingredient.

I poured the mixture into the tray, set the oven and waited for it to warm up, before placing the tray carefully inside; the cupcakes needed to bake until they were golden-brown, which gave me about more or less fifteen minutes to make the icing. Oh, I love having challenges in cooking! 
I carefully took the small vial with a drop of rainbow in it from the cupboard; I'd taken such measures to get my hooves on it, I couldn't afford to let that one drop spill. And Dashie helped a lot. I tipped it into a bright pink bowl, added some ready-made plain icing I made yesterday and whipped it together; then I added cinnamon and brown sugar.

I took out the cupcakes; they were exactly the shade of golden brown they needed to be. I picked up a spoon in my mouth and dipped it into the bowl of rainbow icing; It tasted exotic and warm, kind of like baklava without it's flaky outer pastry, and the added cinnamon made it stand out. I coated the cupcakes with the icing and added a small garnish on to every single cupcake: a small blueberry.

With the cupcakes done and dusted, I carefully packed them into the white and pink polka-dotted boxes with Sugar Cube Corner written on them in curvy hoofwriting. And since it was Scoot's birthday, I tied pieces of shiny, purple streamers around them.

Next I made Tulip Petal Fudge, Poppy seed cake, Lilly Muffins, Almond Brownies, Swiss Chocolate Cupcakes, Honey Gateaux, Assorted Fruit Pasties, Cherry Cookies and Strawberry Strudel. With each new dish, I was starting to feel more and more happy and less scared of the blizzard outside. I actually got so carried away that I made an assortment of sauces to go with the deserts- chocolate mousse, melted caramel, whipped cream, custard and honey. Even though I tasted tinsy-winsy amounts of the food to make sure that I made it correctly, I was still full by the time I'd finished. 

I actually think I dozed off for a couple of minutes- or it could have been hours- but I was awoken by a long drawn-out scream. 

I got up immediately and looked out the window; It was still dark, but I could see her silhouette in the sky. 
The blizzard roared and raged around her, the snow flakes whirling past her.
And she fell gracefully from the sky, her mane flying around her head like a halo, making her look like an angel.

I yelled and ran down the stairs, two by two; everything was going in slow motion- me, running out of Sugar Cube Corner, tripping over a rock, lying face down in the dirt; I got up and ran over to where the pony fell. 
"No!" I sobbed, "Not her! NOOOO!!!" I screamed and cried at the same time. 
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I was sitting in the waiting area in the hospital; the doctors had gone through it with her only minutes ago, but I knew that she was dead already. But they didn't listen to my fore telling of my Pinkie Sense; I knew that they were trying to make me feel better, and I appreciate that. Anypony who tries to make another pony feel better about something is a good pony in my book.

I was the only one who knew when it happened; she was already dead when I had found her, and it would feel even worse to know if she was alive when I had found her and now dead. Who decided this pony's fate? It felt wrong to know that I would never be able to talk to her again, to see her alive and well. It felt wrong that she was alive one moment and dead the next.

I would never spend Hearts warming with her; in fact, I would spend this Hearts Warming alone. Not to mention all the Hearts Warmings to come. Why should there be celebration when another pony has died?!

Rarity burst through the clean ward door, her mane wet and muddy with bits of twigs and leaves stuck in it; their were tear streaks on her cheeks. "Pinkie- oh thank goodness!" Rarity went to hug me, but I walked away. Rarity looked confused;

"You were the last to communicate with her," I said hoarsely; "The royal guards told me." 
Silence; Rarity looked on the brink of a faint. 
"Yes, I talked with her," She whispered. 
"And?" I raised an eye brow coldly.
"We-we had a fight and I hung up," Rarity sobbed into her hoof kerchief. I got up and raised my voice. 
"How did she die?" 
Rarity winced; "I don't know; I swear Pinkie, I don't know!" 
Silence again; I couldn't believe what my Pinkie Sense was telling me!
"You don't care, do you?!" I whispered while glaring at her;"All that's important to you is your self, it's all that's ever been important isn't it?"
"Pinkie, how could you say such a thing? You're calling me a selfish-" 
"Why don'y you just leave? After all, you have a fashion show in Canterlot tonight!" I positively howled.
"There's no proof that she is dead, so I think I will!" Rarity slammed the door with her magic and stormed out into the snow and sleet.

And silence again. I felt a twinge of regret but I ignored it: Rarity didn't care about her, she just came here so no pony thought of her as a selfish git that she was!
Nurse Red Heart came out of the ward wearing a pained expression; "Pinkamena, I am sorry to say your friend didn't make it; she just told us where her Will was- and passed away."

Even though I knew she was dead, it came as a shock any way; 
I nodded mutely and left: my last slim hope was gone. 
I needed to calm down before I went to tell the other girls; I trudged through the muddy path to the Everfree Forest.

When I knocked at the hut, no body answered; I guessed that Zecora probably went somewhere more secure to wait out the storm, so I left.

Back in Ponyville I made sure that every pony knew who died and that every pony had an invitation to her funeral, on the 23rd of December; She wouldn't be able to attend her own birthday party. The birthday she would never see. Ever.