Even the sky is subdued on the somber day of the Royal funeral of the Princess of Friendship. The clouds weeping silently, withering in pain over the scene. Pinkie Pie is facing the black stone monolith, the monument of her long time and exceedingly dear friend.
Celestia is sitting quietly siting on her right side, while Luna is by her left side. A dark gray Honour guard detail had been assigned and maintained for a long time. The passing of the dear Princess had not been a shock to any Pony, least of all the villagers of Ponyville and the Royals who had followed her exploits with pride and expectations from the very first day; some of which knew little to nothing of who she was back then, all the many years ago.
Several feet behind her, the villagers of Ponyville, her close and dear friends are sitting in the formation of a crescent moon. This is how to make the most room for them in order for them to cushion the pressure on Pinkie Pie as she see her friend to the other side. This is after all the last time any Pony is to see the Princess on the side of the river.
Cadance is standing to the right of the black stone, while she is looking at all the gathered Ponies, trying to make eye contact with each and every one, one at a time. Making a desperate effort in pushing the darkness to the side. Standing quietly, not quite up to the challenge of breaking the silence just yet. Knowing full well that she will have to make the forlorn speech, soon enough, but that moment could be pushed forwards just a few more minutes.
Pinkie Pie’s hair is hanging straight along her shoulders as she is crying in pain. There is no holding back. Slowly, two twin pools are gathering before the grayish pink mare as she cries her eyes out after the loss of one of her most dear friends. The last remnants of what had been the backbone of the village.
A monumental pit is gaping open, waiting patiently for the price it demands eagerly. There is no denying what is to pass, the Princess is already dead and there is nothing to call her back to the living.
The Crystal coffin is slowly floating down towards its final resting place in a gravely silence and a stately evenness. Nothing could slow or hasten it, any more than by any means disturb or distract it at this point. Not just because Death is final, there is no return from the point, after one passed that breach.
Ponies are sitting behind, looking at the scene before them in gloom with hollow eyes as they cry with Pinkie Pie as one solid Pony. If they knew the Princess, knows Pinkie Pie, or realized the monumental breach the act represented is of no consequence, they still cry all the same.
No Pony is looking up, in order to see more, or to scrutinize and judge the next Pony, there is no need. The emotion is so thick, one breaths it in with each breath and can escape it no more than the next breath.
Once the coffin safely reaches the end of the journey and hit the ground, the clouds open up in a silent scream and pour fourth the cry and washes everything with the steady flow of little rain droplets. None is safe, and none can remain dry. None care, the mood is too dark, too stiff to be bothered with mere water from the sky.
A moment later, the ground starts to swallow the coffin, as earth slowly slides down from the topside.
Pinkie Pie is seeing images fly past in a blur. Each image is representing a moment in her life, when she was with the Pony known as Twilight Sparkle. The Pony known as the Princess of Friendship.
Each image only lasts for an instant, but there are so many crowding her mind, it is hard to impossible to actually see them all one by one. The friendship’s so deep, and so long lasting. The lost Pony had been such a great, integral part, it is hard to live without her now. Yet, she is merely the last in the long line of friends lost, one by one.
As the last image of Twilight Sparkle left her behind, there is a new set of images. Another friend lost. And another and another.
Pinkie Pie had been a rich Pony in every sense she could possibly care for, as humble as her beginning had been at the Rock Farm. Who could possibly have imagined her to be important anywhere, or to any Pony back then?
Pinkie Pie had been crying deeply and heart felt, in the infuriatingly contagious manner only she was capable of. She had been crying her heart out, and her eyes now are little more than a pair of deeply gray pools of sadness as the pain slowly seeps out and she finally is quieting down after what seems to have been forever. Yet, the day is not quite yet at an end.
This is when Cadance finally managed too part her lips enough, to open her mouth in order to perform the speech she had been dreading for so long. Right now, she seems the aged mare she had been expected to be.
“Pinkamena Diane Pie, Fellow Citizens of Ponyville, Princesses and fellow Noble Ponies; we are all gathered her in this time of deep sorrow in order to bid fare well to our long beloved Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship. To thank her for every moment she gave us, and the friendship she spread among us all.
In the memory of Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship, I now dedicate one minute of silence in memory of what we just lost. Not just the dear friend, but also the beacon of hope and the Princess of Friendship. And that isn’t even covering all the personal feelings my words just can not express here and now!” princess Cadance prompted in a solemn voice, the sorrow just not possible to keep out of her voice as she made her best to say what had to be said.
The minute past in silence. Not a word was said, not a single peep, cough or even the sound of a passing fly or the breeze. Such is the power the Ponies hold over the environment and the weather around them. Yet, it isn’t just that, at work right here and now.
At the end, the edge of the proclaimed silence, Cadance stepped forth, once more and continued.
“I have lost more than merely a sister and a friend; whom I have held dear since the moment my husband, Shining Armour of the Royal guard told me of her. Now I can but treasure her memory, in the hopes it can console me in this time of sorrow and loss. Knowing you feel much the same, even though most of you never knew her quite as deeply, of for quite as long!” Cadance finished, and completed a triangle around Pinkie Pie.
“She was my finest student. I can proudly call her my prodigy, even in the time of loss!” Princess Celestia toned in, as she assumed her place in the triangle.
“She saved me from the curse of Nightmare Moon, I am eternally grateful for her, and all she did for me!” Princess Luna concluded.
The next instant, three horns lit up as one. In remembrance, the magic placed not just the face of the long dear friend, but a statue of her on top of the black monolith representing the sorrow of losing the friend so deeply missed in her passing.
