Cheese Sandwich walked triumphantly away from his lively hometown. In the dark, night skies of Manehattan, vibrant fireworks exploded and caused beautiful showers of color. Along with a dully-colored poncho and black hat, the stallion wore a slight smile on his face. Yet again, he’d successfully thrown a large bash and showed hundreds of ponies the time of their lives. He loved traveling to different towns and causing ponies’ faces to light up in glee. Every smile was like a shining gem; priceless, but well-worth the hard-work to earn. In reality, smiles were a sweet coffee that kept him working hard throughout the day.
“I’ve never seen so many ponies party that hard before…” the orange stallion started in a rather dramatic tone. “I’d say out of my forty years of party-planning, this bash was one of the bests.”
The stallion smiled and turned as his head away from the lifeless, rubber chicken that rested comfortably on a little saddle on his back. With pride in his heart, the stallion traveled further down the road, heading forwards and looking for a new adventure in a bright, new town.
Cheese Sandwich hadn’t gotten a mile away from the lively town when he felt something familiar, but unusual…. His body trembled and his heart rate skyrocketed as a sudden rush moved from his front legs to his stomach. When they trembling hit his flanks, the divided sandwiches on his flanks wheezed out a familiar melody played in reverse. His ears started flopping and his voice rang out from the shock of the intense vibration. As suddenly as the vibrations stopped, they ended. The orange stallion was left with large, green eyes and an agape lower lip. His shocked expression slowly turned into a wide, bright smile.
With a gleeful holler, the stallion jumped skyward and floated down to the earth with his poncho as a parachute.
“Now that was a doozie!” he cheered. “And it’s in Ponyville!”
Ponyville. Out of all the locations in Equestria, that little town was his favorite to visit. It was home to not only hundreds of amazing ponies, but his own, personal inspiration and friend. Her name was Pinkamena Diane Pie, or just Pinkie Pie to be simple. She’d hosted the very first party Cheese ever attended. She changed his life and molded him into the amazing stallion he was.
Unfortunately, he seldom visited the little town. He always seemed to be on-the-go, trying to please one group of ponies or another. He did, however, relish the many times he did get to visit. Out of all his years as a traveling party pony, he’d taken time to visit the town nearly ten times. A few of the occasions were because of an event that needed planning, while others were simply because he had an open schedule and time to kill. His visits to Ponyville were the most exciting and well-worth the trip. During every single trip, even if it were for somepony else’s birthday, he’d still squeeze in some time to spend with one of the greatest ponies he’d ever met. Meeting with Pinkie Pie was a rare, but special occasion each time it happened. Even though the pink party pony was a disaster when it came to scheduling, she always made time to spend with her friend.
Happily, the stallion trotted off, feeling joy in his heart when he realized his next destination.
Cheese Sandwich happily galloped with a wide smile on his face. The desired town was less than a mile away. He could see the tallest of the buildings from where he was. Long beams of golden twilight seeped through cracks of houses and little businesses. His heart pounded as joy grew with every hoofstep he took closer to the little town.
Oh, this’ll be great! The stallion thought to himself as he galloped towards the town. I’ll get to see Pinkie again! We’ll hang out and get some lunch and just catch up… Man… when was the last time you saw her? A year or two ago? Oh, and she was just like she’s always been! So joyful, happy, and full of her random antics…Man, she never really changed that much…I hope she never does…
Cheese Sandwich continued to trot all the way to the little, awaiting town of Ponyville. He gained speed as joy filled his heart. Ponyville coaxed him slowly, forcing him to gallop at a quicker pace.
After around a few minutes of galloping, Cheese Sandwich finally reached the outskirts of his favorite town. He’d been slightly worn out from galloping as fast as he could, but still continued to make his way into the surprisingly quiet town. There weren’t many ponies trotting around as usual. The stallion simply assumed it was because it was literally the crack of dawn. Who would be up that early?
The stallion carried on, migrating deeper into the depths of the sleepy town. He looked around. Nopony seemed to be out at all. Everypony must have stayed up late the previous day. There were usually at least a few ponies roaming around to do early-morning activities or watch the sunset. The odd absence of everypony was rather…disturbing.
The stallion took a left as he dug deeper into the resting town. What he was so used to being lively and full of energy was practically consumed by every shade of gray. Even the vibrantly colored buildings didn’t lighten up the place.
Slowly, the stallion traveled deeper into the town. Turning another corner, his green eyes lit up at the sight he’d been wishing to see since the previous day; a brightly painted bakery with a large cupcake of a room at the very top. The roof was a chocolate brown and “frosted” with swirls of vanilla “icing” around the edges. The pink, front door was closed tightly and locked from the previous night.
With a wide smile, Cheese trotted over to the door and took in a breath. What time was it? From the looks, the town was dead. Wouldn’t it be…rude to awake anypony at that hour? He didn’t want to interrupt anypony’s beauty sleep, but simultaneously, he wanted to see Pinkie Pie as early as possible.
Maybe Pinkie got up early to start making some treats… Maybe if you just knock very lightly, you’ll get somepony who’s already awake… Just don’t knock loud enough to wake up somepony else…
Cautiously, the stallion raised a hoof to the ponies’ door and gave it four, quick taps. They weren’t too-too loud, but they could still be heard. Cheese Sandwich waited a moment to see if he’d receive a response. Surprisingly enough, he did. A light-yellow unicorn mare opened the pink door. Her orange mane stood up in every direction and crust boarded her puffy, blue eyes. The instantly aroma of cinnamon treats hit entered the stallion’s nostrils and made his mouth water.
“Heya Pumpkin!” the stallion greeted the mare with a large smile. “Is Pinkie home?”
The little mare’s eyes opened wide and she felt tears quickly invade them. She didn’t really know what to say…
“Umm…why?”
“Oh, you know, my cheesy sense brought me to Ponyville and I was hoping to pay the old gal a visit!”
Pumpkin slowly nodded. “Just… give me a moment…”
Cheese Sandwich respected the mare’s wishes with a simple nod and smile. Pumpkin slowly closed the door and looked at the inside of the store. It seemed so dull and sad in comparison to usual. The mare let out a long sigh and traveled upstairs. Each step made her heart ache even more as she ventured into the upstairs and opened the first door on her right. She smiled as she saw the room before her. It was empty with a familiar, pink bed neatly made in the center. There was a dresser pressed against the back wall, a closet, and a nightstand with a polka dotted lamp resting on it. Slowly, the mare walked in and examined the abandoned room. She walked past a dresser and gazed over the line of pictures she had displayed. The first one she saw a picture of her and Pound Cake when they were only six. They were hugging their parents and their unrelated aunt, Pinkie Pie. Next to that one was picture of Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack. They were in a tight group hug, but each one of them wore a bright smile. The last one was of Pinkie and Pumpkin's parents. They were all smiling so brightly. Pumpkin Cake fought back tears in her eyes as she examined the pictures. She let out a long breath and opened the dresser. There, inside, rested something she hated seeing. Not long after the unforgettable event, her and her brother had discovered that note. She lit up her horn and levitated the note to her eye level.
My Dear Family and Friends,
Lately, I’ve been thinking my time will come to an end. It may not, but it’s better safe than sorry. I’ve been having some really bad pain in my stomach lately. I’m hoping it’ll just blow off as a little illness or something. I don’t want to make you all worried over something this silly, because I honestly don’t think anything that bad will happen. Anyway, if the worst possible thing happens, I want any bits I have to be evenly split between Pound and Pumpkin Cake. I want any of my possessions to go to anypony who may need them. I want you all to know how happy you’ve made me in life, and how much you all mean to me. I hope that even as I pass on, the smiles I’ve caused you will still last a lifetime. Cherish each moment and don’t forget to smile! Each sixty seconds you spend sad is a full minute of happiness you can never get back!
If you’ve discovered this and I’m gone, please remember I have a private note for all my individual friends! I love you all, and it’s been a true honor to call you all my friends and family!
Sincerely yours,
Pinkie Pie
Just like the very first time Pumpkin Cake read that awful note; she had tears streaming down her face. Her nose crinkled and her eyes gushed out the salty liquid. The mare’s face was a dark shade of crimson and her eyes remained puffy and pink. Slowly, she set the note back down and rummaged through the dresser. Within it, she had nearly fifty different letters all written out to different ponies.
For the past seven or eight years, Pinkie had always been extra cautious when she got sick. She knew she was aging, but she also knew she hadn’t taken the best care of her body. She knew all the unhealthy choices she made would catch up to her eventually, and that’s why she’d always take time to write out an overall message if her passing. Several years ago, however, she’d written out she’d written out multitudes of individual letters to all of her friends.
Cheese Sandwich… I know I remember seeing that name somewhere…. It’s got to be in here…
The mare’s magic shuffled the letters around until her blue eyes set on one with “Cheese Sandwich” written in Pinkie’s familiar mouth-writing. She sighed and grabbed it with her magic. She tried hard to hold back her tears as she made her way back down the stairs. She went all the way down to the dining area. There, she went back to where the stallion waited peacefully. Her orange magic engulfed the doorknob and twisted it. It opened to reveal Cheese Sandwich patiently waiting. Pumpkin sighed and levitated the closed envelope over to the stallion.
“Just read that…” she said bluntly and shut the door.
Just read it…? Cheese thought to himself as he stared down at the letter. I just wanted to see Pinkie Pie…What’s this about…?
Slowly, the stallion tore open the letter with his name printed on it. Inside was a neatly folded, white piece of paper. Still a bit confused, the stallion opened the letter and started reading it.
Dear Cheesy,
If you’re reading this, that probably means I’m dead. Either that, or somepony was snooping through my things without me knowing. Anyway, it’s probably because I’m dead.
Cheese stopped himself. Dead…? She couldn’t be dead, right…? It had to be a prank of some kind. She could simply be joking with him or something. Anything. She just couldn’t be… dead. With dread in his heart, the stallion continued reading on.
I know accepting this may be hard to do, but I don’t want you to be sad because I’m gone… I want you to be happy that I was a small part of your life… That’s how I want everypony to think of me… I never told anypony this, but when I was younger I used to cry when I thought about dying. Not because I was afraid of death, but because I was afraid of the way it would affect my friends afterwards. I always wanted my smiles to last a lifetime, not mere seconds. I know my friends may be sad at this moment, but I want them to be happy….
… I want you to be happy. I hate seeing my friends sad… That’s why I wanted to ask you specifically for this favor. Listen… I want you to host my funeral. I know, it may be too hard for you, but it would mean so, so much to me if you did this… I don’t want my friends to be sad at my funeral… I know that’s a lot to ask for, but it would mean everything to me. You know how to make ponies smile better than anypony I know… please don’t let me down… The last thing I want to see at my funeral is sad faces. I have faith in you Cheese Sandwich. I have ever since the day I met you. Always remember to smile every day, even if it’s hard to do.
Your friend forever,
Pinkie Pie