Between Life and Friendship
The sudden blackness enveloped Pinkie Pie as the pain in her tummy disappeared. There was nothing and everything at the same time. Pinkie could feel something being wrong, she could feel her friends being infinitely far away from her, but at the same time they were close. The sugary taste still lingered in her mouth, but the remains of the cake left her throat like the world around her.
There was nothing, literally. Even Pinkie, who stood in the middle of it, wasn’t there, not fully. She was on a very thin edge, balancing between two impossible realms. The edge no one ever wants to be on. The edge everyone is scared of. The edge that is inevitable.
“Hello, Pinkie,” a monotonous voice thundered across the void, ringing in Pinkie’s ears, forcing her to close them with hooves. She could feel the blood flowing from them, but when she touched it, there was nothing. In fact, she could barely feel her own hooves.
She coughed, as she felt something not allowing her to breath. “Where am I? What is going on?!” She said, as the horrible realisation already hit her mind. She knew what that place was, she just couldn’t believe it.
The skeleton pony in front of her answered, “Light and darkness. Day and night. Life and death. There is always something between them. And you were lucky/unlucky to get caught between. At least for now. Your body is barely alive, but your mind is on the verge of collapse.” They confirmed her worst concerns.
“Huh… Never imagine that I’ll go out like this. Eating my favourite desert in the company of my friends…”
The skeleton pony, raised their eyebrow. “You are not ‘out’ yet. All of you, who get here, are fated to crawl on one of two sides. You are lucky if you have your friends around.”
Pinkie lowered her head. Her mind was nothing but a storm of emotions. She saw her hooves trembling, but she didn’t feel them tremble.
She sighed and put a smile on her face. “So… How is it on the other side?” She asked her new acquaintance. They looked back at her, eyes squinted, pointed into a corner of an eye socket. “I don’t know… I can’t remember anything.”
“What do you mean? You had a life, right? Someone to look after? Somewhere to return from your job? A way to spend time! Have fun with friends!”
“Fun? Sorry, but I don’t know much about your world. I don’t know much at all, only this place.”
Pinkie gasped, filled with enthusiasm. It didn’t matter to her that her life was like a hair balancing on the needle. She knew she had to help that poor creature.
“Ok… Can you turn around for your new friend? Please?”
The creature shrugged and turned. They didn’t have much to do anyway.
The weird sounds of balloons rubbing against balloons sounded around the void as Pinkie folded them in weird shapes.
Skeleton’s ears perked. Their head slowly began turning around, but they hesitated. They finally realised that they made a friend. Someone who asked them something. They stopped and fixed their eyes on the black emptiness. Their heart filled with slight warmth.
That place made everything impossible, but perhaps a smidge of Pinkie Pie can make even a skeleton happy.
“Aaaaaannnnnd. Done! You may turn around now!” Pinkie happily exclaimed. Her voice filled everything with fun. All the worry, sadness; all the care in the world couldn’t take that moment away from her. Like that one time, on her first party, she was at the peak of her happiness. The true fun. The first fun.
Slowly, the skeleton turned. Their eyes were full of anticipation as their muzzle showed something similar to a smile. They were almost tapping their hoof. They were almost happy.
Pinkie smiled back. Her contagious grin jumping to her new friend and turning their semblance of a smirk into the best smile Pinkie ever saw.
She was about to give them that balloon she so painstakingly made. The one of the most complicated balloons ever. But something was wrong. Pinkie could feel it. She could feel herself again. She could feel the pain in her stomach; feeling of something in her throat and the wetness of tears. The artificial brightness hitting her eyes.
She began fading away. The smile disappeared from the face of the skeleton, and a worrying frown took its place. “You’re leaving so soon.” Everything began leaving them as Pinkie’s fluffy mane turned into a hanging willow. The piece that ignited the spirit of the skeleton was leaving with her.
Skeleton sighed as Pinkie became almost transparent. They turned around, feeling nothing but emptiness in their heart. Only one thing about them was possible — a tear rolling down their bones.
“NO!” The sudden scream filled with determination thundered.
Skeleton quickly turned to the source of it, expecting a new arrival. But all they saw was the transparent body of Pinkie becoming more visible.
Their eyes were full of concern and confusion. “What… What are you doing?!”
“It’s my friend’s first party, and I can’t leave now, “ she said, as she finally gave the balloon to them. The most pink balloon there ever was. The most impossible thing in the impossible void.
“Is it… You and me?” Skeleton said confused. Tears rolling down.
Pinkied exhaled. “Please don’t forget what fun is. Don’t forget what friendship is.”
Her body became opaque. She felt excruciating pain coming from her heart. She plunged her hooves into her mane, and with them a cake came out. “ I don’t know what skeleton ponies love to eat, but I have my favourite cake with everything frosting~” she barely managed to say through the pain, before a heart-breaking scream came out of her mouth.
The cake fell as her body disappeared, but the skeleton pony managed to catch it. The final tear came out of their eye socket as they began mourning their first friend.
Author's Note
I tried my best. Sorry if it isn't experemental or if I made too many mistakes.
