I'll Always Be There For You
Rainbow sniffed. She looked at a tombstone in the cemetery. Engraved in the stone at the top were three balloons, the one in the middle slightly higher than the other ones.
Below that was a single sentence.
Never stop smiling.
Rainbow choked back a sob.
"how am I supposed to do that, Pinkie?" She thought. "How do I smile when you're gone?" She asked the air.
Tears fell free from her face.
"I can't do that." She mumbled. Pinkie had died nearly a year and a half ago, but Rainbow never let it go.
She was only 24, but she died from a rare brain tumour.
When she was close to death, she stopped talking, laughing and smiling. She no longer looked like she represented the element of laughter.
Then the worst possible thing happened: she died in the middle of the night.
Nobody was there to help her, or at least try.
"I didn't even get to say goodbye..." Rainbow said. "Goodbye." She said.
Everyday, she visited Pinkie's grave. Everyday. She'd kept it up for a year and a half. She said goodbye everyday.
She limply unfolded her wings and took off.
Over time, Rainbow gradually became slower and slower. She stopped trying. Her devotion and determination slowly dripped out of her.
She looked over on the sleeping town. Nopony looked to be awake, all in bed, waiting for the daylight to come.
All but Rainbow Dash.
She could never get to sleep, and if she did, it was only for about 3 hours before daylight streamed into her cloud house.
She clenched her eyes shut. She let out a wail and sniffled. The only noise to be heard was her soft sobs and crickets.
"Look at mine! Look at mine!" Pinkie beamed as she looked at her new necklace.
"Awwwe yeah!" Rainbow said as she puffed out her chest.
"Wow, Twilight." Fluttershy complemented Twilight's magic crown.
Celestia walked over to her sister.
"What do you say, sister," she started.
"Sister?!" They all blurted.
"Can we put our differences behind us?" She asked. "We were meant to rule together." She said.
"Woah!" Pinkie stumbled to the ground from leaning in too much.
"Yes, sister!" Luna cried. "I've missed you so much!" She said as she jumped into Celestia's hooves.
Pinkie sniffled. "I can't take it anymore!" She shouted. She burst into tears, and suddenly stopped a few seconds later. "Hey! You know what this calls for?" She asked. "A PARTY!!!" She shouted.
They all laughed and walked together back to Ponyville, where they would have a fantastic party.
She smiled and more tears fell from her eyes. Not a single party had happened since Pinkie was around.
She saw her cloud house come into view in the distance.
"Actually, me and Gilda were going to get a flying session in this morning" Rainbow said. "We can go pranking later!"
"Yeah, later..." Pinkie mumbled as she watched Gilda and Rainbow leave her in the dust.
Rainbow regretted that day so much. She never forgave herself for doing that.
She landed on her front porch and opened her cloud door. She walked past a picture of Pinkie with her dazzling smile.
Rainbow smiled back. Nopony ever smiled like her.
"My name is Pinkie Pie, and I am here to say, I'm gonna make you smile and I will brighten up your day!"
"It doesn't matter now, if you are sad or blue, cause cheering up my friends is just what Pinkie's here to do!"
"Cause I love to make you smile, smile, smile, yes I do, it fills my heart with sunshine all the while, yes it does!"
"Cause all I really need'a a smile, smile, smile, from these happy friends of mine!"
"It's true some days are dark and lonely, and maybe you feel sad, but Pinkie will be there to show you that it isn't that bad,"
Rainbow frowned. Pinkie wasn't here to show her it wasn't that bad.
The gloomy feeling in her stomach didn't go away as she thought of all the great times she had with Pinkie Pie.
"I said, NO!" Pinkie whined as she sat on Rainbow's head. After she pulled her head out from under Pinkie, she growled.
"Oh, you wanna do this the hard way?" She asked. "We'll do it the HARD WAY!" She shouted.
She clamped her mouth on Pinkie's strait tail and pulled her all the way to Sweet Apple Acres.
"We're..." She gasped for air. "Here!" She said.
Pinkie didn't seem to be surprised like she was supposed to be. In fact, she thought it was a going away party.
They had a quick conversation and Pinkie's train of thought changed.
Her mane poofed back up and smiled.
"Oh, I can't believe I thought you girls didn't want to be my friends anymore!" Pinkie beamed.
Rainbow's face was now streaked with tears.
She taught her and all her friends how to giggle at the ghosties, singing songs left and right.
She looked at a picture from her birthaversary.
Sure, Cheese is a great guest party planner, but your Ponyville's permanent party planner! Nopony could ever take your place." Rainbow said.
"Rainbow Dash is right." Cheese said, coming up behind them. "I never meant to take your place in Ponyville, I just wanted to show you what a great party pony I am."
Rainbow smiled. Pinkie was an amazing party pony. Not even now, could anypony replace her. She was truly Ponyville's permanent party planner.
She frowned again.
but she's still gone... She thought.
She heard a tiny piece of a melody pass her ears. She turned her ears to where it was coming from. She couldn't pick out the tune, or where it was from, but she had heard it before.
Suddenly, it became louder.
"Cause all I really need's a smile, smile, smile! It fills my heard with sunshine all the while, yes it does!"
It got louder and louder until it sounded like a normal singing voice, only it had an echo.
A figure in front of her started to form. The figure seemed to be the source of the singing.
Rainbow's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open as she looked at the figure that stood before her. She took a step back.
She was a pony with sky blue eyes. She had a light pink coat and a poofy dark pink mane that resembled cotton candy. Her flank had a picture of three balloons. The one in the middle was slightly higher than the other. The two lower balloons were blue like her eyes, and the other one was yellow. Her mouth was curved up in a smile nopony could top.
"It's true some days are dark and lonely, and maybe you feel sad, but Pinkie will be there to show you that it isn't that bad," She stepped closer to Rainbow Dash.
"There's one thing that makes me happy, and makes my whole life worthwhile, and that's when I talk to my friends to get them to smile!" She sung.
"P-P-P" Rainbow stammered.
"C'mon Rainbow Dash, just smile, smile, smile!" She sung "fill my heart with sunshine, sunshine!"
"Pinkie Pie!" Rainbow managed to say. Pinkie stopped singing.
"It's about time you realized who I was!" She said.
"Y-y-your here!!!" Rainbow Dash cried. She could see through her friend. "You're a ghost." She said.
"Yeah, it's pretty cool, but I still miss you girls soooo much!" Pinkie beamed. She reached her hoof out.
Rainbow hesitated, but lifted her hoof up to Pinkie's. When her blue hoof met her pink one, she gasped.
"I can touch you?" Rainbow questioned.
"Of course you can, silly filly!" Rainbow did something she hadn't done in awhile.
She laughed.
"I'm not dreaming, right?" She asked her ghost friend.
"Nope!" Pinkie giggled. "But to make sure...." She darted up to Rainbow and pinched her.
"Ouch!" Rainbow cried.
"Yep, you're awake!" Pinkie informed.
Pinkie's smile softened.
"You know I wanted you to keep smiling, right?" She asked as she placed her hoof on Dash's shoulder.
"I-I know, it's just... So hard, y'know?" She said. "I'll be honest, life is dull and boring without you.... and sad."
"I know!" Pinkie replied.
"You... do?" Rainbow asked, still a little creeped out by Pinkie's echoing voice.
"I've been watching Ponyville. Everyday." Pinkie said. "Everypony is so sad!" What's up with them?!" Pinkie cried.
"They all miss you!" Rainbow answered.
"A-all of them?" Pinkie asked.
"Yes, all of them."
"Oh....." Pinkie said.
"Most ponies have moved on." Rainbow said.
"Not you." Pinkie said. Rainbow sighed.
"I know." Rainbow said.
"Dashie, you know just because I'm gone, doesn't mean you shouldn't smile." She said. "There's still other ways to smile." She said.
"I know, it's just, I miss all your parties, your smiles and our fun times together." Rainbow said.
Pinkie smiled. "I know, I've missed them too." She admitted.
"But you're.... back! We can be together again!" Rainbow beamed.
"Oh, Dashie... I wish I could." Pinkie said.
"W-why can't you?" Rainbow asked.
"I don't want to freak anypony out." Pinkie said.
"But.... you're back!" Rainbow cried. "They'd be so happy to see you!!!"
"Dashie! I'm a ghost!" Pinkie said. "I can't go outside when I'm visible!"
"You can control when you're visible and when you're not?" Rainbow asked.
"Yeah!" Pinkie answered.
"Wow, that's cool! Can you fly?" She asked.
"Well, yeah, but not like you...... used to." Pinkie said.
"So..... you haven't really missed anything?" Rainbow asked.
"Well, yeah. But I can't be everywhere at once." Pinkie said.
"That's awesome!" Rainbow beamed.
Pinkie smiled.
"I haven't seen you smile like that in two years." She said.
"Yeah, I'm sorry I've been so miserable for the last few years." Rainbow said.
"It okie dokie." Pinkie said.
"Does that even make sense?" Rainbow asked.
"Mmmm, I dunno!" Pinkie said.
Rainbow pulled Pinkie into a hug.
"Thank you." She whispered.
"I could never forget about you, dead, or alive." Pinkie whispered back.
"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." Pinkie said.
"Pinkie, your voice is music to my ears." Pinkie smiled.
"Two years is a long time." She responded.
She broke from Rainbow's arms and started floating upwards. She started to fade.
"W-where are you going?!" Rainbow asked.
"I'm leaving. For now." She said. "I will be back. But just remember..." She said. "Never stop smile, smile, smiling."
Rainbow smiled as she looked up at her.
"I will." She said. "I promise."
"For you."
The End
