The Last Laugh
By: Gandalf158
The Party
The day of the party arrived at last, and everypony in attendance would agree that the pink party mare had outdone herself once again. Six mares in particular, however, weren’t enticed by the streamers or the decorations, or even the games and activities set up around the perimeter of the party. No, this was not a day to celebrate for them, no time for games, or music, it was a day of sadness. It was Pinkie Pie’s last party ever, the one the banner that hung between two storefronts proclaimed as a “Goodbye-Everypony-I'll-Miss-You” party, and they were all too emotionally drained from the last few weeks to enjoy it.
Pinkie Pie in particular was distressed, she didn’t like to see her friends sad, in fact, she had thrown this party to cheer them up in the first place. She tried to get them to dance, to have fun, but their hearts weren’t in it, so eventually they took to just sitting around a table. For a while, nopony spoke, but Pinkie broke the silence.
“I’m sorry girls, I thought that this party would help.” Pinkie said glumly.
The other girls said things like “it isn’t your fault”, but it didn’t register to Pinkie. The stress of the past few weeks was finally starting to catch up with her. Tears were welling up in her eyes, she was on the verge of a breakdown. She tried to think of a way to cheer everypony up, but came up blank, and for the first time in a long time, Pinkie Pie didn’t know how to cheer up her friends.
“Pinkie, it is a great party, it’s just that we aren’t exactly in the mood to party.” Fluttershy said quietly.
“Thanks, Fluttershy, that means a lot.” Pinkie replied, drying her eyes, “Look at me, here I am crying while trying to cheer my friends up.”
For a while, none of them spoke, they just sat there. The party was going on strong, and everypony else seemed to be having a good time, and that made Pinkie a little happy. If she couldn’t make her friends happy, at least she made all these other ponies happy.
It took a while, but eventually Applejack spoke up.
“Look, Pinkie Pie threw this party fer us, the least we can do is try ‘n enjoy it.” she said, getting up and walking over to the counter that was being used as an impromptu bar.
She brought over six mugs of Sweet Apple Acres Reserve cider and set them down in front of her five best friends. She took her own mug in her hoof, and raised it up in a toast.
“A toast, to Pinkie Pie. Best friend a pony can ask fer.” she said.
The other Elements of Harmony raised their own mugs in agreement and quickly drank the golden-brown cider. Applejack got another round, and set the newly filled mugs down on the table. This time it was Pinkie who proposed the toast.
“And to you girls, for helping me through this.” she said.
After a few more mugs, Pinkie Pie was starting to feel a little bit better, and her friends seemed happier, too. She smiled for what felt like the first time in a long time. She seemed to brighten up, her mane got a little of its poofiness back to it, and for the first time since she went to the doctor, she felt… happy. Happy to be here, and to see her friends laughing and having a good time.
"So, Pinkie, this is your party, what do you want to do?" Rainbow asked.
"I don't know. What do you girls feel like doing?"
As she and her friends reminisced about their adventures together, Pinkie slipped away for a little fresh air. As she stepped out into the night, she heard somepony approach from behind her.
“Good evening, Pinkie.” she heard a familiar voice say.
“Hi Princess! I didn’t know you were here, how do you like the party?”
“We are afraid that our visit is not a social call.” the princess of the night said, her eyes showing her sadness.
“What do you m-... oh. It’s time, isn’t it?” Pinkie asked.
“No, not quite yet. But time is running short, my little pony. We’ve come to tell you that you should say your farewells.” with that, the indigo princess disappeared.
“Pinkie? Are you alright?” Twilight asked, a look of slight concern on her face.
Pinkie shook it off, her face regaining its trademark smile.
“Yeah, just getting some air.” she nodded, and went back into the party. She did feel a little stronger, she supposed. Back in the main party, Pinkie decided to do something she hadn’t done since the diagnosis; she went to the dance floor and started to dance.
The music playing was upbeat, a sort of mix between classical and DJ Pon3’s trademark wubs, and Pinkie was getting into it. It was a fun song to dance to, she thought. After the song was done, she went over to the bar and got another mug of cider.
For a while, she felt sad, thinking about all the parties she would never throw, all the friends she wouldn’t make. But looking around the room, she realized something, all these ponies were having a good time, and wasn’t her special talent making ponies happy? She found peace in that; that through it all, she had always done what she was meant to do. All her friends would think of her and smile, even long after she was gone, so it didn’t matter about what could’ve happened, she realized that the only thing that does matter is what you do with the time you’re given.
As the party wound down, Pinkie and her friends found each other and said their goodbyes. Pinkie was on the verge of tears, but held them back. Her friends all said goodnight, as if they’d see each other again the next day, which made Pinkie sad. As they all left to turn in for the night, Pinkie trotted up the stairs to her room.
“Goodbye, girls. I’ll miss you.” she said…
The next morning, Twilight was woken up by the sound of a knocking at her door. Spike got up and answered it, but called for her to come down. When she got down to the door, there was Rainbow Dash, crying.
“Rainbow? What’s wrong?” she asked her.
“It’s Pinkie, she’s…” the last word caught in her throat, but Twilight got the message.
Rainbow broke down, and Spike, teary eyed himself, helped.