Nightfall at Sweet Apple Acres
Part 5
Party On
An MLP:FiM fanfiction by Midnight Shadow
Note: My Little Pony copyright Hasbro and Lauren Faust, please support the original release.
Status: Complete (thank you editors!)
***
The birthday party at Canterlot Castle was in full swing; the chandeliers were bedecked in a multitude of streamers, disco balls glittered and shone in the arclight. Loud music thumped rhythmically throughout the ballroom and confetti was strewn haphazardly amongst the balloons and other decorations. The ballroom, and especially the dance floor, was packed wall to wall with ponies, griffons, dragons... and snacks. Lots and lots of snacks.
Through it all, hopping on four pastel pink hooves, was a pastel pink pony. A very pastel pink pony. She bounced gaily, almost dancing amongst the party goers as she went about her way, missing them by mere inches, ducking under tails and whipping past wings. Her movements were spritely and she giggled excitedly with glee, but it was punctuated with an occasional wheezing cough. Every few hops, Pinkie had to stop, straighten one hoof, and take a deep breath before moving on.
“Mama Pie, please stop bouncing everywhere!” cried an exasperated red-and-white striped mare that attempted to keep up with her mother. The candy cane coloured pony with a similarly coloured mane and tail found herself altogether unable to keep up. She repeatedly ran into guests, careened off the tables and burst balloons wherever she went. Finally she caught up with her errant parent, mane coming to a stop moments after the rest of her body with a barely-constrained and angry flounce, “You’ll break something if you carry on like this! A leg, a hip, your ribs... and then where will you be?”
“Oh Candy Swirl, you know me, I’ll stop bouncing when I stop moving! I can’t walk when there’s a party to be had!”
“Which,” snapped Candy, “I wish you’d have left to me.”
This made Pinkie Pie stop mid-bounce. She paused in the air and deflated like a balloon, her poofy pink hair deflating into sullen locks. She dropped to the floor and landed lightly, despite her age. Candy blinked, such a momentum-defying move had to be a trick of the light.
“Candy, you... don’t like my parties?”
“Oh, Mama, no, no. I love your parties. You throw the best parties, you always have! But... aren’t you a bit old for all this nonsense now?”
“Nonsense?” Pinkie clip-clopped a few steps towards her daughter apprehensively, the look on her face tragic and shocked, “Nonsense? You’re calling my parties nonsense?”
Candy regretted it, but she frowned and continued, “Mama dearest, I... just want you to be hap—”
Fanfare stopped Candy mid-exclamation as the great double-doors to the royal ballroom were thrown open and a procession of heralds filed in. There was more fanfare, and the heralds called out, “HEAR YE, HEAR YE! MAKE WAY FOR HER MOST GLORIOUS HIGHNESS, PRINCESS CELESTIA OF EQUESTRIA! BRINGER OF THE SUN, RULER OF THE DAY, REGENT OF LIGHTS...”
The exultations to Celestia carried on, but Candy was no longer listening. Her eyes uncrossed as she got used to the sudden increase in volume and she shook her head, preparing to carry on lecturing her mother. Candy hadn’t thought it possible for the party to get any louder, but she was wrong. She cleared her head with a shake and turned back to her mother. “I just want you to be happy, Mama... Mama?”
Pinkie had vanished.
Candy scowled again. The matriarch of the Ponyville branch of the Pie family, purveyor of the finest parties anywhere in Equestria and grand old dame of Pinkie Pie’s Party-tacular Party Emporium, the single biggest jokes and entertainment mega-shop in all the lands, was a sneaky, conniving, slippery old baggage. Whilst Candy loved her mother dearly, it infuriated her to no end that Pinkie refused to act her age or her station.
There was another fanfare as Celestia took her place in the center of the room, a glowing warm light upon her.
The heralds started up again, “AND NOW, ASSEMBLED GUESTS, LOYAL SUBJECTS, FRIENDS, IT IS TIME TO GREET LUNA, GUARDIAN OF THE GREATER DEEPS, BRINGER OF THE MOON, RULER OF THE NIGHT, REGENT OF THE NIGHT SKIES ON THIS, THE MOST AUSPICIOUS DAY OF HER BIRTH!”
Candy’s head rang again at the renewed and redoubled burst of volume. The French windows across the other side of the room were flung open. On mighty wings, in sailed a dark blue alicorn bedecked in a petite crown, her starlit mane swirling as she passed. Behind Princess Luna, the night sky lit up with a thousand fireworks to punctuate her already grand entrance. Candy shook her head in renewed wonder. Pinkie Pie, the famous Bearer of the Element of Laughter, certainly did know how to throw a party.
The fact her mother was missing the big moment, realised Candy, could mean only one thing: trouble.
***
Pinkie Pie sneaked around. She didn’t creep about like a thief in the night, oh no. Pinkie was a master of stealth. She strode boldly through the castle and yet remained completely unnoticed. She turned left into a hallway and through a door just as a pegasus guard trotted past. She reappeared a minute later, further down, appearing from a cupboard. I still got it, she thought to herself, I’m still Equestria’s number one hide and seek champ!
There was a tug on her tail.
“Granny Pie?”
Pinkie stopped, and turned her head, “Fizzy Pop? How did you get there?”
“I just followed you, Granny!”
Pinkie blinked, her hair poofed up slightly from its recent deflating. “You followed me? Everywhere?” she asked.
Fizzy Pop nodded, the lavender pony bouncing up and down with joy, “I even went through the dresser!”
“Show me,” said Pinkie, her eyes shining as she regained the spring in her step, “right now!”
Fizzy Pop shrank back. “Bu-but Mama said...”
Pinkie looked left, and then right, “I don’t see Mama here right now... go see if she’s further up, like in that suit of armor!”
“In the suit of armor? Won’t that be a bit loud?”
“Don’t make it fall over then!” giggled Pinkie Pie as she trotted happily down the corridor. She watched as Fizzy Pop dived back into the cupboard, closing the door behind her. Pinkie Pie raised an eyebrow and turned to the suit of armor, which now had a little lavender pony peering out of it.
“Did I do good, Granny?” asked Fizzy, pulling herself out exceedingly carefully.
Pinkie scrunched up her face, leaping into the air with an exclamation of joy. “Ooh,” said Pinkie, stretching, “that’s getting harder every day. Come on, we’re almost there.”
“Where are we going, Granny?”
“See those fireworks?” Pinkie asked, pointing an aged hoof at the window, where bursts of light could be seen lighting the skies. The pops and explosions were faint, but audible. Fizzy Pop nodded.
Pinkie smiled approvingly, “Well they’re going to need some help if they’re going to be really noticed, so you and I are sneaking into the old abandoned North tower to set up phase two of my super specially awesome explosion-tacular party display.”
“Th-the North tower? But... but that’s where Celestia keeps all the ghosties and ghoulies and long-legged beasties!” Fizzy Pop looked up with a worried expression on her face.
"Bah, you’re not afraid of ghosts, are you?” asked Pinkie as she lead the way. She glanced down at the little filly, who nodded. Pinkie stopped and took a deep breath, “You silly filly, when I was about your age, my grandma told me what I’m about to tell you: hiding under your pillow in the dead of night isn’t the way to deal with ghosts. At all.”
“It’s not?” asked the small voice of Fizzy Pop.
Pinkie shook her head, “No, it’s not. You’ve got to face your fears, Fizzy. You’ve got to stand up tall! You just turn around, stand up straight, look them mean ghosties in the eye and you know what?”
Fizzy shook her head. All of a sudden Pinkie burst out laughing, “You’ve got to laugh! Just laugh! Laugh to make them disappear! Ha ha ha!”
Fizzy giggled to herself. It was hard not to with Pinkie making silly faces with each ‘ha’.
“Give me your best laugh, Fizzy!”
Fizzy scrunched up her face, took a deep breath, and let it out. A tiny squeak of a “ha” escaped her lips. Pinkie stopped, looked down at Fizzy and for a moment was utterly silent... and then Pinkie burst out in huge guffaws. Fizzy Pop reddened, and then started laughing too. Finally she realised that Pinkie had stopped and the only sound was her merry chuckling filling the tower.
“Doesn’t feel so scary any more, does it, huh?”
Fizzy shook her head, all smiles.
Pinkie nuzzled the poofy curls affectionately, “You’re a Pie, Fizzy. Fizzy Pop Pie. I wonder what a fizzy pop pie would taste like?”
Fizzy Pop bounced like Pinkie as they both ascended the staircase. “Cotton candy?”
“I love cotton candy! Maybe toffee apples? Those things are good. You like them too? What other treats doesn’t your mama let you have too much of? What do you like?”
Fizzy thought for a moment before lifting her gaze, “I know! My favourite is soda.”
“Why’s that?”
“‘Cause I can burp the entire alphabet when I drink enough of it, but Mama says I shouldn’t.”
“Oooh, don’t let your mama tell you to stop! Burping the alphabet could be really important one day!”
“It could?” asked Fizzy, eyes shining.
“Uh huh,” Pinkie nudged open a door and trotted in, “I’m not sure how, but one day... there you’ll be! And only a burp will save the day!”
The room at the top of the castle tower would have been spacious, but it was filled to the brim with boxes upon boxes of fireworks. Fizzy had seen even more piles of fireworks down below as they’d ascended. Granny Pinkie sure does have a lot of fireworks, thought Fizzy.
Pinkie ignored the boxes and barrels and trotted over to the window. “About time,” she said to herself, before turning back to Fizzy Pop, “Now Fizzy, you’ve got to listen to me. I’m going to need to know if you’re ready for the greatest prank ever. It’s going to be dangerous, there’s going to be lots of shouting and yelling and you’re probably going to be grounded for a month!”
“A whole month?” Fizzy was aghast. “What am I going to do?”
Pinkie grinned, her whole body quivering. “It’s not what you’re going to do, it’s what I’m going to do! It’s all set up! The timer fuse, the fireworks, the powder kegs, the guards aaannnddd.... the rope ladder!”
“The what, the what and the what? Why’d you need all that, and fireworks?”
Pinkie rolled her eyes, giving a wheezing laugh. “What do you normally do with fireworks? They go boom! Listen to me: fireworks are dangerous, so you’re going to have to listen to me very carefully. I want you to climb out that window and down the rope ladder, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Scoot! Go! Vamoose!”
“But what about you?”
Pinkie struck a hoof on the stone floor. A spark leapt onto a nearby pile of black powder, which started burning vigorously. Within it were sunk many, many threads, the ends of which sparked into flame. “I,” Pinkie replied, “am going to be right behind you! Let’s hustle!”
Pinkie Pie gathered up her grand-daughter in her mouth and all but leaped out of the window. She swung a hoof around the rope ladder and slowly began navigating it down towards the ground. Up above, there was a sudden flare of bright green light. Pinkie said something which Fizzy knew as Number Sixteen on The List of Bad Words that Mama had said Should Not Be Spoken.
“What’s wrong?” asked Fizzy in a worried voice.
“Somepony messed up my timer, that’s what! Fizzy, can you swim?”
“What?”
“Can you swim? I know you come to my pool parties every summer and I’ve seen you with your swim-ring, but can you swim?”
“Er, yeah! I’m pretty good! I got my silver swimming medal only last we—”
“Good. Hold your breath!” Pinkie tossed the filly in the air and caught her in a better position, and then flipped her own body around. Moments later, she was no longer clambering down the rope ladder. Instead, she was galloping directly down the tower wall itself. Fizzy screamed long and loud as the ground approached at breakneck speed. Above them, a yellow explosion blew the window frame out. Rubble rained out into the lake which lay below the North Tower.
“Fizzy!” shouted Pinkie, her voice muffled. “Good luck!”
Pinkie slammed all four hooves into the tower. It shook with the impact of the earth pony’s limbs as she bounced off the structure and out into the night. Up above, a red light flared. The final signal. It didn’t dim like the others. Instead, it grew brighter and brighter, and brighter.
***
The explosion, when it came, was monumental. The shockwave shattered the glass windows of the ballroom and blew out every single last candle on the candelabras. Through the now-empty frames, the panicked crowd witnessed a spectacle the likes of which they would probably never, ever, see again. The North Tower, flames shooting from its base and windows, lifted ever so slowly into the air and rose faster and faster and faster until it all but disappeared into the heavens.
There was another explosion. It knocked the crowd flat as the night sky lit up like the day in a final cataclysmic burst. The spectacle was seen, it was later said, as far away as the draconic realms and the other side of the endless desert. Pegasus guards stormed on the scene, the royal unicorn guard contingents raised magical shields which had only twice ever before in written memory been raised, and the war ministry - staffed in its entirety by a single lone earth pony who slept through the whole thing - was notified by a memo of the possible invasion.
Amidst the explosions and massive fireball, glowing hot chunks of masonry rained from the skies for several minutes. They sparked as they struck the nearly invisible shield-bubble, sliding slowly and safely to the ground, where they were funnelled to reinforce a struggling dam several miles down the mountain.
As Equestria prepared itself for war, one mare was already on the warpath. There was only one thought in the mind of Candy Swirl, and that was Pinkie Pie.
***
Fizzy Pop crawled, coughing and shivering, out of the lake. She looked up at the massive fireball that was, even now, still spreading across the sky as showers of sparks flickered overhead. She blinked, unmoving. A bedraggled pink pony likewise crawled out of the dark waters, hiccuping.
“That,” said Fizzy Pop, “was insane.”
“I’ll apologize to your Mama in the morning. If she’ll still talk to me.”
“Can we do it again?”
Pinkie turned her head to look at the diminutive little four-hooved terror and started laughing. She winced as the coughing turned to splutters and a hacking cough that took several seconds to abate, “You really are a Pie.”
“And you,” said a male voice, as a whole platoon of pegasus guards landed on the shore, “are under arrest.”
***
Fizzy Pop shrunk inside herself as she and Granny Pie were escorted through the grounds of Canterlot Castle. The darkness had returned by now, but the after-effects were still being felt. A myriad of tiny fires were raging on the blackened island that had previously held the old stone tower. A squadron of unicorns with an affinity for water had been dispatched and had everything under control. The majority of the rubble had been dealt with, but little pieces were being picked out of rooftops and walls for miles around.
There was lots of shouting, stomping of hooves and angry glares, but worst of all was Mama Swirl’s expression. The night was cold and the water in Fizzy’s fur had left her chilled, but Mama’s scowl left her colder still.
Through it all moved Pinkie, flanked by pegasus gaurds on either side and followed by Fizzy Pop. Pinkie giggled to herself softly, but winced with each step. Her right front hoof had hit the water rather hard and it was badly sprained, whilst her ribs had been bruised. The guards took her with great care to stand before the two royal princesses who regarded her sternly; rather than bowing, Pinkie inclined her head.
“Pinkie Pie, I take it you are responsible for this... incident?” asked Celestia, waving a hoof at the glass shards strewn across the floor. She also indicated displeasure at the glowing magical shield which still hadn’t been lowered and the the burning island which was all that remained of the North Tower.
“I am, your princess-ness-es. I was kinda speaking with my people and your people and they happened to mention that you wanted that ugly eyesore of a tower gone, and I had some extra fireworks and... um... well it seemed like a good idea at the time...”
“And your grand-daughter? Was almost drowning her part of your plan?”
Pinkie stepped closer, looking conspiratorially left and right, “I didn’t mean for her to get mixed up in this, Princess Celestia, but... I couldn’t leave her. She’s... important.”
Celestia raised an eyebrow before sharing a look with Luna, “Important?”
Pinkie Pie waggled her eyebrows and leaned forwards comically, “I-i-i-i-important.”
“In that case, Pinkie Pie, I think it best we retire for tonight and discuss things in the morning. Your extra-special show tonight went down extremely well once I explained that it was a stunt from the one and only Pinkie Pie, if - as usual - a rather unorthodox one. Only you, dear Pinkie, could manage to be so predictably unpredictable.” Celestia’s words were harsh, but her eyes were bright.
“Princess Celestia...” began Pinkie Pie, she lifted a trembling hoof but her wiry pink frame was overcome with a coughing fit.
“Tomorrow,” said Celestia firmly, and nodded to the guards, who helped the old mare to leave the ballroom. “We will talk tomorrow.”
“And you,” scowled Candy Swirl at Fizzy Pop, “are so grounded.”
Fizzy’s head drooped and she fixed her eyes sullenly on the floor.
***
The room was lit by a single flickering candle. Plush rugs carpeted the floor around an overly-large, soft bed. It was well-endowed with thick, warm blankets and an abundance of pillows. Under the former and upon the latter rested a pony. Her breathing was heavy and laboured, with a wheezing cough that punctuated the silence every so often.
It was early morning. The moon was still high but would be going down in a few hours - the night would end soon, an end which would see the return of the warmth of the day, light, and life.
Pinkie stirred, her pillow wet with tears. She sobbed quietly as she clutched a small photograph to her chest. She quickly hid it under a pillow as she heard the soft clip-clop of an intruder.
“Pinkie, dearest one,” came a quiet voice from the shadows.
“Princess Luna? Come closer, Luna, I can’t see as well as I used to,” murmured Pinkie. She smiled when the dark blue alicorn stepped into the circle of light. “I knew it was you, even without you using your Royal Canterlot Speaking Voice.”
Luna dipped her head and nuzzled the earth pony fondly as Pinkie giggled to herself. Luna rolled her eyes with mirth. “I enjoyed my birthday party, Pinkie. I can’t conceive of any other pony pulling off a party even half as amazing or memorable.”
“You’re really not mad about the tower?”
Luna laughed softly. “My sister and I shall be smoothing ruffled feathers across the Nine Realms for months to come... however,” Luna added quickly as Pinkie’s ears drooped, “as an active drill to show that - as peaceful as we are - we are prepared for trouble, it may have done Equestria a world of good. It was also spectacular.”
Pinkie coughed. “I’m glad. It’s... it’s what I do. If I can’t make somepony laugh, what good am I?”
“Shhh, Pinkie dearest, you are one of my closest friends. You have been ever since you helped free me. I can never repay you.”
“I have a few requests, Luna, and then I think we’ll call it even stevens, ‘kay?”
Luna considered it. “Name them, Pinkie Pie, Bearer of Laughter.”
Pinkie lay still for a few moments before continuing, “You can come out now, dear. I know you’re there.”
Luna turned in amazement as a drawer in the nearby dresser opened sheepishly, and a small fuzzy mane attached to a foal’s head emerged from it, “How, small creature, did you get in there?” the alicorn exclaimed, taking a few steps back.
“Ah-ah, that’s going to remain a secret, Luna. Truth be told, I’m not sure either of us could explain it if we tried,” laughed Pinkie. “May I introduce, once again, my grand-daughter Fizzy Pop?”
“Pleased to meet you.” said Luna, extending a hoof. Fizzy Pop shook it and blushed. “To what do we owe the pleasure of your company tonight?” Luna asked.
“I... I came here t-to s-see Granny Pie, Princess. I wanted to make sure she wasn’t hurt.”
“After running down the outside of an exploding tower to dive into a freezing cold lake? Why, whatever would make you think that?” asked Luna witheringly.
“You saw that?” squeaked Fizzy Pop.
“I did, in my scrying orb, after all the fuss had died down. I watched it twice.”
Pinkie laughed from the bed. As it devolved into a spluttering cough. Luna dived to her old friend, but the earth pony waved her off, “Not now Luna. I need Fizzy to do something for me. Fizzy, I need you to fetch me my jewelry box from the dresser. Bring it here.”
Fizzy moved uncertainly towards the dresser. She knew which box Granny Pie meant; it had her cutie mark on it. Fizzy picked it up by the handle with her teeth and trotted back to the bed. She hopped up onto the covers and dropped it next to Granny.
“Open it up, Fizzy, there’s a good girl.”
Fizzy stared at the box. She poked it with a hoof until she lifted the latch and then she eased it open. She peered in, “It’s empty!”
Pinkie giggled, “That’s because you opened it wrong! Close it up again, and let’s see if you can do it right.”
Fizzy closed the box like she’d been caught stealing cookies. She stared mournfully back at her grandmother, who chuckled lightly.
“Now, sweetie, I want you to laugh at it. Three times.”
Fizzy tilted her head at Pinkie Pie, but did as she was bid, “Ha, ha, ha!”
“Now tap it three times with your hoof,” demanded Pinkie with a smile. “Good! Now open it!”
Fizzy eased the latch open and gasped. There, in the box, were two objects which hadn’t been there a moment before. “Wow! Is that shiny thingy... the Element of Laughter?”
“Indeedy doody it is, Fizzy Pop, and now I can give it to you! I’ve been keeping hold of it instead of letting Celestia hide it in that stuffy old vault of hers.”
“You’re going to give it to me?” asked Fizzy, “But... but... you can’t! It’s yours!”
Pinkie shook her head, “Not any more, Fizzy Pop. My time as the Bearer of Laughter is over, and I choose you as my successor. Pass me the piece of paper, Fizzy; Princess Luna and I need to make one small change to it.”
Fizzy watched as the two older ponies whispered conspiratorially, writing more on the strange piece of parchment, whispers finally punctuated by Luna exclaiming, “The whole thing?”
Pinkie nodded solemnly, “That’s how I know.”
Luna burst out laughing and made her final mark, “Do make sure they call on me when... when it is time.”
Pinkie seemed to fold at these words. she took a deep breath, “Luna, it is time. Fizzy,” Pinkie turned to Fizzy Pop and beckoned with a hoof, “Fizz dear, I need to tell you something.”
Fizzy crawled across the bed to snuggle up against Pinkie, who suddenly seemed a whole lot less... Pinkie.
“Remember, Fizzy, that I love you. Your mother loves you, your father loves you. I... won’t be able to see you again.”
“What?” exclaimed Fizzy, “Why!?”
“I’m... going on a journey,” Pinkie looked long and hard at Luna, until the alicorn bowed her head, “a very long journey.”
“Take me with you!” cried Fizzy, tears in her eyes.
Pinkie shook her head, her hair losing its shine as she drew a hoof across her muzzle. “No, no, no, I can’t. It’s a special kind of journey.”
“But who’ll teach me to blow up balloons?”
“You can already do that.”
“And bake cakes?”
“You can do that too!”
“And make great big huge explosions which cause pandemonium and panic?”
“That... may have to wait until you’re bigger.” Pinkie pulled the foal closer and hugged her tight.
“But who’ll keep me safe at night from the ghosts?” asked Fizzy in a teeny tiny voice.
Pinkie held Fizzy out at length and looked into her eyes, smiling softly, “You’ll have to be a brave girl and keep them away all by yourself from now on. I’ll tell you how to do it one more time, okay? And then you’ll have one last practice before you’ll need to remember it for when it’s your turn. Is that okay, little one?”
Fizzy nodded, sniffling, wiping a hoof across her muzzle. Pinkie settled the foal down next to her, and began to sing softly,
“When I was a little filly and
the sun was going down,
the darkness and the shadows
they would always make me frown.
I’d hide under my pillows,
from what I thought I’d saw,
but Granny Pie said that wasn’t the way
to deal with things at all...”
The song was short and comforting. As Pinkie Pie sang, the darkened room, with its flickering shadows, seemed warmer, softer, safer somehow.
“I love you, Granny Pie,” said Fizzy Pop, “I want you to sing to me forever.”
Pinkie Pie’s eyes filled with tears. “I can’t, Fizzy. It’s not the way. I need you to do me a favour.”
“Anything.” said Fizzy, her eyes alight with hope.
“Be,” Pinkie took a deep breath and lay back, her eyes closing, “strong.”
Pinkie Pie, the Bearer of the Element of Laughter, lay back in bed. She breathed softly, shallow, the rising and falling of her chest lessening with each repetition until finally, it was if she wasn’t breathing at all.
Fizzy would remark later that when great ponies pass on and the sages write of their lives and their struggles, sometimes nothing more can be said for closure but “and then she died”. Pinkie Pie, the tired, old and worn-out earth pony lay back in her bed and smiled. She was happy, exceedingly happy. Taking a deep breath and letting it slowly out, she closed her eyes for the final time.
And then she died.
Fizzy nuzzled her grandmother as she felt the life leave the old pony’s body. “Granny? Granny Pie? Please Granny! Please wake up!” said Fizzy, poking the form with a hoof. Granny Pie didn’t stir. She never would. Fizzy’s eyes filled to the brim with tears and overflowed as she threw herself at the small, frail form laying motionless in the bed, shaking it with both hooves and crying out loudly.
Luna finally stepped forward, scooping up the foal in her wings and kissed her softly on the forehead. Slowly, the sobbing stopped and Fizzy lay sniffling in Luna’s embrace.
“Why?” she finally asked, voice plaintive and full of hurt.
Luna placed Fizzy Pop down on the bed, “It was her time, dearest one. It comes to everypony.”
“But I love her!”
“And she loved you, very much. She had one final task for you, do you remember what it was?”
Fizzy Pop sniffled, wiping her snotty nose on a bedsheet, and nodded. “Granny Pie wanted me to scare off the ghosts.”
“You shall get your chance.”
Luna stepped back, and her horn glowed softly. The room lit up with the aetheric energy pouring from it. The strange light enveloped the still form of Pinkie Pie, and seemed almost to pull a glowing shadow from within. Like a surprise packet of exploding foam peanuts, the translucent form of a young earth pony with a full curly mane and tail poured into the room.
Fizzy looked up, and gasped, “Granny Pie!”
“Whee!” exclaimed the ghost of Pinkie Pie, whizzing around the room on hooves of gossamer. “This is so much more fun than being old!”
“Then stay with me! You can stay in my room and we can play after school and I can show you my toys and...”
Pinkie came to a stop and shook her ghostly head, “Nuh-uh little Fizz, I can’t stay. I’m a ghostie, remember? Now, before I go, I need you to promise to take that box with you. It’s yours now, as is everything in it. Present yourself at Sugar Cube Corner in Ponyville as soon as you can, with the box!”
“Why?”
“You’re going to need to show a few ponies your necklace, and that piece of paper. Keep it safe, don’t tell anypony how to open it! Promise? Pinkie Promise?”
“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” swore Fizzy Pop solemnly.
“Yay!” shouted the ghost of Pinkie, turning backflips in the air. Fizzy smiled, and wiped the tears from her eyes. Pinkie swooped closer and licked softly at Fizzy’s head, “You’ve got to go now, Little Fizz. It’s not right you stay here, but before you do, you’ve got to show me you know how to deal with ghosties.”
“No!” shouted Fizzy, “I don’t wanna!”
“You must, Fizzy Pop, please? For me?”
“I don’t want you to go!”
“I have to, Fizzy, I don’t have much time left. Show me you can take care of yourself, and let me go on my journey happily, please?”
Fizzy hung her head, and let out a small “ha”.
Pinkie swirled around the room and made faces. “Wooo-oooo! You can do better than that!”
“Hah!” shouted Fizzy, “Ha, ha, ha!”
“Ack, ya got me!” Pinkie floated closer, her form less distinct now, “Thank you.”
There was the lightest of touches on her forehead as the last few tears fell to the bed, and when Fizzy Pop looked up, Pinkie was gone.
“Be strong, little bearer, and remember what your mentor has taught you.” said Luna, and with a swirl of her magnificent wings, she too dissolved into shadow.
Fizzy Pop turned to the still form on the bed. She gave one final kiss to the forehead and whispered, “Goodbye, Granny Pie.” before she picked up the box with her teeth and hopped into the drawer, closing it sadly behind her.
***
Sugar Cube Corner, once naught but a humble bakery, was the administration center for Pinkie Pie’s Party Emporium, and it was in uproar. In the middle of all this, strode a small filly foal with a box in her muzzle. The box, for it was spoken of in hushed whispers and greatly sought after, was taken from her several times and opened, but since it was empty, it was always given back.
“Fizzy Pop, I can’t think why you were summoned to appear for the Reading of the Will, they can’t even find the Will!”
Fizzy Pop stopped, and looked back at her mother. She put the box down and cocked her head, “Mama, what’s a Will?”
Candy Swirl pranced nervously on her hooves and finally looked at the grounds, “Fizzy, Pinkie... isn’t on a trip.”
“She’s gone, isn’t she Mama?” Fizzy looked for confirmation from her parent, even though she already knew.
Candy Swirl nodded, tears in her eyes. She blinked hard, trying to hide them. Fizzy Pop nuzzled her mother softly, “I miss her too, Mama. At least I’ve got you and Papa! I love you!”
“Oh Fizzy Pop, I miss her so!”
Mother and daughter hugged in the middle of the bedlam until they stopped crying, Candy even gave her daughter a small smile. “Come on,” she sniffed and straightened herself, smiling warmly down at her daughter, “I know you’re up to something. I may not have inherited my mother’s Pinkie Sense, but my tail is twitching something fierce. Just what is it you’re up to, and where did you get mother’s jewelry box?”
“Granny gave it to me, she said I was to keep it. I need to bring it here today.”
“Then let’s make it happen.”
Fizzy Pop strode into the main office and, putting both forehooves on the wooden desk, deposited the box in front of an officious-looking grey unicorn with spectacles perched upon his muzzle, “Granny Pie said I should bring this here.”
“Then you are the one for whom an entire crate of Bubbly Butts Best Burper Real Authentic Soda was delivered, hmm?” asked the stallion with an amused expression on his face.
Fizzy smiled. “I sure am! Luna said...”
“Princess Luna?” gasped Candy Swirl, “Fizzy, explain yourself! Just what are you-”
“It’s quite alright, Madame,” interrupted a new feminine voice, “I am indeed expecting your daughter today.”
“If we are all here,” harrumphed the unicorn behind the desk, “then I believe you have two things to present to me?”
Fizzy Pop danced with joy and shut the door, her blue eyes twinkling. She took the box under the table and began to fiddle with it. When her mother stuck her head down to see just what her little filly was doing, Fizzy Pop gently pushed her mother’s muzzle away. “Nuh uh! This is a secret! Granny Pie made me Pinkie Promise!”
“Allow her this, Madame Swirl, humour a little filly,” laughed Princess Luna. Candy Swirl’s gaze darkened slightly with confusion, but she nodded. A few seconds later, Fizzy Pop emerged from under the desk, dragging her box with her. It was open, and within it were two objects. One of them was an ornate piece of jewelry with a gem the shape of a balloon set into it, the other was a piece of parchment which Fizzy gave to the unicorn.
The unicorn took hold of the scroll and unrolled it with his magic, studying it intently, before he spoke, “Is this correct, Luna? This is your Royal Signature?”
“It is,” replied Luna solemnly, “and the little one must discharge her duty correctly before the instructions in this, the last will and testament of Pinkie Pie, can be carried out.”
“Instructions? Will? Is that..?”
“Indeed it is, madame,” replied the unicorn, “and your daughter must pass a test to receive her due.”
“A test?” asked Candy Swirl, highly flustered now. She turned to her filly, but Fizzy Pop had already downed three of the bottles of soda and was setting to a fourth. A bottle or two later and her eyes were crossed from holding it all in.
Then, to the horror of her mother and to howls of laughter from Luna, she began to burp the alphabet. She burped the alphabet loudly and proudly, and she burped the whole thing.