“NO!” screamed Accord, chasing after Hope and reaching to hold the gray soul in his magic.
“She’s a voidwisher, Accord, what did you expect?” Hope said, protecting the dim gray orb, only trace amounts of pink bubbling up every once in a while.
“Pinkie had the greatest life she could have had. Our King and Queen did their best to foster an environment that her life would be extraordinary. But that cannot be typical. That’s not something we can do for every soul, and not something that should be common in the ideal configuration we’re looking for. Be content that Pinkie Pie had a happy ending.”
“No!” Accord yelled, his composure crashing down. “HAPPY ENDINGS ARE ENDINGS! AND ENDINGS ARE NOT HAPPY!”
His rage boiled over. The shield spell covering the planet surged, creating a giant tsunami of magical power that threatened to engulf Hope in a million different terrible spells.
“WAIT!” screamed Fluttershy, her own counterspells calming the approaching attack of the shield spell, dissipating it into a tranquil ocean of magic.
“Wait...” Fluttershy said to Accord. She placed a wing over him, calming him, his rage quieting down to disbelief and then to cold sadness.
Hope eyed the newcomer that had teleported in without a sound into their presence. “And this is... Fluttershy?” Hope asked.
She looked away from her husband and back to Hope, nodding.
“You’re his wife,” Hope said, weighing the word carefully. “Ah... now we understand. You are the real reason Accord wants to save everyone on this planet. Without you, he is nothing but a librarian. But with you he has a greater sense of purpose, and a desire to help everyone. Everything Accord is trying to do is just to make sure he doesn’t lose you.”
“You’re wrong,” said Fluttershy. “I may be the one he cares about the most, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t care about each and every soul down there. They all deserve to live.”
“We and Accord had our wager, Fluttershy,” said Hope. “If Pinkie desires a third option, then she will have to reincarnate.”
Accord was staring at Equestria, his eyes blurred, filled to the brim with shock and fear.
“No, your wager was that Pinkie’s desire for a third option had to be for nonexistence. But we don’t know if that’s what she wanted,” said Fluttershy.
“What other option could she have desired? There is none. You either continue or you start over.”
“At least listen to her, take her memories, please. She had to have meant something else besides nonexistence,” Fluttershy said.
Accord raised his head, staring hopeful at the dim gray orb, traces of pink still dancing across the surface.
Hope stared at Accord and Fluttershy for a moment before enveloping Pinkie’s soul in its mane, taking the memories.
Hope paused for a long moment, their eyes widening, staring intently at the soul. Accord watched bewildered as Hope created another temporary body for Pinkie Pie and put the soul back inside.
“You are robbing her of a happy ending, Accord,” said Hope mournfully, disappearing and putting back up the illusion of the ethereal plane.
Pinkie gasped on the ground, disoriented and terrified.
Accord walked over to Pinkie to help her get up as Cosmos and Fluttershy vanished.
She sat back on her haunches above the mists in the plane.
“Pinkie—what kind of third option were you thinking about?” asked Accord.
“I... I...” she hesitated, looking down at the mists. “I think it’s sad that only I get to be immortal. What about Asvarel? And Marsh? And Klyrm? And all of my other past lives? Why can’t they continue?”
Pinkie held onto Accord’s hooves, sniffling. “I got to speak with them. To understand them. And I got to fill them with the stories of why I liked life so much. I gave them hope, Accord, that perhaps they could have lived their lives and loved them as much as I loved this one. And... they’re sad they cut their lives short. Is there any way we can give them a second chance?”
Accord didn’t know what to say to this. He opened his mouth to speak, but couldn’t come up with a solution, too shocked and relieved that her desire was not for nonexistence.
He thought about her request, trying to find the book he had read about this problem before, he had to have read it at least once, but nothing came to mind. Perhaps he had left the library too soon.
“Pinkie, all of those lives were using that same soul. A soul can only live one lifetime in one format at a time. If you’re immortal, you have to pick one form to be in.”
“But what about all my past lives? They worked hard. It was difficult, but they kept going until... well...” she looked down at the ground, “they couldn’t anymore. They’re sad about everything.” She raised her head up, hopeful. “Maybe if they had a second chance they could see life differently?”
Accord’s mind raced, trying to find a book that had had this request in it before. What was the solution?
“We’re hitting the reasons why you can’t mix immortality and reincarnation systems, Accord,” said Galaxia. “You run into strange areas with no good solutions.”
“I... I showed them all how much joy life could be,” said Pinkie softly. “None of them really got it the first time through, but I’ve learned how. And I taught them a little of how to be happy no matter where you are. Maybe if I could coach them all how to, they could return to the worlds they left and live better lives.”
A love and appreciation for Pinkie Pie came over Accord in that moment, more than he had ever felt before. She understood how to conquer the fear of life itself, and her only desire was to give that love for living to everyone, even her past lives.
“Thank you Pinkie, that’s a good desire to have,” he whispered. “It’s not something I can do though. We could place different souls back on similar worlds with those exact same memories... but they wouldn’t be your real soul,” Accord sighed, staring at the mists at his hooves. “I am sorry to have discovered something else I can’t do.”
Queen Galaxia spoke up, “So what will you choose? Immortality or reincarnation?”
Pinkie thought about it for several moments before answering, thinking back on all of her previous lifetimes and deciding on her favorite, “Immortality.”
The words echoed across all time and space, the choice changing the destinies of a truly infinite number of souls.
Galaxia and Accord smiled.
“I have one last question. Pinkie, ever since I placed you on this world I’ve wanted to know if you would have an answer,” Galaxia said. “What was your favorite moment of your life?”
“Hmm... “ Pinkie pondered the question until she had a thought that made her smile. “I guess... right now. Knowing that all the happy times, and the sad ones too, that none of it has to end.”
⬡ ⬡ ⬡
Pinkie awoke in her hospital bed for what felt like lifetimes after she had last been in it. Every part of her body still felt as weak as it had been when she left it, and she struggled to make her eyes open.
“Is she... waking up?” asked one of her grandfoals.
“Her heart stopped beating for a while there,” said the hospice nurse, “but it looks like she’s coming back.”
She heard the nurse get closer to the bed, “Pinkie, can you hear us?”
Her eyes fluttered slightly to see the room full of so many ponies she loved. She gave a weak smile and closed her eyes once more, exhausted by the memories, but happy for the future.