Pinkie Pie has passed on, and Twilight and her remaining friends honor her last request: Smile, smile, smile.
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Pinkie Pie has passed on unexpectedly. Twilight and the remaining Bearers of the Elements fulfill one of her last requests and bring a smile to the town one last time. ~~~ This idea has been stewing around in the back of my brain since 'A Friend in Deed', and my muse finally allowed me to write it. This story's canon is set shortly after the beginning of Season Three. Concrit is always welcome. Don't hesitate to be brutal.
The sun shone brightly and the powder blue sky was clear. Twilight took a deep breath of the fresh spring air. The feeling of vitality that would have normally followed didn’t come, and she let out a defeated sigh.
It was one of her last requests, Twilight mused sourly, shutting her eyes hard against the brightness of the day.
It didn’t seem like the type of weather and general atmosphere one would want for their funeral procession.
She tried to shut her eyes harder, both to fight back and to encourage tears. She couldn’t tell which feeling she wanted more.
“I don’t think I can do this,” she murmured.
“Ah don’t either,” Applejack concurred from beside her. “Dun seem right t’ me.” She sighed as well. “A-course, Ah was never one t’ dishonor somepony’s last request.”
“No,” Twilight breathed with a shake of her head, “neither am I.” She looked to her other friends. “Are you ready?”
Rarity and Rainbow Dash traded uncomfortable looks. Fluttershy, on the other hoof, looked ahead of her silently, grim determination in her eyes and her mouth set in a tight line. She didn’t make eye contact with Twilight but nodded.
“Who wants to start?” Twilight asked.
“I will,” came the reply from the yellow pegasus, much to surprise of the others. The four exchanged glances before looking collectively to Fluttershy.
“When you’re ready, ‘Shy,” Rainbow Dash said. “We’re right with you.”
Fluttershy took a moment before taking her first step, leading slowly but surely into a slightly quick canter. The five of them were able to keep the pace despite the weight of the cart bearing the pink casket behind them.
“Her name was Pinkie Pie...” the butter-yellow pegasus began, her voice equal parts melodic, steady and melancholy.
“And she was here to say...” Twilight continued, closing her eyes.
“She was gonna make us smile and help us brighten up our day,” Applejack continued.
“It didn’t matter then,” Rainbow Dash picked up, a touch of defiance in her voice, trying to fight off her sadness.
“If you were sad or blue,” Rarity sang steadily.
“‘Cause cheering up her friends was just what she was here to do,” they sang in unison. Their voice rose with feeling.
“‘Cause she loved to make us smile, smile, smile.”
“Yes she did.”
“It filled her heart with sunshine all the while.”
“Yes it did.”
“‘Cause all she needed was a smile, smile, smile, from those happy friends of hers.”
Twilight opened her eyes to see some ponies making way for them as they continued their procession down Mane Street, smiling and crying at the same time, the occasional unicorn wiping their eyes with a magically-held kerchief.
“She liked to see us grin.”
“She liked to see us beam.”
“The corners of our mouths turned up was always Pinkie’s dream.”
From the corner of her eye, Applejack saw two colts give each other an unsteady hoof-bump.
“But if you were kind of worried, and your face had made a frown...”
“She worked real hard and did her best to turn that sad frown upside down...”
Rarity caught sight of Apple Bloom and Big Mac, tears streaming from the former’s eyes unashamedly. She turned to her towering brother and sobbed on his foreleg.
“‘Cause she loved to make us grin, grin grin.”
“Yes she did.”
Rainbow noticed that some of the ponies that they passed began to follow in perfect step.
“Busted out from ear to ear, we let it begin.”
“We just gave her a joyful grin, grin, grin, and it filled her with good cheer.”
They slowed to a stop and Fluttershy bowed her head.
“It’s true some days were dark and lonely. And maybe we felt sad, but Pinkie would be there to show us that it wasn’t that bad.”
“There was one thing that made ‘er happy, and made ‘er whole life worthwhile.”
“And that’s when she talked to her friends and got them to smile.”
They resumed their brisk pace, gradually increasing in speed.
“She really was so happy.”
“Our smiles filled her with glee.”
“She gave a smile, she got a smile, ‘twas special to Pinkie.”
The five of them were in a brisk trot. Applejack looked back, and noticed that a throng was following them.
“‘Cause she loved to see us beam, beam, beam.”
“Yes she did.”
“There was nothing left to say to make us see.”
“That she did.”
Twilight chanced a glance behind her, and it seemed the entirety of Ponyville was following them.
“It made her happy when we beamed, beamed, beamed. Yes, it always made her day!”
The five of them slowed down to a canter. As if on cue, the crowd that followed broke into song with them.
“Come on, everypony, smile, smile, smile. Fill her heart up with sunshine, sunshine.”
“All we really need is one last smile, for our beloved Pinkie Pie!”
The voices grew both in volume and in feeling.
“Come on, everypony, smile, smile, smile. Fill her heart up with sunshine, sunshine.”
“All we really need is one last smile, for our beloved Pinkie Pie!”
“Yes, a perfect gift for Pin-kie...”
“...was a smile as wide as a mile.”
“It made her happy as can be!”
“Smile, smile...”
“Smile! Smile! Smile!”
“Come on and smile!”
“Come on and smile.”
The journey, and the song, ended at the gates of Ponyville’s cemetery. Twilight looked at her closest friends, each of them with tears in their eyes and wavering smiles threatening to break at the slightest provocation.
“Even now, even after she’s gone, she still managed t’ gitta smile outta us,” Applejack quipped, chuckling and wiping her tears away with a hoof. “...Consarn it,” she muttered under her breath.
Twilight took a deep breath and saw the designated site, the tombstone covered in balloons and streamers, a small mountain of candy by one side of the hole dug into the earth.
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