Laugh, Laugh
Laugh, Laugh
by Present Perfect
Ponyacci wanted me to find him.
It's a funny ol' thing, this world, where somepony you only met twice in your life asks you to do something like that. I mean, yeah, the first time was just super! Getting to see him was unbelievably amazing, and talking with him was just the best, even if he was sad and thinking about retiring. Helping him just made me so unspeakably happy! I couldn't have asked for anything better. Then the second time happened and that was even more amazing than the first! He treated me like a long-lost friend, and we had a blast the way long-lost friends do, full of fun and energy and just life. Still, you don't expect a pony you were never really friends-friends with to ask you to do something like this.
You don't expect a pony so full of life and energy and fun to do what he did.
Most ponies wouldn't believe it, but I get death. Sure, after the first time I experienced it, I was devastated, all flat-mane and no smiling for what felt like forever. Granny Pie passed so soon after I had gotten my cutie mark, after I had finally learned how to smile and have fun, the way she'd always wanted me to. It felt like all the fun had been sucked out of my life all over again, and I couldn't find a reason to keep smiling, because she would never smile again.
But then my older sister, who sees everything totally different from me the way quiet ponies do, told me to think about what did matter. It was the best advice I ever got in my entire life! I'd started out feeling like I was in a hole under a big house that blocked out the sun. So I thought of all the times Granny had made me smile, and all the fun things she taught me to do after I saw that Rainboom. That made all the difference in the whole world! Even if Granny wasn't around anymore, I could smile again. I could have fun! I built a ladder out of my happy thoughts and climbed out of the hole.
That day, I vowed death wouldn't get me down. There were some kinks to work out -- wakes should be subdued parties -- but I got it. Death is the full stop at the end of a marvelous story, and the only thing you can do when it happens is read the story again.
So I was all set for Winona. And Rarity's dad. And Cranky Doodle Donkey. And Granny Smith. And Mr. Cake, and my mom, and Twilight's mom, and Mayor Mare, and...
Gosh, sometimes it seems like I know more dead ponies than live ones. It's a lot of stories to have to remember sometimes. It just goes to show, you can blink and somepony's story will have stopped, so you gotta keep up with everypony while you still can.
But Ponyacci's story should have kept going. It had so many unwritten pages. He was older than anypony else in the circus and still doing two shows a night. His ringmaster -- he outlasted two of them! -- told me there was something hiding behind his smile, some kind of sadness nopony wanted to admit was there. I can't blame them. I think I'd have ignored it too, if I'd been near. All anypony ever wanted to see was the fun parts of Ponyacci's story.
It's like we used to say: Dear Princess Celestia, today I learned that you can't skip the bad parts of the story. You either get the whole kaboodle, or a big, wet, cold noodle. A noodle that curls around on itself and looks like a zero, that's what I'm getting at. No cheatsies, no takebacks, no calling dibs. Once you've started that story, you stick it out to the end. That's friendship.
You can't skip the bad parts, but you can end it too soon. I understand death; I don't understand this. The story of life is so precious; why would anypony want to cut it short? Even if he was hurting, there were still pages left to fill with fun.
Weren't there?
Maybe he didn't see that. Maybe all those blank pages, to him, were filled with the same hurty words over and over. Maybe he was in a big house-clogged hole with nothing to build a ladder out of. I wish I could have been there, could have seen him just one more time, alive and laughing and squirting water out of a flower. He brought so much meaning to my life, I can't even explain it. I don't think I'd be the pony I am today if it weren't for Ponyacci. Now all I can do is remember him through his story.
After the inque-thingy and the autop-thingy, they asked me if I wanted any of his possessions. I thought about it really hard. He did have a great collection of vintage pie tins and a whole generation of party cannons, after all. But in the end, all that stuff had served its purpose. It needed Ponyacci to make it work right. I told them to make a museum in his honor. I hope they do. All I kept was his final note: "Thank you for one more smile." I kept it because I know it was meant for me.
I think...
I think none of us are getting any younger, even if I do still have the same spring in my step as when I met my best friends all those years ago. I think I've got so many other friends now that I can't spend as much time with them as I'd like. I think a few might even be feeling neglected. I think you can't expect everypony to continue their story without running into a bad part every now and then. I think, as Ponyville's premier party pony, it's my duty to fill up their blank pages with as much happiness as I can. I can't make all the bad parts of the story go away, but maybe I can give those meanie-pants parts a run for their money.
So I think I'll take this note with me when I visit Fluttershy. I'll tell her the story of Ponyacci, the greatest clown Equestria ever knew.
And I think that maybe, she'll smile again.
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A nice, quick read. It's not mopey like most sad Pinkie stories would go for. It's... Pinkie. Even when she's sad, she somehow makes you feel better because there's always that light at the end. There's another laugh on down the road.
You just need to get past the rough patch first.
Even if it's already been a while, it's still so sad thinking about what happened to Robin Williams.
With him gone, and with all the other memorable talents we've lost this year, it feels like the end of an era.
You captured Pinkie's voice well.
4951123 Not just this year, but this entire decade so far.
4951137 Yeah. A lot of the people who were in their prime when we were young have passed away.
Too good, man. Too good.
How something like this only got 15th place is suprising. Ah well...
Til next time, Nanu nanu.
Damnit I don't need this so late at night. :V
Wow, just wow. that was absolutely beautiful.
Interesting the way I read it at the end it feels like she is saying that she has been possibly accidentally neglecting some friends in some fashion and it is insinuated that Fluttershy must be one. Of her best friends Shy is probably one of the ones she is most likely to "neglect" (as much as you can call it that) being that she lives out of the ay, is very quiet, needs to be pushed to go to social functions, etc. Rarity would be a possibility as well I think. I personally think that Rainbow Dash, AJ, and Twilight would be unlikely as she seems to spend a lot of time with each of them for different reasons.
Damnit, why did I read this...?
Well done, man. Well done indeed.
~Skeeter The Lurker
Ow... My feels...
Nice story, sir. A very fine piece.
Good edits from the writeoff version.
Great story. A bit feelsy, but good feelsy if that makes sense.
Good call making it Ponyacci instead of an OC. Not that I'm opposed to OCs or anything, but you might as well use a canonical character if there's one that's a good fit.
4951135
Thank you. I was very concerned about making her sound older, but still like Pinkie.
4951155
srrybob
4951977
This is actually the first time I've edited and released a writeoff entry within a month of the contest. c.c
4952628
I thought making the subject be a ponified Robin Williams would be too on-the-nose, not to mention somewhat disrespectful. That said, I have an idea for a Robin Williams-inspired pony for a different story, but that's going to be like, y'know, having Guy Fieri show up in the comics, not a tribute.
4951153
It only got 15th because this last Writeoff had a large number of fantastic stories. Seriously, 15th place among that bunch should be seen as an honor.
Besides, this one apparently lost points with many voters due to the Robin Williams reference, enough to earn the "most controversial" reward. Which is why I myself gave it a lower score than just the writing quality demanded, for example; while I really liked Robin Williams, I was already tired of seeing his death referenced everywhere, which prevented me from enjoying this story as much as it deserves.
4953216
Oh, thank you for reminding me it was Most Controversial. :O
I'd like to think that one could enjoy this story without knowing what it's a reaction to. I put in the note at the end just in case anyone might have wondered.
4953234
Actually, I do think the story strong enough to stand on its own; it deserved the place it got in that writeoff, if not a higher one. In fact, if I didn't know[1] the association with Robin Williams, I would have enjoyed it quite a bit more.
It's just that the association struck the wrong chords for me. Thus why my score for it wasn't among the top ones; from a technical point of view, and for pegging Pinkie's voice correctly, it deserved top marks, but since my score also reflects how much I enjoyed the story it ended closer to the middle of the pack.
[1] Which would require living under a rock, without Internet access. Unfortunately that would have precluded reading the story in the first place.
I do not feel anything of this 'sadness' for I am a cold unfeeling robot.
Your story stands tall on fine technical skill and good characterization chops.
That last line...
Nicely done
Reminded me of this:
Good story though.
Aw... That was so sad yet happy... ); great job! Can't wait to read more of your stuff!
Sorry for not getting the reference, but who's 'Ponyacci' supposed to be based on?
4954546
Issue #5 of the micro-series was basically an enormous Watchmen reference.
4954996
See above response.
4954996 The great pagliacci. It's a watchmen thing.
4954996 robin Williams
4956144
Goes to show that... People can put up a good mask for others, and sometimes the ones that seem the happiest can be the ones that hurt the most
A very believable Pinkie handling a situation as we would expect her to. Well done, Present.
4956429 that is the case with most comedians its sad but true all we can do now is be happy that he touched us in such a way that we feel this sad...just remember the good and thats all you will remember dose that make scene?
4958274
Thankee, sir. :D
R.I.P. Robin Williams. He'll be missed but it's true about what he said: "We ain't ever had a friend like him!"
I had a kneejerk reaction some distance into the story, feeling like Pinkie was too intellectual, thoughtful, and high-vocabulary than I would expect her writing to be.
Then, I got to the part with the list of those who had passed away, and I realized that this was an older Pinkie, and... whammo. It clicked! So, yes, I thoroughly endorse this voice for middle-aged Pinkie Pie. Good work!
4961599
I'm very glad that worked. ._.
4961872 Then why the looong face? :o
4969338
Why do I do anything, really?
4970075 Because you care. Because you care... <3
4970162
Also because I share! :O
(It's the right thing to do.)
Man, this is brilliant. Your Pinkie was completely believable even when discussing such a morbid topic. I didn't realize that it was a Robin Williams tribute until the end, and that made it even better.
Damn, I love that, How did you do that so well.
Keep up the good work!
4983484
Many thanks for the kind words. :D
I'm ok I'm ok I'm ok
I......I'm.....I'm ok............
And I've lost it. Good show.
I REALLY love this one. I could absolutely hear Pinky Pie.
The week afterward, I wrote one myself for 4chan's MLPG. It was her finding out, and didn't include the cutting short, but it helped me through.
The reason it hit me so hard, and probably a lot of other people, is that he was the first person that made me feel being weird was not only okay, it was something to celebrate.
Great story. Good job.
A story based upon the comics...
the feels....
6018302
OH ARE YOU KIDDING ME :D That's so cool. You're so cool. Thank you.
5053569 Pinkie not Pinky but nevermind, this thing´s preciouss
6021298
Lol that was 34 weeks ago.
6021313 oops I usually don´t read the part that says when this comment happened