One Last Smile

by SFC Ponycron

Chapter Two

One Last Smile
Chapter Two
by
SFC Ponycron

---

Wordlessly, they strode respectfully through the cemetery, stopping when the coffin was lined up on the other side of the rectangular spot in front of the gravestone. As they unhitched themselves from the carriage carrying their best friend, Fluttershy looked into the six-hoof deep hole in the ground. Unable to control herself, she pressed her face against the side of Rarity’s neck and sobbed uncontrollably.

“Why, Rarity?” she cried, her voice muffled by Rarity’s snow-white coat. “Why?”

“Sometimes there is no reason, my dear Fluttershy.”

The five mares looked up to see Princess Celestia and Princess Luna as they were flapping their wings slowly to land.

“Princess...” Twilight called out. She lowered her head.

“‘Tis a very sad thing to see a beloved friend pass,” Luna intoned, her eyes betraying the slight detachment in her voice. “Death waits for nopony and comes as it pleases.”

“My sister speaks the truth, unfortunately,” Celestia said solemnly, turning to regard the pink coffin. “Though you have seen what an impact she left on yourselves, and on Ponyville.” She smiled sadly and looked towards the entrance to the cemetery. Twilight followed Celestia’s gaze and saw her brother and sister-in-law at the entrance, trading awkward glances and looking towards where she stood.

“I shall go to them, Twilight,” Luna said quickly, and took off into the air before the lavender unicorn could argue. The silence was heavy while Luna talked with Shining Armor and Cadance, and it was a short while before Luna returned with the royal couple close behind.

“Oh, Shining!” Twilight cried as she ran to her brother and pressed her face to his chest. He wrapped a hoof around her neck in reply and glanced at his wife, who was embracing the others individually and offering whispered condolences, tears shamelessly streaming down her cheeks.

“Is that...?”

The rhetorical question trailed away as Princess Cadance pulled herself from Rainbow Dash’s forelegs and slowly approached the pink coffin on shaky limbs. She brushed her hooftip against the edge of the brightly colored casket.

“Oh, Pinkie...” She bowed her head and sniffled. “I...I’m...” She shuddered. “Good...Goodbye, Pinkie Pie,” she managed before turning back to her husband, her sobbing and grief returning full force.

“Go on, Twi,” Shining Armor said, his voice hoarse. Twilight nodded and turned to the coffin. Immediately, it was bathed in a magenta glow as it was lifted into the air with her magic.

“If I may, Twilight?” Celestia inquired as a golden aura mingled with the magenta, each taking one equal half.

“I as well,” Luna spoke, the indigo of her magical aura joining in.

“And myself,” Rarity continued, her light blue melding in as well. Effortlessly the four magically-inclined mares reverently settled Pinkie Pie’s coffin into the earth. As their magic faded from their horns, Applejack stepped forward and pushed piles of earth over it with her forehooves, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash following suit.

Once the casket was properly covered, all eyes turned to the tombstone.

Pinkamena Diane Pie
-=-=-=-
The Element of Laughter

Twilight looked to the cart and, with her magic, floated a quill and a scroll of paper towards her.

“I wanted to wait until now to finish it,” she said. “Does anyone else want to add anything?”

“Can you write down ‘a great prankster’?” Rainbow Dash asked. Twilight frowned, but nodded. The stone began to chip away on its own beneath the last line.

“What about ‘A Friend to All’?” Applejack asked. “Aside from Gilda and that one time with Cranky, Ah don’t think Ah’ve met anypony that didn’t take a shinin’ to Pinkie.”

“...The Buffalo Incident, perhaps?”

Applejack frowned. “They liked her, they just didn’t like her choice of music, Rare.”

“That’s true,” Twilight agreed, writing it on the scroll, the line being etched on the tombstone.

“Umm...”

“What is it, Fluttershy?” Twilight asked.

“Can you put in ‘Ponyville’s Premier Party Pony’?” the yellow pegasus asked.

“Yeah, you better put that one in,” Rainbow Dash agreed with a laugh. “Nopony knew how to party like Pinkie did.”

The lavender unicorn smiled wanly in agreement and wrote it on her scroll. She glanced around. “Anything else?”

The Princess of the Sun stepped towards Twilight. “There is one last thing that I would like to add, Twilight.” She inclined her head towards the scroll and quill. “If I may?”

Twilight immediately magicked the scroll and quill in Celestia’s direction, and the aura of magic seamlessly changed from magenta to gold. The snow-white alicorn thought for a moment before touching the scroll with her horn and bringing the quill to paper, writing with calm determination.

Twilight glanced at the tombstone and realized that her writing had been wiped clean, the slab of rock smooth and untouched, save for Pinkie Pie’s full name. As Celestia started writing, however, Twilight read the words and smiled sadly, glancing at the Princess of the Sun and thanking her for using her eloquence as a gift.

After a few moments, Celestia finished her writing. As five pairs of eyes read the writing silently, the full force of grief for Pinkie’s five closest friends hit them like a tidal wave. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash leaned on each other, Twilight stood between Shining Armor and Cadance, and Rarity and Applejack embraced each other, sobbing loudly and uncontrollably. Luna read the text on the tombstone and turned to her sister, giving her a sad but warm smile. Celestia nodded once in thanks, a single tear falling from her eye.

Pinkamena Diane Pie
-=-=-=-
Ponyville’s Premier Party Pony
A Good-Natured Prankster
The Element of Laughter
and
A True, True Friend
*
She was loved by all
and will be greatly missed

=[ Fin ]=

Author's Note:

I intend to write a sequel that takes place a short time after this with a special letter given from Pinkie to each of the Mane 6 as a final personal request and a gift to each of them. Feel free to add your thoughts in the comments. As always, concrit and comments are appreciated, and with concrit, don't hesitate to be honest.

Comments

[twilight11]

Err...just hovers in the same place the whole story is the only flaw. But hey, it's a short story!
1

[SCP Pinkamena]

[Jlargent]

HNNNG!

[Wondercreator]

WHY WHY?!?!

[Moon-Chan]

Good thing you put a "Sad" tag... not many stories make me cry. This one did. Well done... No more to say...

[Sun Dancer]

Short, but beautifully written...

You did a good job. I remember another story somewhat similar to this one, called And Then Fury Took Over, where Rainbow Dash died to save Twilight... Made me very emotional also.

Have a fave and a like.

[Reapers_Inc]

So sad! My only question is how Pinkie died.

[omgwtfbbqsauce]

imagehaul.com/haul/8e320a

Whether you Cried on the Outside, or on the Inside. We all Cried a little.

[Princess of Shadows]

Please please please write a sequel and great story it made me cry

[Mr Good Guy]

Dang, dude, that was beautiful.... But what about Pinkie's family?

[flame5768]

2331238 your pic just gave me a bad dream

[Diamond Sparkle]

Poor Pinky.

[MillionsBane]

It's hard to make me cry. Broken bones and crushed happiness can't do it. I won't lie, neither did this story.

But it came damn close.

[Mayhem Darkshadow]

Right...in the sad gland . I didn't cry but Celestia I was close

[elue1234]

I was about closer then a paper to bawling.

[Anonymous_AiE]

You did a good job with grammatical structure, but at one point you did this:

The lavender unicorn grinned and wrote it on her scroll. She glanced around. “Anything else?”

This killed the mood because normally, you do not grin when you're engraving a tombstone. Also, regarding the sadness in this story, it was a good attempt but nowhere near the greatest heartbreaking story I've read.

[SFC Ponycron]

2333160

I suppose you're right. I've always associated the term 'grin' with a small smile. At that point in the story, she does agree with Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash that nopony knew how to throw a party like Pinkie. That small smile was one of those bittersweet 'Heh, yeah, that's true' moments of agreement. I don't know how else to put it but I changed it.

I'm sorry that that one thing didn't agree with you, and consequently killed the whole story for you. Note, though, that they're trying to find ways to remember Pinkie by, while trying to put it into words. A quick little flash of a happy memory, even during a burial or other somber service, may bring about a smile with a little pang of pain.

2331890

The 'how she died' isn't so much important in this story as the 'how it affects everypony else'. I wanted to avoid any clichés or get into too much around the cause of her passing because that's not the focus of the story.

[jedi_master_brony]

Right in the feels, dude. Didn't really help that 'Smile Smile Smile' happened to come up on my play list while reading this