Memorial Day (The Re-Write)

by That Sloth Over There

Rating: everyone
Tags: Alternate Universe, Sad, Slice of Life
Length: 4103

2017 Re-write of Memorial Day, a story in which Pinkie Pie has a special day to visit her first friend every year in hopes to stay close to them.

We all know the story, Pinkie Pie grew up on a rock farm, and moved to Ponyville after seeing Rainbow Dash's Sonic Rainboom. But there's a side to that story that only Pinkie knows of.
Pinkie,
and the one she holds the memorial for…
Her first friend ever.

(I copied and pasted that, shhh…)

2017 re-write to see if I'm worse or better. [size=1.5em]Please upvote if you favourite, it helps me feel less worthless.[/size]

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2017-01-15 00:00:01 UTC

Here With You Always

A pink earth pony with sky blue eyes and a mangeta mane tossed and turned among her covers aggressively, breathing heavily with fright and stress, when suddenly she jolted up on her matress. Her eyes darted around the room faster than the speed of light as she hyperventelated. She had had that dream again, that recurring false happy dream she always has on the same date, every single year. It started off innocent, but then hastily turned dark, and it was a living hell to the happy-go-lucky party pony mare. It practically ripped her heart out of her chest every time she had it, and there was no way of stopping the invisable, mental forces that seemed to determined to tear her down and rip her in to shreads, deflating her soul and happiness. You see, dear reader, this little pony was keeping a secret. A secret that brought her both joy as well as sorrow. She may tell other ponies tiny portions of the story, and portray is as a heartening event, but her words to others on the matter were far from the deep, dark truth of her experiences.

Many citizens of Equestria had asked the element of laughter how she managed to always hold a smile and bring every pony jubilant times. In all authenticity, she cannot. She sobs, she aches, she feels hollow from time to time. She was depressed. Every now and then it got tremendously horrific, to which she would struggle to get out of bed, and most of the time she would end up locking herself within her comforting facilities for the day weeping on the hard wooden floor with a teddy or her pet alligator, Gummy. Pinkie wore a facade of false happiness. Around this time, it relented, and so began the tormenting ordeals.

The darkened earth pony gently brushed a strand of hair from upon her head away from her vision with her spare hoof and tumbled outward beyonf her toasty bed. Her magenta mane was dull and limp on her shoulders, hanging fown like curtains. It was thin and silky, along with her tail. Unconsiderately, she violently tossed the sheets up and they eventually ended up falling to the floor. Pinkie refused to fix it, and stood staring at the bed with a scowl plastered on her face. She sighed angrily and trotted over to the mirror sloppily in her fed up state.

On most days she'd fake a smile in the mirror and try to pep-talk herself. Today wasn't one of those days. It was the 12th anniversary of her darkest day, she never smiled, however, she did keep hope that one day it may not be so dark, and she'd finally be able to smile for real. But over the years, that hope had melted like a candle, what was once a bright light burning fearlessly was now nothing more than a small flicker every so often, a rare occurance and something that always goes unnoticed by the candle bearer. Pinkie actually pondered on masses of occasions of her depression and element. She would always be reminded of the same things, over and over again like a broken typewriter.

Happiness is not a feeling, it is an element. To have happiness embeded in you is a gift of the gods, and laughter is directly linked to happiness. It is the best medecine and those who are happy live longer and richer lives than those who choose to dwell in sorrow.

Honesty is not an act, it is a lifestyle choice, to which has a duo of paths, positive as well as negative.

Kindness is not within the personality or brain, but the soul.

Generosity is something that comes from the heart, and not just what you do in kindness for others.

Loyalty takes true guts, trust, and love, it is a very special thing to have, and to be given, but taking advantage of loyalty is a truly monsterous thing.

Magic is what we are born with, it is in our lives, out heart, our brain, body and soul. Without it there would be no light or shadows, and you must be wary of what you do with your magic, you revolve around it's beauty constantly, and thus using it incorrectly has dire consequenses.

The pink earth pony mare stretched out her foreleg to the glass and dragged it down to the hard floor. She then proceeded to tightly clench her eyes shut, draw in a large lungfull of air, and eventually, exhale. She took a few moments to herself in peace in order to deminish her anger, though that may not have been all too good, as the rage soon turned to sorrow and emptiness.

"Why did you never come back? Why did you just leave me alone to rot with all this guilt? Do you have any idea how much pain you've caused me Pinkamena?!" Pinkie sobbed, staring in to the mirror before her. She beared a strikingly similar appearence to that of her old friend, whom she had given the nickname DD, from her middle name, Diane.

Of course she was to be answered with silentness. She feared quiet, it never meant something good, in her experiences anyway. It wasn't soon afterwards that Pinkie heard the familiar voice of an older mare calling to her.

"Pinkie dearie, are you alright?" She asked, concerned, knowing of her employee's difficulties on this particular date.

It was Mrs. Cake, the co-owner of Suagrcube Corner, running it side by side with her husband, Carrot Cake, with Pinkie as their worker living with them and their two young foals, Pound and Pumpkin cake. The younger mare then began hesitantly making her way to the ground floor, down the creaky wooden stairs, and there her eyes were met with the sight of Cupcake, staring her down with a worried expression from behind the counter as she prepared the shop for opening later that day. Pinkie shook her head and lowered it to the ground, her mane falling in sync with her head and covering her red, teary face. Cupcake immediately halted her activities and approached her, pulling her in to a warm and loving embrace.

"You'll be returning back to the rock farm today, right dearie?" She questioned, but already knowing the answer.

The sad mare nodded whilst still against the older mare, being patted softly on the back as a form of an attempted comfort. Salty wet tears trickled down from her eyes and splashed on to the floor beneath her. Cupcake wiped her young employee's eyes with her hoof and nuzzled her cheek as mothers do to their foals.

"You can go right ahead dear, take as long as you want and don't worry about work today, ok? Chin up sweetheart, if there's no light it's not the end of the tunnel." She smiled at Pinkie, only to pinkie squeaking quietly in acknowlidgement. "Just stay safe, alright?"

"Mhm..." She replied to the middle aged mare, being barely vocal and understandable. She nodded sadly, before returning to her bedroom to gather essentials for her trip. These essentials consisted of bits, among her saddle bags and a flower, as it did every year. Satisfied with what she obtained, Pinkie Pie left the shop, closing the door quietly behind her as she made her way to the Ponyville train station. The celestial rays of the sun made her coat glisten bright, though she payed no mind to such happenings.

On her journey, she was stopped on multiple occasions to be greeted by her friends in the town, as they asked her if she was alright. Those who knew the story or whom had been in the town for many years with Pinkie didn't question it, but more recent ponies did, as they stood in surprise, mouth agape at the most cheerful pony in such a horrific dull state. Pinkie Pie insisted she was fine, despite all the offers and irritating questions. This was her serious buisness, and she had no intent on letting any pony spoil such events, hence she forbid anyone from walking with her, this was personal things, and having some pony there would make it awkward, and she'd feel worse on the matter.

Once arriving at the train station platform, she approached the ticket stallion behind a booth of glass, staring in to space as if lost in deep thought. He had large dark bags under his eyes, his coat was a ragged navy blue, and his mane was tatted and greasy. He looked up at her, with an emotionless stare. Pinkie hesitated at first, but then got her courage back and smallowed the lump in her throat. Luckily, the stallion recongnized her quickly, and gave her a ticket, to which she gladly took.

"Going back to Trottingham I see, Pinkamena?"

She nodded, eyes piercing the floor as she shook with anxiety. She practically threw the bits at his face and ran away, more than eager to leave the facilities, before she froze still in her tracks as he yelled to her.

"Hold on there!" He called, coming off as aggressive.

She turned back to face him. "Y-Yes Crimp?" She asked, lip quivering in fear.

"I was talking to my mates a while back and he said to me right, he said you were some kind of party pony, like a celebrity here. That your name was ... Pink Pie or something. Pinkie Pie, yeah, that's what he said. If you're so happy all the time then what do you call this?" He questioned, utterly lost in confusion. He pointed to Pinkies mane, dark coat, and pleading eyes, then once he was finished with his questioning, lowered his hoof, though keeping his eyes on her, baffled.

"It's memorial day-"

"Eh? Memeorial day is for Celestia's troups thousands of years ago, you sure ya know the dates right, kid?" He looked at her funny, as though she was stupid.

"No, this is a personal memorial day for a friend of mine out of town, if you must know."

"Ohhh, I see!" He finally realised, smiling as his brain finally clicked in to place. "Alright then Spumf Pink Pie, have fun." He said, ignorantly, before at long last going back to his own buisness and organising the booth and displays.

The dark mare once again turned back, and began to quietly trot over to the waiting area of the station. Pinkie fell onto her rump and sat alone patiently. She watched the leaves in the tree dance all together with the wind, and thought of how beautiful they all were together, graceful, peaceful, happy...

"Just like...her. Just like how we were." She exclaimed to herself, voice no more than a squeaky whisper.

Though Pinkie had been doing this now for the twelth time each year, she always got more lonesome, more hopeless, empty, regretful, sad, depressed, anxious...The list carried on. It was at that moment a small oasis green leaf fluttered down and caught her vision. It was magnificent in the sun's celestial beams, shining with a large radience that you couldn't help but admire. She lifted her head up to watch it, and it skillfully landed directly on her snout, tickling it ever so slightly. Pinkie smiled softly, and retrieved the leaf with her hoof, staring at it in admiration. Just then, a small drop of rain landed directly in the centre of the child of mother nature. Then another, then a few more. It was simply a light drizzle, however, by observing the sky above, the mare knew that very soon there would be an army of violent rain drops.

The minutes felt like hours to Pinkie, though time seemed to do all but stop right before her eyes. It wasn't too long before she heard the train approaching the station, and she got off the bench to which she sat, prepearing the board the vehicle. As it stopped to welcome passangers aboard, Pinkie eagerly climbed on, handing in her ticket and taking a seat on the comfy pillowed chairs. There didn't appear to be any other passangers but Pinkie herself, so she simply sat alone in silence, staring out of the window, reminiscing to herself, a smile forming on her lips. She could hear the sound of the rain hitting the train's roof with a mighty force. Rain trickled down the glass, singular and multiple, fogging up the glass with condensation. To Pinkie, the rain was an expression of her soul and true feelings, in a story that nobody knew. The rain cycle was like the memorial day cycle. She used to hate the rain, but after her experiences, came to welcome it, as an excuse to stay inside as well as something to just watch for hours unending.

The whistle of the conductor blew loudly, startling the mare slightly, before she began to calm herself. She scanned the familiar surroundings of Ponyville as the train departed from the station, and Pinkie was left with her crushing thoughts, causing her to sob and squeak silently in pain.

***

It had been not much longer than an hour before the train haulted. The conducter informed Pinkie of the arrival. She thanked him, grabbed her belongings, and exited the train. It left the destination no sooner than Pinkie's hooves touched the muddy ground. The rain had stopped now, and the skies began to clear up, but everything was still wet and dull. She began slowly walking along the rough gravel path to the rock farm of which she was raised. Once there she glanced at the fields, but nobody was there, which she was glad for, and simpy continued her buisness. She made her way to the area on the farm she went to calm down either from stress, anger or sadness as a little filly. It was a hidden area, with rocks, grass and bushes. In the middle of them all was a small den made from sticks, that had remained untouched by anything but the bugs and rain for over ten years. Seeing it again caused the memories to flod back to her mind. One day when she was simply hanging around this area, she was approached by a filly who looked identical to her in many ways. She was depressed back then, like Pinkie was now. She'd always try to cheer this foal up, but alas, she remained unchanging. The filly was nice to her, and Pinkie returned the gesture, by making the small den for the two of them to play in. Before long the duo became the bestest of friends, and between them shared a bond, a bond to last a lifetime, a bond stronger than the alicorn princesses of the sun and moon. A true friendship that will carry on through the ages. And Pinkie continued this memorial every single year. She never knew what happened to her friend Pinkamena, she didn't know if she was alive or not, but some pony only truly dies when they're completely forgotten, and so Pinkie was determined to not let her best friend be forgotten. She wrote letters to her, actually. They had to address, but maybe one day she could read them to DD. She could only hope and wish since the day she left the farm, never to see her friend again.

-Flashback-

"DD! Hey DD! I got my cutie mark! I really, really did! Isn't it amazing?" Pinkie asked enthusiastically, beaming with joy.

"Uhh...Sure, Pink. There's something I need to tell yo-"

"I also made a den a bit further in, I can show you! It'll be a place for us to play every single day and we can laugh and have lots of fun and it'll be awesome!"

"...Cool."

"You wanna know how I got my cutie mark?" She beamed.

"Well actually Pinkie I really need you to liste-"

"See I was working in the field and then I saw this really big bainbow in the sky and it poofed my hair up and stuff. It was amazing and I was really happy so I threw a party for my family and we had so much fun, you should've been there 'Mena!"

"That's great Pinkie but I-"

"Oh hey I should show my family this den, they'll be really proud, and we can decorate it! Wanna race?!" She jumped in her spot, a cheesy grin plastered on her face all the while.

"Pinkie I REALLY need to tell you some-"

"ONE TWO THREE GO!" Pinkie yelled in her high pitched voice, as she ran to get her parents, leaving Pinkamena in a cloud of dust as she coughed at the aftermath of Pinkie's actions.

Pinkamena stared at the ground and sighed, tears forming in her eyes, before she shook her head, and left.

Almost immediately after, Pinkie came zooming back, bouncing and smiling, her parents walking calmly to their bright daughter.

"See mom and dad, isn't it super awesome? I made it for me and Pinkamena- the one I was telling you about, she's super sweet adn you'll love her!" She squealed with excitement.

"Why yes dear, it's wonderful." Her mother, Cloudy Quartz replied softly.

"Pinkamena these are my parents!" Pinkie smiled, before realising something was off. She scanned the area quickly in search for her friend, but it turned out useless, she was gone.

"Now, we'll have no more of that, she's obviously not here, Pinkie." The deep voice of her father spoke up.

"Well she was here a few seconds ago!" Pinkie exclaimed, in a state of confusion.

"Come now dear, it's supper time." Her mother replied, guiding her filly back to the house on the farm's main land.

"Ok, ma." Pinkie chirped, putting Pinkamena to the back of her mind.

-End flashback-

And from then on she never heard from her friend again.

"Oh why didn't I listen to you? Why did I have to be so selfish?" Pinkie facehoofed angrily. "Maybe if I listened you'd still be here with me. Maybe we could be happy together. I hope you forgive me for being so obnoxious and uncaring. I've changed a lot..." Pinkie whimpered. "Please, please come back!" She pleaded, sobbing in to her hooves, sitting on the gravel. She sat like that for about ten minuites, before deciding it would be best for her to leave.

"I'll be back next year...If you're listening. But...You won't be." She squeaked, head down, she bolted back to the train station, not looking back.

If she had looked back though, she would've seen Pinkamena watching her actions from afar.

"Thank you Pinkie. I'll always be here for you, don't worry." DD said as Pinkie ran. She didn't hear her though, and Pinkamena simply turned back and disappeared to somewhere only she knew.

And I Mean It

Note: This chapter is optional. If you want the story to be kept more like the original then don't read this chapter, but I made this too, as an attempted improvement, I hope you like it.

The train ride back was a long and painful one, as expected. All Pinkie wanted to do was go to bed and try to not think of the sadness. She'd always tried to celebrate the joyous occasions, rather than morun over the saddest times, but the stars don't shine without darkness. Once the pink mare arrived back to Ponyville, she got flashed many friendly smiles, as well as 'welcome back''s. Her mane was still flat and her coat was still glum, so they tried to at least cheer her up slightly. It didn't do much, but it was meaningful to her, and she was thankful.

It was late afternoon when Pinkie reached Sugarcube corner and saw the clock. She was about to go upstairs to her room and wash up for the night when she heard Cupcake call for her.

"Pinkie dearie, how was it?" She questioned, smiling.

"It was...alright?" She answered, not exactly knowing what to say. "Should I help clear up?" The young mare asked awkwardly, thinking she had done something wrong.

"Oh not at all sweetie, it's perfectly fine, you go rest and I'll see you tomorrow." The older mare replied sweetly.

"Ok...Thanks, goodnight Mrs. Cake." Pinkie smiled.

"Goodnight dearie."

Pinkie then climbed the stairs and trotted in to her beroom, before sluggishly flopping on to her bed, exhausted fromt he day's events. She wanted to relax and have a shower, but her attempts to stay awake were useless, as sleep caught up with her and she drifted in to dream land.

***

The next day, Pinkie woke up at six a.m, much earlier than usual. She groaned in bed. It seemed that she had been tucked in, probably by Mrs. Cake checking up on her later in the night. She did that sort of stuff, to be nice and make sure Pinkie wouldn't fall out of bed or wake up from being too cold, or whatever the reason may be.

Scampering out of bed, Pinkie Pie managed to get herself in the shower, as she was unable to last night. It soothed her mind, and she felt more at peace with the past days events afterwards. She spent the hours until opening time playing with her pet alligator Gummy, reading, planning parties, and trying to lift her spirits. Her mane wasn't fully puffed up yet, it was only beginning to curl again. It would take up to a week or more for it to go back to normal after memeorial day, as the pain would linger. However, the citizens of Ponyville would try to speed up the process in various ways. Some years they'd throw a happiness party for her, and they'd all hug and have a good time. Other times some ponies would just relax with her, and everyone tried to be as nice, understanding and calm as they could with her until she was back to being perky.

It was about half an hour until opening time, and Pinkie was cleaning the shop in preperation for the customers, when she heard a gentle knock on the door.

"Huh? Who could that be? The shop isn't open yet." She questioned aloud to herself.

Making her way to the door, she opened it and prepeared to tell them to come back when it was opening time, but instead, her eyes widened in shock and she completely froze.

Pinkie took a while to regain herself. She thought she was seeing things. Right in front of her eyes was a mare with a pink coat, magenta mane that hung long down her shoulders and back like curtains, and sky blue eyes. It was Pinkamena.

"..."

"..."

The pair stood in silence for a while, Pinkie unsure of what was happening.

"Can...Can I help you?" Pinkie questioned to the mare.

"Can I come in?" She replied nervously.

"S-Sure."

As Pinkamena entered the bakery, Pinkie shut the door behind her, staring at her suspiciously.

"Thank you. For visiting me again, I mean. I should've tried sooner, but I couldn't."

Pinkie stood shocked again. "You're here..."

Pinkamena turned to face her. "Of course I'm here, Pinkie... Remember when we were foals and we vowed to be friends  forever and never split?"

"...Yeah?"

"We said we'd always be there for one another. You've proven to be true to your word. That's really sweet of you. I'm sorry I left... I didn't want to, I promise!" DD turned to the party pony, with an expression of sadness in her eyes. "You were my best friend back then and you're my best friend now! And I mean it." She smiled, looking Pinkie straight in her eyes.

"DD..." Pinkie managed, before running over and leaping on to her. Pinkamena was slammed on to the floor as Pinkie embraced her with a mighty force, as she let her bottled up emotions from the past twelve years out.

"Why did you leave me?!" She yelled angrily, burrying her head in to Pinkamena's chest. "I'm sorry I was so ignorant!" She cried. "I'm so glad you're back..." She breathed, as DD lovingly stroked her head.

"Shh, shh..." She whispered to the mare in her arms.

The duo of pink ponies shared a warm embrace all the way until opening time, when Mrs. Cake trotted downstairs to find them ont he floor together.

"Pinkie? Who is this?"

Pinkie turned her head and smiled. "This is my best friend ever!" She chirped, and nuzzled Pinkamena's cheek. "...Are you gonna stay this time?"

"Of course I will." Pinkamena replied, smiling warmly.

"I love you bestie."

"I love you too bestie."