A mother's love, a mother's pain
Lil' Cheese was such an adorable little colt. Everypony loved him. While embarassed at first, AppleJack still remembered fondly about the time when she believed the lilttle colt was actually a little filly. Everyone laughed at first, but after they saw how embarassed their friend had become, the rest of the mane 6 assured AJ that she wasn't the only one that believed that.
The 6 friends, aside from Pinkie of course, were more or less the aunts of the lil' guy. Everypony tried their best to teach him principles, values and lessons that each of them learned when they were younger:how to be kind, generous, honest, loyal and joyous. They still met during the monthly friendship meeting, and of course, as Lil' Cheese grew more and more, Pinkie started to bring him along during these meetings. The colt loved to play in the castle, especially since he was mostly free to do and roam as he pleased. But one day, as the mane 6 were talking, reminiscing and laughing...something happened. Lil' Cheese climbed some stairs and as he turned around, he noticed the crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling, right near the railing. He was so amazed by the kaleidoscopic colors of the big decorative light, that he wanted to see it from up close. And touch it. And he was pretty sure that he was able to do that. All he needed to do was stretch a bit over the railing and touch it. No harm in that, and his curiosity will be sated.
As the colt leaned closer and stretched his foreleg, he underestimated how low the railing was and how far the chandelier was from the railing. All that was heard from the other room was a loud thud. Everypony stopped talking, laughing...even breathing. They ran, together as one, in the other room. Even if they didn't want to believe it at first, the subconscious part of their brains did the dirty work for them:that was Lil' Cheese. Maybe not. Maybe it was...something blown away by the wind?But as they entered the room, what they feared most came true:sprawled on the floor, drenched in blood and with his eyes glazed over...was Lil' Cheese. No one really knew what to do at first, as if they didn't want to believe what they saw, but suddenly Pinkie ran towards her son. She cradled him in her forehooves while rocking him gently and calling out his name. Then, she screamed. Nopony ever heard Pinkie scream that way.
Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Applejack were in the old Castle of Friendship in Ponyville. They decided to meet, but after "the incident" as they called it, they couldn't stand to have meetings in the Canterlot Castle.
"So, what are we gonna do?", said Rainbow Dash to break the ice.
"Yeah Twilight, we really need to do somethin' bout Pinkie. The poor mare has been a wreck after the...you know. All she does is bawlin' her eyes out. I honestly can't stand it", said AppleJack with sadness in her tone.
"I know what you mean, but the thing is...I honestly don't know what to do. She tried therapy, medications...at least Luna helped us a bit by providing her dreamless sleep for a bit. Other than that...", Twilight looked at the floor apologetically.
"How about that memory wiping spell you told us about?", asked Rarity hopefully.
"It...it didn't work. I mean, it worked for a bit, then the spell stopped having any effect on her. It was like her brain knew what was up."
"How about, I dunno, resurrection? Can you or any of the princesses do that?", asked Rainbow Dash nonchalantly.
"Rainbow Dash!Not only is this subject taboo, it also involves dark magic!", replied Rarity indignantly towards her pegasus friend.
"Rarity is right Rainbow. I honestly don't know how to help Pinkie magically, I think the only thing we can do is to continue to support her.", replied Twilight with an air of finality.
"Um...do you think Discord may be able to help somehow?", whispered Fluttershy suddenly.
Everypony looked at her. At first surprised, then it was obvious that Twilight and Rarity considered it. But not AppleJack and Rainbow Dash.
"Ain't no way! We can't trust that goatsnake", they both replied in unison.
"But maybe Fluttershy is right, darlings. We can at least ask him. If he proposes something suspicious, we can always refuse, no?".
"Besides, Discord is powerful. He may have other methods that we ponies can't even imagine. Like Rarity said, we can just ask him."
"Fine...", huffed Rainbow and AJ.
"Why, of course I can do that!", replied Discord mischievously.
"Discord, this is a serious matter. Please don't joke about it", said Fluttershy with a serious tone. The pink mare loved her mismatched friend with all her heart, but just like her fellow ponies, she was getting tired of his antics.
"How...exactly can you do that?", asked Twilight cautiously.
Discord put a claw to his chin and actually pondered if he should tell them or not. In a way, he wanted it to be a surprise, but at the same time, just like Fluttershy said, this was a serious matter. He knew about Pinkie, her son and "the incident". While not Fluttershy, he cared for his pink friend deeply and was extremely sad when he heard that her son passed away. So with a sigh, he decided to tell them what he wanted to do.
"Well, I can't revive him per se. That would be impossible even for moi. I am amazing but I am NOT that amazing", said Discord with a huff, then continued:"However, I can bring him back...in her mind only. "Everypony's eyes widened. AppleJack was the first to talk.
"Wait, that's...that's lying!We can't do that to her!"
"And why not, dear AppleJack?Won't that make her happy at least?Are you saying that you'd rather accept Pinkie Pie as a crying mess rather than a happy pony?", replied Discord snidely.
"But she''ll only be happy because of a lie!Are YOU saying that this is a solution?", Applejack almost screamed at the draconequus.
"I honestly don't know what to say. On one hoof, I agree with AJ, but on the other, Discord has a point too. Should we at least give it a try?", asked Twilight, while turning towards her friends.
"While this isn't the resolve we expected, it is better than nothing, I guess", replied Rarity solemnly.
"It's hard to watch Pinkie cry, and since Twilight said we tried everything we could to make her better, then yeah, I think this is worth a shot", said Rainbow Dash approvingly.
"So you guys want to LIE to her? To pretend that everything is fine and dandy?? That's what you want? Think about it: we ALL have to enter this game. Are you prepared to live in a lie?", Applejack was not having it. "Look, I get your point. I really do. But is this actually better? To live in a lie, all of us?".
Everyone in the room looked sadly at AJ, then cast their eyes towards the floor. Then, Discord gently glided to her and put his paw on her shoulder.
"Listen, AJ. I don't want to see you this upset. How about this:we'll try it, and if something goes wrong, I'll just stop it. Seems fair?".
Applejack looked at her friends, then locked eyes with Discord.
"Yes, let's get this over with".
Another meeting in the Canterlot Castle. Twilight was still waiting for some of her friends to arrive. Rarity arrived first, followed by Fluttershy, then Rainbow and Applejack. Pinkie was last, followed by her son.
"Sorry I'm late, but it is soo hard to find a sitter with a sense of humour for Lil' Cheese.", said Pinkie, while gently stroking the bubblegum pink mane of Lil' Cheese.
All of her friends looked with glee as the pink mother stroked the air. If one would look closely, they could see the underlying sadness hidden in their sparkling eyes.
Author's Note
Ok so a bit of context:I was watching some time ago an youtube video about a boy that fell over a railing while his mother was still in the house.And that made me think:if my child died, would I accept to live in a false, happy fantasy or learn to cope and mourn on my own, while accepting the harsh truth?That's how this story came to life
