When the Time Comes
When it is time to say goodbye, no one is prepared to let go. The more we spend our time thinking about it, the less time we have to come to terms. Time is a precious thing and can’t be wasted. Spending every minute living makes an eternity of death seem all worth it. It’s also more valuable to celebrate a life than to grieve on a passing. But what happens when the celebration isn’t there anymore?
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“Twilight! Come quick! There’s been an accident.” Rainbow Dash was out of breath, sweat dripped from her face while mixed with her tears. Twilight quickly looked up in alarm.
“What happened?”
“Pinkie…stove…explosion.” Rainbow heaved in deep breaths as she tried to regain her composure. Twilight gasped in astonishment. Without another word, she galloped full speed past Rainbow Dash in the direction of Sugarcube Corner.
As Twilight neared the bakery, the black smoke billowed over the town and enveloped the rooftops with its sickly smell of burnt wood and…flesh. Twilight hurried to the burning building and was shocked to see that the fire encased the bakery, licking at the air, eating all of the oxygen in the atmosphere. All of her friends were there, standing close to one another, staring at the burning structure. They caught sight of Twilight and beckoned to her.
“Oh Twilight! Pinke’s still inside!” Rarity said, sobbing deeply at the destruction the flames were causing. Twilight could only stare at her friends, all looking pathetic and weak. She stopped her advancement towards her friends, turned, and ran straight into the flames destined to find her friend. She ignored her friend’s screams and dove through the flames, barely missing a beam that was completely blanketed in white-hot flames.
“PINKIE! PINKIE!” Twilight called to her friend, trying to hear her voice over the roaring fire.
“Here!” Pinkie called in a voice so weak, it sounded as if there was no more air in her lungs. Twilight spun around to see Pinkie underneath a pan of metal that used to be the oven door. Twilight quickly raised it with her magic only to see the damage it had caused.
As she looked at Pinkie’s body, she could see that the burning metal had burned her skin off and had left her body completely raw. Tears came out of Pinkies eyes that pleaded to Twilight to leave. As if Twilight could understand those blue eyes, she said, “Not without you,” and she scooped Pinkie up with her magic and charged out of the front door.
Behind Twilight came a trail of smoke, leaving her coughing and wheezing from the lack of oxygen intake. As she looked about, she could see that the paramedics had already started the process of taking Pinkie to the ICU and were about to advance upon her to check if she was all right. Twilight could just see Pinkie being put in the ambulance, a smile on her face as she was pushed into the back. They sped off in the direction of the hospital and vanished out of sight.
The fire was put out just an hour afterwards and the firefighting team had begun entering the smoldering plot of land where Sugercube Corner once stood. One firefighter came out looking very disappointed and regretful at what he was about to tell the friends of the injured earth pony.
“It seems that she left the stove on and when she lit the match to light the stove…” he trailed off, knowing that the five of them understood the rest. Fluttershy quickly held onto Rainbow Dash as she wept into her shoulder. Rarity cried loudly, struggling for air in between sobs. Applejack took her Stetson off and hung her head low, letting tears roll off of her snout and form a puddle on the ground before her. Twilight wore a look of concern.
“Did I save her in time? Will she be alright?” Twilight looked towards her friends with determination.
“C’mon girls! Let’s go to the hospital!” With that, the five of them sped towards the hospital as fast as they could go.
When they entered the hospital, they were not allowed to see their friend. No matter how much they pleaded, the nurses refused to let them see their friend while in her condition. They were forced to stay in the lobby as Pinkie was being treated. They all soon fell asleep, being exhausted by the day’s events. Their sweet dreams however, were cut short, bringing them back to reality. Nurse Redheart had woken them up, her eyes filled with pity.
“You may see your friend now.” She said in an emotionless voice. She quickly turned away from the group of mares, hiding her tears from them. The girls were confused by Redheart’s behavior, but disregarded it to go see Pinkie.
As the group walked into the room, they quickly had to turn away from the frightening sight. Their once cheerful friend was now wrapped in gauze. Her forehead was wrapped because of a sever concussion she had suffered when the oven door slammed into her, knocking her head against a drawer handle. Her body was also wrapped from her flank to her neck. Plasma and blood oozed from her burns and seeped through her bandages, making the room smell rancid. Her mane fell straight to one side, half of it singed off.
“Girls?” came a very weak voice.
“We’re here for ya Pinks!” Rainbow Dash said, tearing up a little.
“Whatever you need Darling, we’ll do it.” Rarity said, trying her best not to run out the door.
“Thanks,” said Pinkie with a very weak smile. Though she was terrible, she was the same old Pinkie.
“Did you hear the bad news?”
“What Pinkie?” said the group in unison.
“The doctors say I have shards of metal from the oven lodged in my body. I’m not going to make it.”
They all gasped. Rarity once again began to sob, shivering as she did so. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash embraced each other, crying loudly onto each other’s backs. Applejack held back her tear, but didn’t show any restraint in hiding her quivering lip and flushed face. Twilight just stood in silence, unable to bring up any emotion she felt at that moment because she had so many.
Through the despair, the pink pony smiled.
“Are you guys seriously going to do this? That hurts.”
“Huh?” said Rainbow Dash in confusion.
“ I just find that kind of offensive.”
“You find what offensive Dear?”
“All of you acting sad! Duh!” As she said this, she coughed, which released a small amount of blood.
“But Pinkie, you’re going to be dead!” Twilight yelled.
“But I’m still alive and since my purpose in life is to party, I wouldn’t want to spend my last moments in sadness.”
All the girls stopped to ponder Pinkies inquiry. She was right. Her life needed to be celebrated. Without her, their lives would be dull and boring.
“You’re right Pinks!”
“We’ll be happy for you Darling.”
“Ah just can’t do it!”
Everybody turned to see Applejack down in a fighting stance and bearing her teeth.
“Ah can’t be happy without you!” Tears started to come out of AJ’s eyes. Before anypony else could speak against her, she ran out of the room, bawling as she did so. Rainbow Dash stopped her just outside the entrance to the hospital.
“What the heck AJ? You’re gonna do this to Pinkie!?” Dash glared at Applejack, staring her down, seeming to see through her very being. AJ just stared back, her eyes red and swollen.
“Ya just won’t understand!” AJ yelled, making passerby stare.
Rainbow Dash stopped her anger. Her face dropped into one of confusion.
“What won’t I understand?”
AJ looked up at Dash, her face filled with defeat.
“I love her.”
Dash’s eyes widened as AJ shuffled in her spot. Suddenly, without warning, Dash hugged Applejack. Applejack was taken by surprise and just stood still.
“I’m so sorry.” Rainbow Dash whispered.
Tears started to form in AJ’s eyes again as she wrapped her forehooves around her embracing friend. After a while, they both returned. Applejack wore a face of regret and it pleaded for forgiveness. As they stood in awkward silence, Dash nudged AJ.
“Isn’t there somethin’ you want to say to Pinkie?” Dash said.
“Ah’m mighty sorry Pinkie. I just couldn’t handle it all in that moment.”
AJ looked to Dash for approval. Dash shook her head and continued.
“And?”
“And I have a secret that Ah’ve been keepin’ from everypony.”
“What is it Applejack?” asked Twilight, obviously being nosey.
“Pinkie... Ah’ve always liked you since the day we met. It was the day Ah had to deliver a bunch of apples to a new bakery. Little did Ah know that the mare behind the counter would be so great. Ya gave me a cupcake for my troubles and it was the best I had ever tasted. Ever since that day, Ah’ve been trying everythin to be wit ya. I just…love you.”
Pinkie sat there in silence but a smile crept it’s way back onto her face.
“Oh AJ, I always knew.”
“Ya did?” AJ’s eyes widend at started to blush.
“Yeah! It’s not that hard. The way your mouth twists up when you lie and the way you would call me to your orchard to ‘choose some apples.’ It was pretty obvious!”
Pinkie let out a weak chuckle that resulted in her wheezing and coughing up more blood.
“Truth is, I’ve loved you too. You didn’t think I threw all those party’s in your barn because it was bigger did you? If I needed a bigger location, I would’ve held it outside silly!”
AJ couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“Do ya really mean that?”
“Of course I do! I thought the ‘Element of Honesty’ would be able to tell if I was lying or not!”
Quickly, AJ rushed over to Pinkies side. She hugged the one she loved and began to cry. Pinkie sat and stroked AJ’s mane as she kept her head away from Pinkie’s burns.
“Ah’m sorry Ah didn’t tell ya earlier.” AJ sobbed into Pinkies chest.
“It’s not your fault Applejack. No pony knew this was going to happen. Plus, it was my fault. There was nothing you could do. I was the setter of my own fate.”
“Yeah but now we can never be together!”
“Of course we can silly! I’ll always be with you, in you heart and in your mind. Keep me there and I will do the same.”
AJ continued crying as the others looked on. They were all crying too for the unfortunate scenario their friends were now in.
Pinkie started to cough, almost puking her blood out. It got all over her sheets and Applejack's mane. Suddenly, the heart rate monitor began to beep loudly and raised in pace. The doctors soon came in and tried to stabilize her, but with no success.
If you were to see the group of mares in the room, you would have been confused. They all wore big smiles on their faces as they watched their friend on her last moments. Pinkie also smiled as her vision blurred and her breathing became fast and shallow.
“Never forget to smile.” Pinkie said as her last breath left her mouth. The doctors turned, apologized to the five mares, and left hanging their heads low for failing at helping the injured victim. The girls looked at their poor friends.
“Well, what do we do now?” asked Dash, trying hard not to cry.
“We do what she would have wanted. We party.” Said Twilight.
“Yeah!” They all yelled in unison.
“If ya’ll don’t mind, Ah would like to have it in mah barn.”
“That sounds very appropriate Dear. It is what she would have wanted.”
And so, the five set out to hold a party in Pinkies honor. The party was held in Applejack’s barn and was packed with every pony in Ponyville. In the middle of the party, Applejack had an announcement for all the ponies that attended.
“Ah just wanted everypony to know that now is no time to grieve. Instead, this is a time to celebrate. Pinkie will be dearly missed but certainly isn’t gone! Live your life like she would, and you will never be alone! Thank you!” Everypony stomped on the ground in applause.
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So when the time comes, will you become a shell, or will you stand up tall and rejoice that the ones you love will be with you forever? It’s your choice to be miserable or happy. Will you rise to the challenge, or back down and cry? Your call.
The End
