Rainbow woke up in a state of panic, her eyes wide with terror. Her forehead was covered with sweat, and she was panting as if she had just done a marathon. Once again, she had a nightmare about her tortoise pet, Tank. It had been a week since the start of his hibernation, and every night after that had became a martyrdoms of bad dreams,. Each one more random than the previous one. They started out fine but slowly got worse and worse until finished in tragic and terrifying events.
The pegasus could barely remember them after waking up. There were just vague impressions of terror. There was a storm, or an tornado? Some kind of calamity. She was flying fast, and trying to save someone. She couldn't remember the specifics, just that Tank died.
Because she wasn't fast enough.
In order to forget them faster, she opened her bedroom windows, regardless the weather, and escaped under the gaze of the moon to the sky.
She did her best to stay calm in front of her friends. She appreciated how much they cared, but she still prefered resolve her problem on her own before go to them.
Rainbow never flew over the town; instead she circled it so as to not be detected. Her sight was always in front, not behind or at her sides. Not in another direction. She doesn’t have to, as she was the only one in the sky at that time. It was nice, being able to solely focus on flying as fast as she could without worrying about anything. Not thinking, just flying through the cold winter night. The fresh air caressed her mane, but most importantly, it soothed her, it let her mind blank to retake her sleep when she return to the bed, that was the only way to sleep the rest of the night.
She was tired. Even with the fresh air of the night that was bombarding her senses like a splash of cold water, she wasn’t quite alert. That’s why she doubted for a second when she heard a giggle breaking through the quiet environment. She stopped and looked around, but there were just clouds and stars in the night sky. She had almost decided that it was an illusion of her not-so-rested mind until another giggle caught her attention.
The sound came for ground. She quickly descended to the place where she taught hearing the sound. Her look mingled between surprise and fear when she realized where she landed. The place was covered with mist, limiting her vision and scaring her.
“Who the hay comes to a cemetery this late?” Rainbow asked herself, while flying down the path between tombstones, all senses searching the mysterious pony.
Curiosity drove her to that place but even with that, going that late into a cemetery wasn’t the most comfortable feeling for Rainbow. She was getting shivers.
She crept closer and closer to the noise, her anticipation becoming heightened as she began to realize the sound was familiar. She stood stock still upon realizing she knew that pony.
What’s she doing here?
Rainbow stopped a few steps back from the pony. She was standing there, admiring one of the graves. The fog was so thick Rainbow could barely make out her silhouette. It was like she was looking at the world through a hazy curtain, unable to see anything that wasn't right in front of her.
“Do you remember your last birthday party when I organized a huge chess tournament for all Ponyville? It was amazing! Well, I didn’t win a single match ‘cause I don’t know how to play, but it was fun anyways. And doesn’t matter that you didn’t win first place! To me, you’re the bestest chess player that I met in my life!”
Rainbow was intrigued. It wasn’t just the fact that she was talking with a dead pony, but the way she was doing it. As if he still alive, in front of her, having a normal conversation on a normal night. She found it unnerving, but for some reason she stood where she was.
"You promised to teach me to play someday. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm not mad at you for forgetting, I did too. I even put a note in my fridge, but I only go there for snacks. Maybe it's Gummy's fault 'cause he has the bad habit of pulling off notes of the fridge with his lizard tongue."
Each word that came out of her mouth make the situation more uncomfortable to Rainbow.
"Twilight said she’ll teach me. Oh! Maybe for your next birthday I'll bring a board here and we can have a game. You can be white if you want."
Pinkie took a piece of lime pie from her saddlebag and put it next to the grave.
"Here, it's your favourite, maybe you're hungry!"
That was the last straw. Slowly she gave a few steps back and turned around, ready to fly away at her max speed. She has enough trouble with her own nightmares, so adding weird and uncomfortable moments in the day every time her and Pinkie were in the same place was not in her plans.
"Hi, Rainbow!"
Rainbow blinked. She had been so wrapped up watching Pinkie that the fog had dissipated, leaving Rainbow exposed without noticing.
"Hey, Pinkie." said Rainbow nervous while landing.
"Come on over here. Say hi to Mr. Old Watch!"
Rainbow walked uncomfortably and waved awkwardly.
"Do you remember him? He was the owner of a huge collection of antique objects and a great chess player."
"Yes Pinkie. I do, kinda..." Rainbow murmured, staring at the quiet graveyard that now had the pie in top of it.
"We were talking about his last birthday. Well, I say we... By the way, Ms. Wool kept asking if you had sent any postcards. She still thinks you left on that worldwide trip.” She frowned in a guilty fashion. “They told me what was wrong with her, but I can’t remember how to pronounce it. I’m sorry.”
She was talking with the grave as if the pony resting there still alive. Rainbow looked at the date of decease. It was nearly six months ago. She peered at the piece of cake next to the tombstone, and wondered how often Pinkie came down here, and if she visited anyone else.
Every second there was a new reason to fly away, as the atmosphere slowly turned creepier and creepier with each word that came out from Pinkie's mouth. But she can't go away without knowing why Pinkie was doing it.
She cleared her throat. "Pinkie?" She began haltingly.
Pinkie turned away from the Tombstone to face her friend. "Yes, Dashie?"
You know what? Discretion is for wimps."What are you doing here in the middle of the night?"
"I'm visiting an old friend.” She answered without hesitation “What are you doing here tonight? You're the fan of the sleepy-sleepy things."
"I was flying to clear my head."
"But why are you flying silly? You could take a bath and wash your head silly!"
"I don't... I mean... nevermind," said Rainbow with a long sigh.
"You aren't gonna said something to Mr. Old Watch? He can be a little shy if you don't start the conversation."
"Pinkie, don't you think this is a bit creepy? Been talking with a... with a...?"
"Dead?"
"I was going to say deceased, but yeah. Just look at you, you're here talking with the nothing in the night, isn't that scary?" insisted Rainbow.
"That's why the laugh exist silly, to keep away the fear! Do I have to sing that song again?"
Pinkie took a deep breath, she was going to sing but Rainbow put her hoof in her mouth. "Not the place nor the time, Pinkie Pie," answered the pegasi.
Rainbow's patience was slowly draining as her discomfort and fear escalated quickly. Pinkie was acting very cavalier about standing in a graveyard talking to a dead pony in the middle of the night, and it was freaking her out.
"Listen up, Pinkie, why are you doing you do this?"
"Because Mr. Old Watch is my friend, Dashie."
The carefree smile in that pink coloured face of her only made Rainbow more desperate. "He WAS your friend. Don't you see he's resting in peace who knows where?"
"But he’s still my friend, Rainbow!"
"Why?"
"Because the day we met I said we would be friends forever." She answered matter-of-factly, without losing her smile.
The atmosphere of tension between them froze instantly. Rainbow was too shocked to answer.
Pinkie knew that it can be hard to talk to Rainbow in such situations, especially after Tank’s hibernation. That's why she never lost her smile or answered in a bad way. She knew that sooner or later her friend will stop asking questions and let her talk.
"When I came to Ponyville, I loved seeing him play chess. That's how we became friends. I organized every one of his birthday parties. I remember perfectly when I said that we'll be friends forever."
"But he's not around anymore..."
"Don't be a silly willy, Rainbow, friendship between two ponies never ends. At least not as long as one lives. Also, if you remember somepony, then it's likely they’re still there. Maybe you can’t see them, but they still exists. To me, friendship is like a Pinkie Promise, the most important and durable of all." Pinkie said in a surprisingly serious tone. She stared at Old Watch’s tombstone with a wistful look, remembering all the good times they had shared.
"But you don't get sad to talk to him this way?"
"I was sad the day he passed away, but there’s no reason to be sad forever. No one likes to see other pony cry, and I think that feeling doesn't change when you stop living."
The fear, the tension, the discomfort, all banished out of her system after the explanation. She forgot where she was standing or why she was mad. Rainbow just hugged her friend.
"Sorry Pinkie, I don't want to-"
"Don't have to apologize, Rainbow. I know you're a bit sad about Tank."
Both continue hugged until Rainbow took a deep breath and said.
"You are my best friend, Pinkie,"
"You are my best friend too, Rainbow."
"And don't even forget it," Rainbow said breaking the hug.
"Well, better go, Mr. and Mrs. Cake are going to give me tons of work if they finds out that I came to visit my friend, again."
"You don't wanna stay? I can go if you want-"
"I've been here with Old Watch for a while now, I think is enough time to catch up."
Both left that place of eternal rest. Pinkie left a piece of cake on his tombstone because she knows that, mysteriously, it disappear leaving no sign. Rainbow yawned and Pinkie offered her a recently made cookie and warm milk, both came out of her saddle, Rainbow was about to ask how she did that but then remembered that her best friend was special, in many ways.
From that day on, the pegasus appreciated the friendship of all her friends in a special way, a new level. She learned that friendship can transcend the physical life, yet there's no sense in wait for that moment to appreciate the good things that one have and the other has to give. She never gonna forget it, because she will remember that spark in Pinkie's eyes when she said that words in the graveyard the other night.
FIN.
