The world shrunk away from Pinkie's vision as she heard the heart monitor beep ecstatically, hooves desperately trying to keep her alive. Her body felt warm, like toasted bread hot from the toaster, welcoming her into oblivion. She couldn't move any part of her body, save her eyes as she darted her vision around the slowly fading room. Her friends were there, holding her hooves, their faces streaked with tears, twisted in grief & agony. Applejack removed her hat in respect, doing her best to choke back the tears. Rainbow Dash's normally impenetrable bravado had failed; heaving on Twilight's shoulder as the young alicorn held her old friend's hoof tight. Fluttershy was an almost nonexistent ball of yellow and pink fur, curled up on the room's chair, failing to be consoled by a sobbing Rarity, her makeup streaming down her face. Try as they might, the doctors had done everything they could to save Pinkie's life, but her body was just too ravaged. A life of partying and being the Element of Laughter definitely had its dark side.
Darkness began to eat away at her vision, fast consuming her in a empty void. Or was it light? She couldn't tell; the world was exploding and fading at the same time to her. But she wore a smile on her muzzle, ready for her final adventure. She felt herself falling, away from the incessant beeping. She felt no pain as the mare felt herself fall away. The last thing of her world she saw was her friends smiling, tear soaked faces. They knew she would be happy, wherever oblivion took her. It's true that the only pain in death is felt by those who are left behind. The color faded from her world as she turned her gaze to the nothingness that lay before her, ready to escorted by Death himself. As she fell, puffy white clouds came into view, almost indistinguishable from the whiteness around her. They welcomed her with a soft thud as she landed on them, gently plying under her weight. Pinkie looked down at herself, making sure she was still one pony. She was: in fact, there was no tubing, no oxygen mask, no hospital gown or any traces of wires stemming from her limbs. Her cutie mark remained on her flank, glistening like the day she first got it. Her hair was board straight, gently flowing in the subsequent breeze that passed by her. There she waited for Death to escort her to the final resting place. But he never came. Pinkie impatiently tapped her hoof, it making a ploofing sound against the clouds she stood on. There was no way to tell time, not even by the Sun or Moon; just an ethereal glow that seemed to have no originating point. Bored, she began to walk, with no immediate destination in mind. As she trotted, she took notice of what was around her: or the lack thereof.
It seemed to be a barren wasteland, void of life and energy, except it also seemed to bounce with presence. She couldn't place it, but something felt right about where she was. She bounced in random directions as her carefree personality was re kindled. At least that stayed with her. At the edge of her vision, she saw what she thought was the sky meeting the ground, with a single flash of light at the point. The horizon welcomed her further into her desolate playground as she continued to bounce happily towards the light. Fast approaching, she stopped as the light consumed her vision, whiting out anything else, even the clouds beneath her hooves. The whiteness soon gave way to a room, a simple, blank white room with nothing in it. Bouncing towards the center, she reseeded to a canter, then a walk, curious as ever. The room felt empty as she sat down, the silence deafening.
As she looked to the white floor, color started to flow and explode almost instantly, catching her off by surprise. Not moving, her curiosity won her over as she peered deeper into the color map that slowly began to form. Familiar structures began to silently form around, materializing from her memory. Before she knew it she was back in Ponyville, the square to be exact. The sun was shining high in the sky, the grass blew with a gently swaying motion as she glanced around herself. It was Ponyville all right, she could make out the dentist's practice, Sugarcube Corner, Twilight's library, Rarity's boutique and even Sweet Apple Acres off in the distance.
Walking slowly through Ponyville was easy enough. But holding all the emotions back as memories of her past life waltzing by her was almost impossible. Her mane deflated with a unsettling fizzle, and her fur coat darkened, slowly loosing the once vibrant pink she was known for. She saw foals running to a fro, happily frolicking, oblivious to any evil or bad things in the world around them. They had their entire lives ahead of them, and Pinkie was glad for them. She had lived a good life: full of adventure, love and friends. All a pony like her could ever need.
She crept along the sidewalk of Ponyville, everypony oblivious to her, a single tear streaming down her muzzle. A strong wind blew across her fragile body as she gazed onward into oblivion. Wherever her vision settled, a new memory would appear, reminding her not to be sad, but glad. Still, the pink pony couldn't help but feel vacant of any other emotion but solace. She had always been told that life after death depended on a ponies beliefs, what they considered to be important in life and what they valued the most. Pinkie knew that all too well: she valued her friends, all the times they shared together, remembering every single one like they had only happened yesterday. Her half lidded eyes scanned the horizon, seeing the hazy sunset dance with memories of her past life: She saw Twilight, standing with tears of joy at her alicorn coronation, smile as wide as Equestria; she saw the terror in her friends faces as Rainbow Dash bolted through the sky, screaming towards Rarity. She remembered looking around and seeing the shock and awe in her friend's faces as Rainbow shattered their ear drums with her sonic rainboom. She saw Sweetie Bell, Applebloom & Scootaloo happily trotting through the square, talking wild tales of that to do when they got their cutie marks. She chuckled and closed her eyes as the memory faded away.
Seeing all these memories filled the earth pony to the brim with emotion, tears streaming down her cheeks as her mane blew in the crisp wind. She felt at peace; no demons chasing her, no impending evil coming to enslave Equestria, no more worrying over the simple things.
No. Pinkie truly felt happy. A brief flash shown on the empty landscape depicting her last vision of her life, seeing all her friends right there beside her, until the very end. Pinkie knew she had made her fair share of mistakes in life; no pony is perfect, and the words of Twilight rang in her head.
"Each pony chooses their own path when they are born, Pinkie. Some will die younger than others, some will see more moons than any of us. The important thing to remember is the times and memories you shared with whoever you chose to share your life with, and take those mementos with you. We love you Pinkie, and we will never forget you. Always."
Pinkie choked back tears as her gut churned with heavy sadness, Twilight's words ringing like a funeral bell in her head. Tears painted her muzzle A deep calm settled in Pinkie's gut, seeming to touch her and tell her that her friends knew she was all right. Finding comfort there, she waved the scene goodbye as another breeze swept through, blowing her mane and tail to one side. She turned, her gaze settling back on the ghostly Ponyville. It almost seemed to shimmer with beauty, subtly glowing. It was simply the most beautiful thing Pinkie had ever seen, and she smiled as she continued to walk towards the heavenly town. Her memory intact, Pinkie knew what she was going to do next. She was ready for one last adventure. Five ghostly silhouettes of ponies stood at the end of the street, cloaked in darkness, seeming to be waiting for her.
The shadows welcomed her with open arms as a tear streaked down her cheek, a thin smile occupying her muzzle & closed her eyes, sighing happily. Their embrace felt warm & safe as Pinkie nuzzled one of them resembling Rainbow Dash, who held her tightly while the others joined in the group hug, only adding to the warmness Pinkie felt. Their hug broke, the shadows beckoning Pinkie to follow her, trotting into Ponyville, their forms slowly fading out into nothing. One of them, the one resembling Rainbow Dash stopped, seeming to be waiting for her. As Pinkie came parallel with the shadow, it turned to her & nodded its head once slowly, then took off, disappearing into the glowing sky.
Pinkie was ready. Before her laid a blank canvas, ready to be painted again. Before she trotted into the square, she glanced behind her, seeing the ghostly sun set, flashes of her smiling friends filling the sky. Turning back towards her town, she trotted towards the water fountain in the middle of the square, eyes closed and sighed happily.
"Always."
