I awoke that morning more at ease with myself than any other time in my life. Twilight was right; while I still carried the burden of the knowledge of the things I had seen, not being alone any longer made it easier.
When I left Twilight's, she gave me a new set of quills, ensuring me that the enchantments this time would last significantly longer, but made me promise to bring her what I had written. So I got to work. Page after page flowed out of me with newfound inspiration. The very act of putting everything down on to a permanent record was cathartic. The more I wrote, the easier the burden became.
This labour had taken days. I rarely left my room. After the first day, Pumpkin had started bringing my meals to my room, and after the second, started forcing me to take breaks, if only to share a tea. She had shown me great patience to me throughout my life. With the exception of Noteworthy, she was the only pony that genuinely put up with my antics, and now, despite the worry she had over me shutting myself in my room for days, she was allowing me to finish my work.
On my last quill, I was able to finish one more sentence and I placed the depleted feather down. Staring at the page for a long while, realization finally dawned on me.
I was done.
Looking at the clock, I realized that it was early in the morning, Celestia had yet to raise the sun. Pumpkin would soon be rising to start the day, getting the morning coffee ready for the bakery employees when they come in for their shift. Suddenly inspired, I walked into the bakery's industrial kitchen and started to work. There was a batch of chocolates to make.
Gathering my ingredients, I carefully measured out what I needed. Eventually, I found myself with two cups of cocoa powder, three-quarter cup of soft butter, half cup of sugar, a two-third cup of milk, a quarter cup of powdered sugar and a cup of water.
Setting the water to heat up till it was just below boiling, I set to mixing the cocoa with the butter. Cheating, I used an immersion blender until I was satisfied that I had eliminated the lumps. I poured the mixture into the hot water and stirred gently while bringing the temperature back up to just below boiling until the mixture was a fine paste.
After pouring the newly made paste into a bowl, I sifted the powdered sugar and coarse sugar together, removing any clumps and added it to the cocoa paste. Adding the milk I had let set till it was room temperature, I stirred until it was a perfect consistency.
Reaching up to the cabinet where the chocolate molds were stored, I was frustrated that I couldn't quite reach the mold I wanted. Finally resigning myself to the fact I was A) short, B) old, I set off to find the hoof stool.
"Something smells good in here," a voice said behind me. Turning I was greeted by a young stallion earth pony with pastel brown fur and a long, very dark blond mane kept a single braid down his neck.
"Chestnut! Just the stallion I needed. I need the horseshoe mold from the cabinet before this batch sets. I don't want to risk ruining it heating it back up."
"Sure thing, Miss Pie," Chestnut said while he easily retrieved the mold in question for me. "We haven't seen you down here lately, some of us were getting a little worried. "Mrs. Cake was tight-lipped about the whole thing."
"I was writing my memoirs," I told him while deftly spooning the chocolate into the mold with a practiced hoof, not wasting a drop. "I finished late this morning."
"That's awesome!"
"Now, that partially explains why I'm down here this early; why are you here? Your shift doesn't start for another hour, Pumpkin isn't even up yet."
"She hasn't told you?" Chestnut said, moderately surprised. "Toffee Twirl is moving to Las Pegasus, and Mrs. Cake has asked me to take over managing the bakery. She's been showing me how to take care of the bookkeeping before the day starts."
"Congratulations! Guess I'm going to have to throw you two a party! Ooo... this is going to be so much fun!" I said, starting off on an unintelligible ramble as I took the molds and placed them in the cooler to set so they would be ready for the evening. Planning a Farewell/Promotion party took planning, and consultation with smart ponies who knew about such things, so that left only me.
"You seem chipper this morning." Pumpkin said, making her way into the kitchen.
"I know! Isn't that weird?" I say, pulling Pumpkin into a hug. "I finished what I was writing this morning, I'll give it to you to read tonight. There's a batch of chocolates in the cooler for you when you're reading it. Now, this old mare is going to go take a nap."
Making my way through the bakery to the stairs that lead to my room, I felt a rush of happiness that put a smile on my face. After joyfully trotting up the stairs like a mare half my age, I found myself in my room. Turning my desk lamp off, I put my hoof on the stack of papers that told my story. Feeling more at peace with myself than I had ever felt in my life, I got into bed and drifted to sleep.
I found myself with that familiar feeling again. I had long since gotten used to it, watching myself go through my day, oblivious to what was coming. When it first happened, it filled me with fear. Eventually, I came to accept it, and a part of me had started to look forward to that day.
But this time it was different. For the longest time, I watched myself write. Hour after hour, I tirelessly worked until put the quill down and stretched. When it finally dawned on me what I was watching; before I had the chance to feel any fear, a wave of calm and peace washed over me. I couldn't feel fear or sadness even if I wanted too. I watched as I made my way into the kitchen and began making chocolate. I listened to the conversation I had with Chestnut, and the hug I gave Pumpkin. I marveled at my youthfulness as I made my way up the stairs, realizing that I had not felt any pain. When I watched myself fall asleep, my world went white.
"Hello, Pinkamena." A young gray colt greeted me. "I've been waiting to meet you for a very long time."
I found myself standing on the shores of a great river. On both sides was a verdant forest whose beauty and serenity could not be described. I watched in wonder as a flock of bluebirds fluttered through the air.
"Where am I?" I asked the tiny pony.
"It was your time, so I brought you here."
"My time...? Oh." I said in surprise.
"A common reaction, don't be afraid." He told me.
"Who are you?"
"I'm the ferryman. I guide the souls of those who pass down the river of time to Elysium."
"Aren't you a little tiny to be a ferryman?"
"I take the form of whatever puts the soul in my charge at ease. Pinkamena, you spent your life bringing joy and happiness to the world, mostly to the young. What brings you the most fulfillment is the look of innocent wonder in a young colt or filly's eyes; so here I am." He explained. "I actually wanted to speak with you. I wanted to apologize."
"For what?"
"The guiding stone that belonged to me found its way to your world. In my hooves, it shows me when somepony's time is upon them, allowing me to comfort them and guide them to where they need to go. In the hooves of a mortal, well, you can fill in the blanks." He told me, sitting down on his haunches, scratching at the dirt. "It was an accident. I was careless. In one brief moment, I brought pain and misery to your life."
I sat along side him. For a long while we were silent. I thought on what he had told me, and found myself still at ease. At peace. What I did next was an easy and simple choice.
"I forgive you," I told him, pulling the diminutive pony into a hug.
"Thank you, Pinkamena." He said, getting up and facing me. "Now, to you, a gift."
"Ooo... I like gifts."
"I know," He said with a chuckle. "Ordinarily, I am forbidden from altering the past, but in this instance, I have been allowed to do so. I am going to change it so that my guiding stone never comes to your world. Your life will unfold as it did with the changes you made, but you will not know the heartache and sorrow my mistake brought you. The makers are forgoing one of their most sacred laws for you." He continued. "When it was made known that you had a guiding stone, the fates debated that you should be brought to the afterlife so that it could be retrieved, but only after you had completed your destiny as the element of laughter.
"That's why your vision's constantly showed you your time over and over again, but the circumstances ever in flux." He explained. "I was able to stay fates hoof when I pointed out that despite the power you had, even at a young age, you didn't use it for selfish gain, which you could have easily. Instead, you used it to help others; like somehow you knew the stones intrinsic purpose, so we left you to live out your natural life. The very fact that despite the sadness and hardship you endured, you still fulfilled what you were meant to do, and that served to only bolster their faith in you.
"But the actions you took when you revealed your secret to Twilight Sparkle and Luna Eveningstar, and the personal peace you found from those actions, it was decided that you be brought here, so that we could retrieve the stone; because subconsciously you had realized that you had no more use for it."
"So, what now?"
"Now," He said, reaching up and retrieving the stone from my poofy, unruly mane. "We set things right."
Placing the stone between his hooves, he closed his eyes and everything changed.
I woke up in my bed to the ticking of my alarm clock. Slightly annoyed that I had woken up before the sun, I turned my alarm face down. Getting out of bed, I made my way over to my desk and placed my hoof on a stack of paper that was my professional life's work. Contained in the pages was 'The Big Book of Confectionary, or Pinkie Pie's Guide to Happiness Through Chocolate'. The title itself should get a laugh out of Pumpkin.
Making my way to the bathroom, I looked at myself in the mirror. Before me was the visage of a wrinkled old mare, but I had a smile on, so that made it all better. After brushing my teeth and splashing water on my face, I felt inspired.
"I'm going to make some chocolates."