Letting Go

A wooden knock sounded on Pinkie's bedroom door. "Come in!" called Pinkie Pie, cheerfully.

Cup Cake opened the door. Upon entering the room, she immediately waved her hoof in front of her nose, wincing. "I think we need to talk, Pinkie," said Cup, her eyebrows pinched tightly together.

Pinkie looked up from where she sat on the floor. "Whaddya wanna talk about?" she asked, cocking her head cutely to one side. With one hoof she petted her little friend seated next to her.

With a heavy sigh, Mrs. Cake shut the door and sat down beside Pinkie. "Carrot Cake and I have had a long conversation about this, and, well... we both agree that it's time for you to move on," she said, very gently.

"Move on? W-what do you mean, Mrs. Cake?" A nervous smile spread across Pinkie's face as beads of perspiration began to dot her forehead.

Mrs. Cake reached over and took Pinkie's hoof in hers, pulling it away from the rotting, lifeless husk. "Pinkie, this has to stop. It's decaying. Badly."

Pinkie laughed out loud. "What? No, silly, he's fine!" she said, reaching over to jiggle her friend back to life. "I'm doing perfectly well, Mrs. Cake, thank you very much," she said, using a deeper pitch and speaking out of the far corner of her mouth.

Lines of sympathy tugged at the edges of Mrs. Cake's eyes. "Pinkie, please. We can't let you keep pretending like this," she said. "Of course I respect your feelings, but your bedroom is directly over our bakery. It's starting to draw flies, and although the odor is currently confined to your room..."

"He is not an 'it'!" said Pinkie with a momentary scowl, but then her eyes began to water. "I mean, he could still get better..."

"We both know that's not going to happen." Cup pulled Pinkie's hoof away again. "You're a grown mare now. You need to face facts, dear."

"But I don't want to lose him..." whispered Pinkie, closing her eyes as a tear rolled down one cheek. "This isn't fair! He's still alive to me. Can't you see that?"

Mrs. Cake inhaled deeply before speaking. "Pinkie, didn't you ever have to get rid of... say, a stuffed animal, as a foal?"

Pinkie shook her head. "No. Most of my toys were rocks, actually," she said.

"Oh, dear... Well, you had to get rid of your rocks sometimes, didn't you? When you moved to Ponyville, you didn't bring much with you," said Mrs. Cake. "Were there any special rocks you treated like dolls?"

"Oh, sure! But Dad wouldn't let me bring them here," she said. "He thought I was 'too attached' to them, or something. I dunno." Pinkie's mane began to droop.

"Can you tell me what happened to them?" asked Mrs. Cake, gently squeezing Pinkie's hoof in hers.

Pinkie closed her eyes. "I don't know. He probably sold them, or... maybe he ate them."

"Ate them? You... eat rocks?" said Cup, incredulous.

"Yeah," said Pinkie, pulling her hoof away as her mane and tail flattened out completely. "This is so painful! Why are you doing this to me?"

"I know this may be hard to understand, but it's because we care about you, Pinkie," said Mrs. Cake, reaching over to stroke Pinkie's cheek. "If you can't handle something this minor, how are you going to manage when somepony you love dies, like your parents?"

"My parents aren't that old!" Pinkie Pie defiantly growled, her muzzle scrunching up in anger. "I shouldn't have to think about horrible things like this!"

Cup Cake leaned away for a moment, then firmly clenched her jaw. "Someday in the near future your pet alligator Gummy will die," she stated in a matter-of-fact voice. "Alligators usually live a long time, but not the ones who share Gummy's special dwarfism condition. How are you going to manage then?"

"I have no idea," gasped Pinkie, and she began to sob.

Mrs. Cake pulled Pinkie into a close hug. "Fluttershy has pets who pass away all the time, and she's learned to deal with this kind of loss. You can do this, Pinkie. I know you can."

"Fluttershy is so much braver than I am," whimpered Pinkie. "And she's a year older..."

"She may be brave, but I'm sure she still cries," said Mrs. Cake. "Do you want me to ask her to help you with this? I'm sure she would be happy to help."

"No! I don't want any of my friends to know how hard this is for me," said Pinkie, her cheeks flush. "I'd feel... silly."

"I don't think it would be a bad idea to confide in your friends. Silly or not, this is clearly a serious thing to you," said Mrs. Cake. "But either way, you're a fully-grown pony, Pinkie Pie. You need to mare up."

Pinkie nodded solemnly. "Do you want me to dig his grave?" she asked, wiping away a tear with her knuckle.

Cup Cake shook her head. "Sweetie, no. If we gave him a grave, you'd visit it every day. We need you to be stronger than this. Fluttershy doesn't dig graves for most of her pets, does she?"

"N-no," said Pinkie, the word catching in her throat.

"It's the circle of life. Place him in the compost heap, and his body will nourish the garden and eventually contribute to new friends," said Mrs. Cake. "Do you need me to help you?"

Pinkie paused in silence. "No. I can do it by myself," she finally whispered. With that, Pinkie Pie stood up, picked up her friend in one hoof, and walked out of her room and down to the garden.

Standing in front of the compost heap, Pinkie shed a final tear. "I guess I'm a real mare now," she said, dumping her friend into the refuse with several loud thumps. Then she set the pail down and smiled a sickly smile.

"Goodbye, Mr. Turnip. I'll never forget you," she said. Then, with all the courage she could muster, Pinkie Pie turned and walked away.

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Comments ( 33 )

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FanOfMostEverything

FanOfMostEverything #1 · Oct 12th, 2018 · 4 · ·

Pitch-perfect Pinkie, and an excellent use of Mrs. Cake as her second mother. Thank you for this.

Aceman67

Aceman67 #2 · Oct 12th, 2018 · · 1 ·

This needs the dark tag something fierce.

Luna Aeterna Solutae

Luna Aeterna Solutae #3 · Oct 12th, 2018 · 1 · 7 ·

Eh.

Zuabug

Zuabug #4 · Oct 12th, 2018 · · ·

I.. did not expect that. I'm still a bit sad though :(

Olden Bronie

Olden Bronie #5 · Oct 12th, 2018 · 2 · ·

This was a very well written Pinkie Pie story! I loved how you had Mrs. Cake confront and comfort her. Caring enough to to help but firm enough to push Pinkie forward.

I really thought it was Gummy or Rainbow sitting next to Pinkie at first. You really did a nice job with the suspense of that revealation.
Poor Pinkie! She really cares about all her friends!

mishun

mishun #6 · Oct 12th, 2018 · · ·

Mrs. Cake reached over and took Pinkie's hoof in hers, pulling it away from the rotting, lifeless husk. "Pinkie, this has to stop. It's decaying. Badly."

Nothing a bit of formalin can't fix!
Although, for the bigger ones of Mrs. Cake's examples she'll probably need liquid nitrogen and cryoprotectants.

Glitzy Glow

Glitzy Glow #7 · Oct 12th, 2018 · 2 · ·

9226598
What you mean "eh" ???
That was beautiful!!!! *Clap clap clap*

"Goodbye, Mr. Turnip. I'll never forget you," she said. Then, with all the courage she could muster, Pinkie Pie turned and walked away.

I dont wanna say goodbyyye!!!!

Platinum_Pen

Platinum_Pen #8 · Oct 12th, 2018 · · ·

Not sure if I should facedesk or applaud you, maybe applaud by fecedesking?

Glitzy Glow

Glitzy Glow #9 · Oct 12th, 2018 · · ·

9226606
Same. I was thinking Gummy

True Edge

True Edge #10 · Oct 12th, 2018 · 3 · ·

Well written, good characterization! I like it!

I kinda caught on that it wasn’t someone pretty quick. Namely, I still kinda thought it might be Gummy, but at the same time, I thought Mrs. Cake was taking it a little too well and with too much ease for Pinkie to actually be sitting next to a rotting corpse. As such, it didn’t surprise me too much when it turned out to be Mr. Turnip. Still, well done though, it left just enough doubt to keep me wondering.

VampDash

VampDash #11 · Oct 12th, 2018 · · ·

....... well alright then.

Trick Question

Trick Question #12 · Oct 12th, 2018 · · ·

9226592
You can only have three genre tags, and (unfortunately) you can't add warning tags if the story is E (I'd label it Death if I could). I wish I could put trigger warnings like Death on my E stories. I've asked for that ability but Knighty shut down the possibility, which is unfortunate because it defeats the purpose of having the trigger warnings in the first place. They're there so readers can be warned about content that might upset them even if the way the subject is handled is appropriate for all audiences.

I think the three genres I selected are a little closer to expectations than Dark would be. Nothing too dark happens apart from a frank discussion on death and Pinkie Pie learning to deal with loss. I think the darkest thing here is actually how difficult it is for Pinkie to deal with such a minor tragedy, because it shows just how much she needs to grow as a pony. But I agree the Dark tag could fit the story too.

adsy400

adsy400 #13 · Oct 12th, 2018 · · ·

Not gonna lie, reet. She looks canny fuckin creased in that pic like.

Ice Star

Ice Star #14 · Oct 12th, 2018 · 3 · ·

I was expecting it to be Gummy. I was very pleasantly surprised by the twist. Thanks for this insight into something very Pinkie-like that still handles the subject of loss. It feels really... kid friendly, too? Maybe that's odd to say, but it might be intentional. Just like the episode with Rainbow and Tank, loss is handled maturely and in a character-entrenched/focused way. However, Dash didn't deal with final, unalterable loss, like with Pinkie and Mr. Turnip. This is among the kinds of stories that have a soft, episode-like mood to them and I could imagine wanting to show to younger fans of pony. It makes sense for there to be no teen rating and death tag, too.

Luckyfanisaac

Luckyfanisaac #15 · Oct 12th, 2018 · 1 · ·

This sounds like...

witegrlninja

witegrlninja #16 · Oct 12th, 2018 · 1 · ·

...I've been bamboozled!

DesiestChangeling

DesiestChangeling #17 · Oct 12th, 2018 · 2 · ·

As soon as I read Turnip, I lost it, I had to walk away laughing.

Boltstrike58

Boltstrike58 #18 · Oct 13th, 2018 · · ·

Oh God, you troll!

Trick Question

Trick Question #19 · Oct 13th, 2018 · · ·

9227308
9227489
9228235
And the really funny thing is, to me (and many readers) the story doesn't have a lick of comedy to it. It's supposed to be sad that Pinkie has such a hard time with something so simple.

the dobermans