//------------------------------//
// The Great Pastures 
// Story: The Great Pastures 
// by AsryaKino 
//------------------------------//

Throughout Equestria life has gone on as it has for generations. Ponies have been born and lived, eventually being returned to the land they lived upon.
Today was little different from the normal day, life continued on as it always had. Everypony went on with life as normal, with the exception of one pony.
In Ponyville a small lavender unicorn sat in the main room of her small home, crying softly over a picture of a grey pegasus with golden eyes and yellow hair.
The little unicorn snuffled, wiping her nose with her hoof, now caked with dried bogies. Her eyes locked on the picture of her sister. She looked at the too-familiar cutie mark of bubbles as fresh tears welled in her golden eyes.
A long snuffle woke Flutter and Frosty, the twin pegasai who had been asleep in the loft. A purple maned head peered over the side, goldenrod eyes looking to little Dinky as she sniffed and snuffed over the image of their oldest sister.  Shortly, a blue-maned filly peered over at the little unicorn, her eyes were sad and she looked forlornly to her twin.
Without a word the pair both fluttered down to sit on either side of the sniffling filly, their wings mutely entwined over her flank, holding her securely, comfortingly, in their soft feathery embrace.
Dinky looked to her sisters, blinking back tears with another pathetic sniff and a run of her hoof across her nose.
"It isn't your fault." Flutter said quietly. The purple-maned peg nuzzled the little unicorn gently.
"She'll be back someday..." Frozty added, forcing a small smile that never quite reached her eyes.
"She just.... left." Dinky sniffled again, on the brink of another sob. Derpy's sudden departure had stung the little filly deeply. She'd spent the last few weeks crying herself to sleep. The normally bubbly personality that ran through the family had been popped by Derpy's sudden disappearance. And poor Dinky had taken it hardest.
"Where did she go?" Dinky asked. The question was hardly new. Dinky had been asking about her sister since the night she'd vanished.
"Why hasn't she come back?" She followed it. "It's not fair!" The filly hiccupped, causing the whimper of sadness to get caught in her throat.
"Momma's been looking for her..." Frosty began to remind the little foal.
"... and she won't stop hoping. So don't give up." Flutter finished, nuzzling the little unicorn.
Dinky's mood had become more and more dour as time had gone on. She'd become more reserved, drawing into her own mind more often than not and lately the only time she spoke was to inquire about Derpy's whereabouts. Only to look just as forlorn as ever whenever she was told that no one had found her sister.
"I don't know what went wrong." Dinky sniffled out. "She said she was going to get a good cloud. What if she never comes home?"
Frosty and Flutter looked to each other, lost on how to answer the foal's question. Unsure if they should even try. Each of the pegasai tried to smile to her, in the hopes of giving her some relief.
In truth, neither of them held much hope of Derpy's return. They knew the mare had a habit of getting lost, but never for so long. They had begun to expect the worst news, if they got any news at all.
Each remembered the day Derpy had disappeared, thinking back to each part they could remember.
*****
The day was bright and sunny, a smattering of clouds whispered across the sky in thin streaks. The air was cool, but not cold, while the ground was warm under everypony's hooves. Several of the pegasus ponies had been clearing away the last of the clouds when a bolt of lightning arched across the sky over ponyville.
If it had been normal lightning, the pegasus ponies would've known what to do about it. They almost would have expected it. But the bolt that flew past them was a bright neon pink in colour. And rather than leave the smell of ozone behind, the air smelled of strawberries where the bolt had gone.
Derpy Hooves watched the bolt fly from a small innocuous cloud that drifted almost harmlessly past. To her eyes the cloud had a distinctive silver lining. With a sharp gasp of surprise, she began chasing after the cloud, to the surprise and shock of the other pegasai ponies around her.
While the others saw only a small rain cloud, Derpy saw a legend. She'd heard tales of the special clouds with silver linings and she just knew that if she could capture this one, Dinky would love it.
With nothing but her sister's happiness in mind, she flew off after the swiftly floating cloud. As she chased it, a huge cloud bank of swirling thunderheads rolled over Ponyville. As the winds whipped the manes of all the ponies outdoors, Derpy vanished in the whirling winds and blackened wall of clouds, swallowed up by the great whale of thunderheads.
The other pegasai were helpless as the winds buffeted them to and fro, manes whipped around their faces as their wings were stretched against the terrible currents. The storm that blew up so suddenly lasted for hours; and by the time the strongest pegasus ponies managed to clear it away, all signs of Derpy and the silver-lined cloud were gone.
Rainbow Dash was the one to deliver the grim news to Red Velvet and her daughters. She had done so with a heavy heart.
******
Dinky rubbed her raw nose with her hoof one more time, then rested her head on Flutter's shoulder.
"I miss her so much." She said softly. "I wish she'd come back."
Frosty lifted a hanky to Dinky's nose, letting her blow, then she carefully folded the hanky and wiped the filly's eyes with the corner.
"We know." Flutter said. "We miss her too."
"You should try to get some sleep." Frosty said, in an all-too-mother-like voice. "Your friends at school miss you."
Dinky mutely nodded as Flutter picked her up, resting the little unicorn in the crook of her wing. She carried the filly to her bed and lay her down while Frosty pulled the blanket up to her withers.
Dinky was too exhausted to fall asleep right away, and as she drifted off the door opened. The hinges hadn't been oiled in some time so the heavy wood creaked as the red-maned matronly mare stepped into the house. Her mane and tail were bedraggled and her eyes were tired. She looked to the gathering of fillies, stepping toward them with heavy, tired hoofsteps.
Red Velvet stepped up to the three fillies, offering a tired, but motherly, smile to them. A motion that never quite reached her eyes.
Frosty and Flutter moved aside, letting their mother step up to Dinky's side, their own looks riveted to their mother, waiting what news she may have found.
With a tired look, Red Velvet leaned down and kissed Dinky's horn. She sat down next to the bed as each of her daughters looked to her expectantly.
"Have I ever told you about the Great Pastures?" Red Velvet's voice came after a long silence. It seemed as if she was looking for the right words. The three fillies each shook their heads, each with a look of confusion on their faces.
"The great pastures are a wonderful place where all ponies go when they leave this world." She began, a distant look in her eyes.
Dinky looked suddenly hopeful. "Is that where we'll find Derpy?" Her eyes lit up with a hope that hadn't been present in the little foal's face in weeks.
Red Velvet shook her head, mane tumbling around her cheeks. "We won't find her there, not for some time at least. The Great Pastures are far far away. They lie all the way on the other side of the sky, where the stars come from."
Dinky looked confused. Flutter and Frosty began to get a look of realization in their eyes. Unwanted tears began to well up in their eyes. Each turned away from Dinky, not wanting to upset the little foal as Red Velvet continued.
The older mare scooped Dinky up into her arms, cradling the foal as she smoothed her mane. "All the way on the other side of the River of Stars is a grand place where the starlight pools into lakes of crystal water that flows through the Great Pastures. It's here where all ponies go when their time here on our world is over."
Dinky nodded, not fully understanding. "But... is that where Derpy went?" She asked innocently. Her mother's eyes closed, a barely-contained shudder coursing her. She nodded quietly.
"Yes Dinky... That's where Derpy went. She's there, running alongside your papa. They both get to eat all the crispest apples, the freshest grass and flowers, and they will never run out of their favourite foods." She offered a tiny smile to the little foal.
Dinky looked confused for another long minute. "If Derpy was going there, how come she didn't take me with her? She always takes me when she goes someplace cool..." The little unicorn looked hurt at the news. "When is she coming back? How do you get to the Great Pastures? I want to go see Derpy too!" She kicked her little hooves in determination.
Unable to hold back the tears, Red velvet hugged Dinky to her chest tightly, crying against Dinky's mane. Frosty and Flutter's own resolve finally broke down and the pair began sobbing against their mother's flank.
Outside the sky grew darker, as if sensing the sadness in the little home.
Dinky couldn't escape the loving embrace of her family, but didn't understand why everyone was crying. If Derpy was in the Great Pastures, surely they could find her!
When she was able to find her composure, Red Velvet looked to Dinky's innocent face, forcing back a hiccup of pain. "Dinky, darling... Derpy isn't coming back. She followed a silver lining cloud. When she caught it, the winds took her away to the River of Stars.  When anypony crosses the River of Stars, they give up their lives here and only live in the Great Pasture. I'm sorry, Dinky. But when anypony moves on to the Great Pasture, they're not allowed to come back home."
Dinky snorted. "Derpy would never leave us all alone here. She'd come back no matter what!" The little Unicorn jumped down from Red Velvet's hooves, looking up at her mother.
Frosty and Flutter looked to the little foal. "Dinky..." Frosty started. "... Derpy didn't do it on purpose. But she..."
Flutter shook her head. "She moved on to the Great Pastures, like Momma said. She can't come home again. She has to stay there with Papa."
Red Velvet looked to her twin daughters, a gentle understanding in her features as she looked to Dinky.
"I don't know what you mean!" Dinky stomped a hoof on the ground. "Derpy's the bestest in the world. She can come home whenever she wants, whenever she's ready. She always comes home. She'd never just go somewhere else and not.. and not tell us." Dinky's eyes welled up with big tears again, upset at the prospect of Derpy abandoning them.
"It means..." Red velvet swallowed down the lump in her throat. "It means that Derpy didn't want to leave us. But she... she did. I know you don't understand, Dinky. But know that Derpy loved us all very, very much. But she had to leave. She... something happened to her and she had to leave us behind, to take care of each other."
Dinky was crying freely, her nose stopped up and snuffling once more. "Why? Why can't she come back?" She sniffed again, angry tears blending with the sadness of missing her oldest sister all over again.
Red velvet reached out, pulling Dinky close. Flutter and Frosty both encircled them with their wings. "We just... have to accept that Derpy won't be coming home again. I'll explain more when you're older, Dinky. But for now, just know that where Derpy is, she's happy and even though she'll miss you very, very much. She'll want you to be happy too. She'd... she's want all of us to be happy for her." She hugged the little filly to her tightly, her gins spreading to encompass the other two Pegasai.
"And know that if it were ever possible to come back across the River of Stars.... she would. And she would come back just for you. But... that's a very hard thing to do, even for someone like Derpy. And you can't just wait for her." Red Velvet tried to keep her voice even, speaking calmly to the filly. "Okay?" Her eyes looked to Dinky, hopeful, questioning.
Dinky didn't quite understand. But the promise that she might some other time made her nod. While in the back of her mind, she imagined Derpy strolling through the doors at any time, laughing and bringing with her some strange present or story to tell them all about her adventures.
But for some reason, her heart felt heavy, and the images of Derpy coming home faded as soon as they appeared, and Dinky couldn't help but cry into her mother's mane again. Sniffling until she fell asleep from exhaustion, held in the comforting grip of her sisters and mother.
As outside, the storm began to clear.
***
To be continued?