.until the last pony is ferried.

by shortskirtsandexplosions

.__.

. help me! please! somepony, anypony, help me! .

. i knew that many years had passed; i simply didn't feel it until i heard that melodically distressed voice .

. i was already reaching for a pale-stricken soul, pulling him towards my boat when i froze in place, scanning the pale bone shoals with my well-trained gaze .

. at last i saw her, flouncing clumsily through the dense crowd of panic-stricken bodies .

. hers was the most panicked of all, ricocheting left and right as her tear-stained face stared at every grim detail of the riverbank with greater and greater incredulity .

. please! i have to find my friends! my mommy and daddy! my sisters! it wasn't supposed to be like this! this is all wrong! somepony, help me! i must be having a really, really bad dream! .

. immediately, i tossed aside the soul that was reaching out to me .

. the ponies along the shore broke out in a sorrowful siren song, stampeding towards the raft the very moment they sensed that i was ignoring the whole lot of them .

. it mattered little .

. i saw her; i heard her .

. i pushed my raft along the shore to get closer, and when i was finally within shouting range i let loose a booming yell .

. you. climb aboard. now .

. she spun towards me; her blue eyes like twin pools drenched in pain and confusion .

. but i have to find my family and friends! they're supposed to be here to meet me .

. get on board. i will not ask you again .

. still, she trembled, her pink mane flouncing as she glanced left and right across the frenzied figures threatening to drown her .

. finally, with a sigh, i stroked my hoof across my chest and stuck the end of it beneath my hood while i squinted at her .

. i promise you that it will be alright. now get in .

. her eyes were locked on my gesture .

. somehow, it calmed her, and with a quivering lip she approached the shore .

. a few ponies furiously bumped into her; i knocked them back twice as savagely with my pole and yanked the mare in .

. she pratfalled goofily into the center of the raft; i suppose she couldn't help it .

. wasting little time, i pushed against the shore and set us out onto the black waters .

. as the deathly chorus faded behind us, her muttering voice rose in its place .

. i can't believe i wasted all of those years .

. i minded the brackish tide, pushing us along with gentle motions of the pole .

. how do you mean? .

. if i had known that this was all there was ever going to be, i wouldn't have spent the years joking and being a clown .

. i don't see what the difference is. i imagine your friends enjoyed your company. your family too .

. her voice had a twinge of anger to it, sending misty clouds of glowing energy wafting against the lantern .

. but what was the point? my friends aren't here now! there's nothing out here. all that time i spent making ponies laugh, i could have instead been doing something good for the world. it's what my friends deserved after all .

. what makes you say that? .

. after... after fluttershy died, i could tell that things changed. i still played games and told jokes and did things to make my friends laugh, but it all felt different somehow. i always felt that my friends were sad and miserable underneath their smiles. i don't think i made them happy in the same way that i used to .

. sadness is bound to something far more permanent than blood. in one life or the next, it will always be a natural component of existence, so long as existence stands to end .

. then what is the purpose behind any of it? why laugh in the first place? why... live in the first place? i just feel like i've accomplished nothing. my friends needed somepony to lean on, and all i gave them was a silly, stupid, bouncing clown .

. you underestimate the gift that you were able to give, and one that you gave masterfully .

. she glanced back at me, her blue eyes blinking confusedly .

. huh? what gift is that? .

. the gift to create. oblivion awaits everything. it was there at the start and it will be there at the end. however, the chance to live, to dream, to imagine, to inspire are all gifts that are given to the living and the living alone. i sense that you embodied all of these things, and you used them solely to instill a spirit of good. that spirit is something that can never be snuffed out, not by the darkness behind us nor the darkness before. because the fact that you existed for even a fraction of history and chose to do it by making smiles is something that shall always remain true, and it will bring color and vibrancy to the ponies who will remember you, even unto their dying day .

. but... won't they always be sad? .

. perhaps, but they will also be happy. and happiness is something that only life can afford, a curious quirk, a silly notion invented out of pure absurdity, and yet immortal in its own right. you should be proud that you were able to give this gift when you had the chance, for you used your time wisely, which is the best that any friend or family member could ask for, even in times of deepest sorrow .

. she looked at me, and i saw in that instance a sliver of color returning to her features .

. tears rolled down her face, but they were accompanied by a rosy smile .

. something haunting flew over the waters of the dead .

. deep down in this most dire abyss, laughter sounded across the blackness for the first time in eons .

. hee hee hee... you know what the richest part is? .

. no, what? .

. snkkkt--hee hee hee... after a life of fighting changelings, dragonequi, and all manners of everfree nasty-wasties, i was done in by a rotten can of noodle soup! haa haa haa! .

. hmmmm, i do suppose that is ironic .

. deliciously ironic, don'tcha mean?! haa haa haa! i can already imagine gummy trying to resuscitate me! have you ever seen a fully-grown alligator passionately kissing a pony on the kitchen floor? hee hee hee! priceless! .

. the raft struck the dark island with a jolt .

. her laughter ended, but her smiled remained, shining like a dim beacon across the obsidian banks .

. go forth. you've made your contributions to the warmth of the world, and now it's time for you to rest. it's okay. you don't have to be afraid of mere sleep .

. that's the actual funny thing .

. she looked at me with an innocent blink .

. i'm not afraid. not really. not anymore .

. and neither will your friends or family, i assure you .

. yeah .

. she turned towards the island and calmly climbed out of the boat .

. she approached the pond with a meager bounce, humming into the dead still air .

. when i was a little filly and the sun was going down, the darkness and the shadows, they would always make me frown .

. a final mist poured from her muzzle, carrying the notes aloft in trailing embers that twinkled like stars.

. i'd hide under my pillow from what i thought i saw, but grandma said that wasn't the way to deal with fears at all .

. she tilted over, dipped into the black pool, and sank like a pink stone .

. she said... .

. she was gone; a dazzling column of songlight was all that remained, but even that too dissipated .

. i was already drifting towards the other side in my raft, serenaded by silence .

Comments

[Skeeter The Lurker]

...Why am I reading this in one go...?

Leave it to Pinkie to sing right off into rest.

~Skeeter The Lurker

[Casca]

Damn, those chills.

[AppleTank]

(•⌓•)

I...I don't know what my feels are doing.

[JP Jackson]

WHAT IS THIS?! MY FEELS DEY ARE BREAKING!

[JustAnotherTimeLord]

Damn...

[Laughing Jack]

Ugh- Captain! Feels shield at 66% integrity sir!

[Vic Fontaine]

On a basic level, I know what I'm reading. But on every layer past that, I haven't a clue what I'm really reading. Whatever it is though, it is beyond powerful and inspired.

[The Great Turnip]

So now we know that all of the souls are ponies... which begs the question why the Ferrypony has prioritized ferrying Flutters and pinks . Obvious connection so far is the Elements, but we'll see.

Speaking off tall, hooded and skeletal; his parts of the conversation here were beautifully written. Its as if he's fittingly giving each of them a eulogy.

[Braininthejar]

What we do in life, echoes through eternity

[Ponky]

"songlight"

I freaking love this.

[Solaris Hemera]

Noodle soup.

Dammit, I guess you really can get killed by anything.

[avidreader07]

. finally, with a sigh, i stroked my hoof across my chest and stuck the end of it beneath my hood while i squinted at her .

Holy Shit! I just got this! It's a Pinkie Promise!

And here I was, thinking I was so clever, figuring out who the ferrypony was when I did, the first time. Then again, it's only my second time reading this, so I don't feel too stupid.

By the way, the beginning of this chapter is amazing. I almost broke down crying. Right in front of my parents, which would have been incredibly awkward. (Stupid, emotional horsewords.) Then again, it's only one of many good reasons why this belongs on my list of Favorite Feels.