Tearful Good-byes
"Twilight, if what you told me earlier is correct, I'm afraid to tell you that this Pinkie Pie is not the real one, but one of her clones. Since the clones were magical constructs which emerged from the mirror pool, they didn't have definitive substance to them to allow them to last longer than a few days once they left the immediate vicinity of that pond. I hate to say this, but I'm afraid you sent the wrong clone back," Princess Celestia stated flatly.
As she explained the situation further, the other ponies started weeping silently. Twilight's expression went from stunned shock to outright despair; the prospect of losing her friend permanently was beginning to look inevitable. She lost her self-control for a moment and allowed a cry of loss escape her lips, drawing the attention of the others. An awkward silence fell over the room before the librarian pondered another question.
"Does this mean that if we had allowed all of those Pinkies to continue running around Ponyville that the clones would have died off?" she asked.
"I don't think so, Twilight -- my belief is that as long as the real Pinkie Pie was around, her clones would survive for as long as she did. Since she's no longer here, any remaining clones have little chance of surviving any longer than a few days without her life-force to sustain them."
"Princess, is there any way we can retrieve Pinkie from the mirror pool?" she asked.
"I don't know, Twilight. I'm afraid the answer is probably not."
"Princess, is there anything you can do to help me?" asked Pinkie, who had turned her head in their direction. Tears seeped from her eyes and slowly trickled down her cheeks. Rainbow huddled close, trying to ease her fears.
"I'm so sorry, Pinkie, can you forgive me?" the cyan pegasus asked, just barely above a whisper. Tears were starting to well up in her eyes as she was ever the one to retain a stoic poise in the face of uncertainty, but the prospect of permanently losing one of her friends was truly terrifying.
"Dashie, don't leave me," the baker pleaded. Her voice was no louder than Fluttershy's at this point.
"I won't, I Pinkie Promise!" she replied firmly, though tears continued to trickle down her cheeks. She took one of Pinkie's forehooves in hers and shivered a little at the coldness of the touch. "Pinkie, you're so cold," the pegasus observed.
"I feel cold," she responded as the others strained to hear her. Fluttershy draped herself over the once-pink pony, but her coldness was quite surprising. The monitor showing her temperature matched the room's ambient temperature, her heart rate monitor showing about twenty beats per minute. A beeping alarm came from the one monitoring her blood pressure, indicating the continuing deterioration of her vital signs.
"Pinkie, please don't tell me this is the end," Rarity pleaded, tears spilling over her cheeks. She was brushed aside by two doctors who entered the room and inspected the dying pony, checking the monitors and IV. Their grim expressions spoke volumes about Pinkie's chances, their silence causing deep concern among the others. One of them turned to the Solar Princess and spoke, his voice trembling with the words he spoke.
"Your Highness, I'm afraid there's nothing more we can do for her. I would say she will not last through the night," he stated with deep sadness.
The other ponies gasped at this mention, some of them silently mouthing the word NO over and over again as they tried to push the thought of Pinkie dying out of their minds. As the gravity of the situation sank in, they began crying, weeping openly. Even the normally calm Celestia was seen shedding tears, her attachment to the Element Bearers being so strong, her admiration for the normally perky and effervescent party pony bringing a warm smile to her lips. The current sight of the now dull-grey mare with black eyes stood out in stark contrast to the Pinkie of their memories, still fresh from the recent episode of so many of them causing chaos in the town.
"Pinkie, Ah forgive ya for wrecking our barn raising," Applejack said as she tried to choke back her tears. Her effort to do so failed miserably as she watched the baker nod her head weakly in acknowledgement of her friend's forgiveness.
"I want you all to have a party in my honor after I'm gone," Pinkie whispered hoarsely. "Please remember me for as long as you can -- it would mean so much to me."
"Ah promise you Ah will," the farm pony affirmed, a small smile gracing her lips.
"Oh, Pinkie, I wish this hadn't happened! I am so sorry!" Twilight nearly wailed as despair tightened its grip on her psyche. "Can you ever forgive me for what I've done? I don't think I can forgive myself for sending the real you back!"
"It's okay, Twiley, you did what you thought was right," the clone replied as her voice seemed to fail her, the last word croaking out of her mouth. "I love you all and I'm gonna miss you," she added, though there was no volume to her voice. Her breathing and pulse seemed to slow down a little more, her blood pressure dropping dangerously low. Her eyes started lidding as she gave in to her fatigue. "I think I'm gonna get some more rest," she announced before closing her eyes, her gaze lowering as she did so.
"Pinkie! NO! Don't go!" Rainbow exclaimed, her voice breaking as she cried out. Pinkie's monitors flatlined, a constant beep reverberating around the room. The only other sounds were those of the ponies crying and weeping at the loss of their friend as her chest stopped its slow rise and fall. One of the doctors re-entered and gently draped the cover over her body and disconnected the monitors.
"I'm sorry, ladies, but you will have to leave. I know this sounds cruel, but we have protocol to follow here," he stated, trying to sound as respectful as possible given the circumstances.
"Doctor, if you would be so kind as to allow me a final good-bye?" the Solar Princess half-said, half-asked. The stallion nodded, bowing slightly in respect to the di-arch, who side-stepped him and lowered her head to Pinkie's chest. Breaking decorum for a moment, she allowed a wail of despair and sadness to escape her lips and let her tears stream freely without restraint. It was perhaps the saddest sound any of the ponies had ever heard, or would ever hear again in their entire lifetimes. Quickly, the Alicorn regained her composure and left the room, the doctor standing in stunned silence by the open display of deep emotion from the normally stoic Princess.
---------------------------------
The ponies tried to respect Pinkie's dying wish, that they hold a party in her honor -- but the party was filled with deep sadness, the ponies not knowing how to cope with her loss. Many of them commented that they wished that Pinkie Pie and all her clones were still around to make things interesting, but bringing up her name reopened fresh wounds, ones which would take a very long time to heal, if ever. The party was called off after less than an hour's duration, though the possibility of holding a party once per year on the day of her passing to commemorate her life and memory was agreed to.
The following day, Twilight called the rest of her friends to gather for a journey into the Everfree Forest, their objective to return to the cave leading to the mirror pool so that it could be permanently sealed. The trek was silent, save for Rarity's complaints about how dirty she was getting and Twilight telling her to stop complaining.
Rainbow Dash had been pondering the events leading up to Pinkie's passing, her thoughts centering around the librarian's decision to hold the contest which led to her use of magic to eliminate them. The pegasus seemed to have forgotten that she was the one who had distracted one of the two remaining Pinkies -- she silently fumed over the loss of her friend and was going to give Twilight a piece of her mind when she felt the moment was right.
After what seemed like hours of trotting through the forest, they reached the cave, which was still open to any who dared venture into its depths. Noticing the large rock not far from the entrance, Twilight used her magic to push the rock into place over the opening, effectively sealing it forever. Using more magic, she cut words into the rock to serve as an epitaph for her dear friend, eulogizing her effervescent personality, summing up their feelings as best she could. More tears were shed as they paid their last respects, then turned to leave. It was at this point Rainbow decided to let the librarian know exactly how she felt.
"Twilight, you should have known better than to zap all of those clones," the pegasus started, her tone almost defiant.
"Look, Rainbow, I'm sorry, okay? I thought I was doing the right thing," Twilight responded in an attempt to justify her actions.
"Sorry doesn't bring Pinkie back! You KILLED HER!"
"Rainbow, this is not the time or place for this -- can we talk about this later?"
"No, Twilight! We're gonna have this out, right here, right NOW!"
"Weren't you the one who caused the final distraction?" the librarian asked in an attempt to turn the tables.
"That doesn't matter! You should have come up with a different plan to find out which was the real Pinkie!"
"I tried, Rainbow! Really, I did! I'm sorry! How many times do I have to keep saying that? What do you want from me? I can't bring her back! Not even Princess Celestia can bring her back!" the librarian cried, tears beginning to well up in her eyes once again.
"I don't know, Twiley, but ... I can't forgive you for what you've done! I'm gonna have to take some time to think about this, but I don't know if I can go on being your friend any more," the pegasus stated as her anger receded. Tears threatened to spill over the corners of her eyes as she took to the sky and flew away in the direction of her house.
"Look, girls, I'm really sorry for that -- I'm going to have to mend fences with her as best I can. I think we'd better get back to Ponyville before it gets dark out," Twilight announced, though there was no emotion in her voice. The others nodded their heads and followed the librarian as she began the trip back to town. There was precious little conversation among the group as they wended their way back, a dark cloud seeming to hang overhead as they traveled.
-----------------------------------
A few days later, Twilight was summoned to the castle to meet with her teacher. The librarian's attempts to meet with the cyan pegasus had proven futile as Rainbow refused to acknowledge her despite her repeated attempts at contrition. Twilight's mood had not improved since Pinkie had passed, her hoofsteps slow and plodding wherever she went. Her trek through the castle to meet with Princess Celesta was no different, the librarian seeming to be in a constant state of shock.
Upon reaching the throne room, she was allowed immediate entry. The Solar Princess greeted her student warmly, as best she could, but her facial expression was a cause for concern.
"Twilight, I would like to have a short discussion with you in private," Celestia stated flatly. Without waiting for Twilight's answer, the Alicorn wrapped her right wing around the mare and teleported her to the Royal Bedchamber. "Twilight, I have taken some time to ponder what you had told me regarding Pinkie's situation. It is my opinion that you failed a very important lesson in friendship -- one which, I'm afraid, must lead to your immediate dismissal as my student."
She gasped loudly in shock and surprise, then fell to the floor and began sobbing, pleading with her mentor to give her another chance. The Alicorn seemed to regard her former student coldly, without emotion as she allowed the mare to continue to vent her sadness.
"I'm sorry, Twilight, but there are certain measures which must be taken. You will be confined to Canterlot and are not permitted to return to Ponyville. You are hereby stripped of your status as Element of Magic and your studies will be changed, but you are no longer my student either. I'm very sorry to have to do this to you, but your actions resulted in the death of one of the Element Bearers, and it is all I can do to keep from sending you to the dungeons to pay penance for your grievous mistake. It gives me no pleasure to do this, Twilight. I want you to understand that I still love you deeply, but I cannot allow this mistake to go unpunished."
Twilight's sobs intensified in their volume as her chest heaved almost violently, her body trembling on the floor of the room. The Solar Princess teleported her former student to another bedchamber to allow her to rest and ponder the ramifications of her actions. She had no idea which hurt worse -- losing one of her best friends, or not being allowed to visit her other friends for the foreseeable future. Noticing the change in her surroundings, she climbed onto the bed in front of her and lay across it, openly sobbing and weeping at her loss.
-------------------------------
Princess Celestia trotted slowly to a special room where the relics representing the Elements of Harmony were kept. She took a few moments to gaze at them, noticing one black gemstone among the others. She lowered her head slightly, pondering the future for her realm, knowing that there would be a time when those relics would be needed. She silently hoped that such an event would be a very long time in coming, though she also noted that there had been very long stretches of time when all was peaceful in Equestria. She took one last look at the relics, then closed the case which held them, sealing it with her magic. Heaving a sigh of resignation, she slowly trotted to her bedchamber to get some rest.
I still hold out hope for you, Twilight. Maybe some time in the future, you will be able to find a replacement for the Element of Laughter. I don't know when or where that may happen, but I hope it happens before you pass away as well.
FIN
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Sequel
Ouch. From one firemark into a branding. One thing that I wonder would have to be how the other elements feel about this new occurrence. It would be an interesting to write of.
Otherwise, Very well.
That was..... depressing.
Princess Celestia... Number 1 JERKFACE!!!!!
Thats it!?!?
Why must you make me criey!!!
3594181 ikr
3691216 ITS SENDER PONY RUN FOR FUCKING LIVES!
3865504 never had that reaction to my name... I love it!
3866865 you never had this reaction to your name.
3869653 maybe once... I think once before.
3871287 shit that pic still creepy. Hey they should do a slender pony game that would be funny.
3871302 I would play that.
I liked the story and it was well written but one little thing bothered me about it
THEY DIDN'T EVEN TRY TO BRING PINKIE BACK!!
Princess Celestia just said it most likely couldn't be done and left it at that! They didn't even try!
this reminds me of The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror XIII - Send in the Clones where one clone survives while the original dies.
This was writen gold right here!
>>Alert! Plot Hole Detected!<<
How does Celestia expect her to find a new Element of Laughter with these restrictions, especially without the help of the other Elements?
Come to think of it, everything in which Celestia was involved just inflated the tragedy to such a degree that it started to feel like cheap emotional manipulation. Forget that; her involvement was cheap emotional manipulation. You just kept piling more and more extra angst onto a story that would've been great without it. Rejecting her as a student? Confining her to Canterlot? Preventing her from seeing her friends? Really? For an accident? Enough is enough; the story had enough of it without the extra shoehorned-in punishments. That's not real drama; it's extra drama for the sake of adding extra drama.
It's said that negative reviews are just as important, if not more so, than positive ones. I don't know how much you've improved since writing this, since none of your newer stories are in genres I'm interested in, but either way, I hope this was informative.
4753112 Thanks for the comment -- I am still trying to improve my writing, so plot development can be a bit of an issue. Sorry if I disappointed you.
3691216 fluttershy's comment to the princess HOW DARE YOU DO THAT TO TWILIGHT
. video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LijTNluceSA
4753112 I had a thought in my head for about an hour were I and all the anime characters confronted for this and she annoyed use so much we did what pinkie pie did in cupcakes and all the anime characters then left me to laugh while they got twilight out of jail and got pinkie pie back and saved twilight's friendship with rainbow dash.
Wow. I really don't ... just wow. Slightly depressing yes. With all the deaths and Twilight being booted from studentship and stuff.
Mike the Red... You have good story ideas, Ive peeked through a few of yours, but honestly your writing style is too rushed, you glaze over details and take the characters way out of their character in order to force your plot points.
So while this might have been a sad story i was too busy cringing to develop any emotional attachment. This story feels like every character had come from the mirror pool, flat non-dynamic characters that exist for the purpose of pushing your plot along.
Something i noticed you did a LOT in your other story, Project 187 or some rot.
I need a sequel! This looks interesting and needs a sequel!
you gotta be kidding me....i thought twilight the smartest one and celestia supposed to be the most powerfull being cant actually bring something back? what kind of shit powers she having anyway? and twilight being genius have at least think something
8355086
Remember when Celestia was defeated by Chrysalis?
Twilight in Lesson Zero?
8356807
righht forgot about there
Sad levels critical
This episode is definitely one of the darkest in the whole show, if one is to dig at least a bit below the surface.
Interpretations vary, from dispelling mindless magic constructs to Twilight choosing her friend by minimizing annoyance and killing the rest.
This scenario is probably the worst. All of them are perfect copies, sans only the original having a fully real body, yet they already are ponies of their own after a whole day of independence. All but one face a swift and hopefully painless death, and if the wrong one remains she'll envy those who went before her.
To everyone who dislikes the story for the bad ending: You've been warned by the description, weren't you?
To everyone who thinks Celestia is being a bitch: Twilight did commit either non-premeditated murder or mass murder, depending on how you look at it, so she got off easy. Rainbow does act like a bitch to her, though, for she's as much to blame.
Worst alternate universe ever!
Meh, this is just all around stupid.