Morning Breaks
The rays of light broke through the thick curtains covering her window, and creeped their way onto Spike's old bed. She opened her eyes and closed her mind to the days of the past. Many years had gone by since she had seen her childhood friend. A tear fell from her eye as she stood up on her hooves and looked into the dusty mirror. An untidy mane and a worn face stared back. She closed her eyes for a moment to see her lost youthfulness. She started to trot down the stairs, avoiding damaged books littered along the steps. She stood at the base and looked around and shed another tear. Books scattered on the floor, ripped, torn, trampled on, and even burned was the sight before her. She dragged herself to one of the shelves, and slowly pulled out a dusty pink book. She hadn't opened this one in many years. On the cover it read "Friendship is Forever." She took a seat on a pile of books and sat the old book down. She wiped a tear from her cheek and took her hoof and wiped a streak of dust from the book's cover. Three balloons, one yellow and two blue sat on the cover like memorials to an old friend. She reluctantly opened the cover. A rush of tears escaped her eyes and rolled like a waterfall over her wrinkled cheeks. On the front page was an old photograph of her lost best friends. From the left there was AppleJack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie jumping in the back. Finally there she was with Spike on her back hugging her neck. They looked so happy, all of them did.
The Old Apple Tree
She slowly grabbed for her knapsack, and put the pink book inside. She then tried to get up but couldn't. Her old body had been though many adventures and could only last for one more. Using books to prop herself up, she got onto all four hooves, and put the knapsack on her back, and slowly ventured her way across the battlefield of her library, and stood in front of the door. She then unlocked the many locks that guarded her door, and slowly opened the wooden barrier. The sound the hinges made could be heard though to the dead. She covered her eyes from the blinding light. It had been some time since she had seen the sunlight. On her doorstep were sealed letters of many years. She stopped reading them many years ago. She could not get herself to open them anymore. She picked one up, it was dated a decade in the past. She then used her magic to unseal the parchment and unrolled it. It was a letter from the princess, it read
"Dear Faithful Friend, would you like to have tea with me and my sister next Friday? It has been quite some time since I have talked to you, and would really like to catch up.
Sincerely, with friendship, Princess Celestia"
She picked up the few scrolls and settled them into her sack of memories. She started to trot down the road, ponies every where were living their lives. Selling goods, talking to others, or just simply enjoying the day. No one noticed her walking to the edge of town. Not a single pony said "hello" or "hi." She walked up to the end of the road where a big beautiful apple orchard stood as a monument of the previous land owners. A stone obelisk stood at the food of the forest. She walked up to it and it read,
"In loving memory of Applejack
May her loving memory reside in her family and friends.
May her soul rest in a peaceful apple orchard"
She closed her eyes and fell the ground, tears spread on the ground as she remembered that night. It was a stormy and violent night. The pegasi had skipped a few storms and had to it up. Rainbow Dash was in charge of the weather for all of Equestria. She injured her bad wing in a competition right after becoming a WonderBolt, so she settled as the head of weather. The flashes of light kept her awake, then she heard knocking at her door. There was Rarity, she said,
"The Apple Family Orchard is on fire!!! Lightning must have struck it! We must go help!"
The both of them ran to the farm, there Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy met them. They grabbed buckets of water from the nearby stream and started to throw water on the barn and house. Applejack and Big Macintosh ran from the flame engulfed house.
"WHERE'S APPLEBLOOM AND GRANNY SMITH?"
The terrified look on her face haunted her dreams ever since then. She ran into the house. That was the last time she ever saw Applejacks face. A few minutes later came Applebloom carrying Granny Smith at her side, they were safe. The four came to take them in and asked,
"Where's Applejack?! Where is she?! What happened?!"
Their faces when from fright to sadness, and they cried. That was the first time she had ever lost someone close to her. She felt so alone and hallowed out. Rainbow Dash came flying after hearing about the fire, and had a terrified face on. She looked around, and cried out,
"Where's Applejack?"
None could answer her question.
"What happened to her?!"
Applebloom put her grandmother down and walked up to Rainbow and said in a breathless cry,
"She's gone!"
"She saved us, and now she's gone!"
Everypony put their head down.
Rainbow fell the ground crying out, screaming, and heart broken.
They all were.
Lost Winds
The next morning the group huddled around the library, discussing what had happened. Rainbow Dash was torn up, lost, and depressed. She blamed herself for Applejacks death. Rarity tried to comfort her in telling her that it was not her fault. She would not listen. Rainbow became violent and knocked books off the shelves and shouting, and eventually crashed to the ground in tears. She was ashamed. She stood up with teary eyes and looked each one of them in the eyes, and stood back and said,
"I'm sorry I caused this, I'm not worthy to be your friend"
She started to walk out the door, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy were screaming and begging her to come back. Fluttershy ran to her, and screamed,
"You'll always be my friend!"
Rainbow Dash looked back one more time, put her hoof to Fluttershy's cheek and whispered
"I'm sorry"
A cloud of dust left her trail and she flew into the sky leaving a trail of lost winds.
Lost and Forgotten
She then walked to the other side of town up a crackled cobblestone walkway to an abandoned cottage. On the mailbox it read,
"Flutter.....'s....cot.....ag...."
The green paint that made the letters were worn from years of neglect.
The few weeks after Rainbow Dash's departure were hard on the four. Fluttershy was hit the hardest. She would not talk, all she would do was sit there, and quietly cry. No matter what anypony would do to compensate with her, she could not be helped. A few more months went on like this, and one day, the three noticed they had not seen Fluttershy in a few weeks.
The three took the journey to her cottage, on the front step they noticed broken glass. They knocked, and Pinkie Pie cried out,
"Hey Fluttershy! It's your pal Pinkie Pie!"
There was no answer.
"Are you there Fluttershy? We've been worr...."
The wind blew a gust of air and opened the door.
The three stood silent with worried faces.
They stepped inside, and look around the barren room with great sadness in their hearts.
Shattered glass and animal feed littered the ground. Bird houses, and animal equipment lay waste.
At the center was a shattered mirror, a scraped up chair.
On one of the legs of the chair was painted red and led to a pool on the ground.
They walked around, there she was, Flutterhsy, facing the mirror, with a wound above her hoof.
The large shard of glass lay beneath.
The three put their heads down and softly cried.
She then said in a weak, soft, voice,
"Oh, Fluttershy..."
As she collapsed to the floor, screams from Rarity and Pinkie echoed though her mind as she fell to Fluttershy's side.
The End of Smiles
She walked down the steps of the cottage, and fell to the ground.
She thought to herself,
"My last journey has not yet ended"
As she pulled herself up, she felt the pains of her age flow through her body like a bold of lightning.
She must go on.
She walked to the center of town where the Sugar Cube Corner once flourished. It's last celebration was many years ago.
The the faded pink paint was streaked with the rawness of the wood underneath it's seat.
The windows nailed shut, and the door locked tight.
She used some of her last magic to open the strong lock on the door and pushed it open.
Cobwebs coated every corner of the room. The glass that once shielded treats of every shape, size and taste was shrouded in a layer of thick dust.
She wiped a streak off and from a beam of light from the doorway, she once again looked at her own reflection. Tears dried on her cheek. She slowly walked up the stairs to the highest room in the house.
She closed her eyes and was taken into her own mind back to the last true smile of Pinkie Pie.
She was sitting on her bed eating a delicious pink frosted cupcake with a red cherry on top.
She held it up in the air with her hoof and said,
"These always used to cheer me up"
Her smile was genuine and true, she took a bite out of her cupcake and giggled.
A week later, she walked up the sugar cube corner. Outside were guards standing.
A moment later two doctors came out grasping Pinkie Pie.
She had frosting all over herself, laughing hysterically, and giggling with nonsense.
That joy was not natural, and it was not genuine.
They took her to the hospital where she eventually died.
Before her death, she had visited her a few times in the "special care" area, the top floor of the hospital.
Pinkie was usually erratic and did not respond with much coherence.
There were times where she would tell her,
"I'm trapped in my mind!"
"I can't escape this agony!"
She truly believed the old Pinkie was muttering these things.
One day she escaped her room and jumped from a window.
Time had come for to escape, to regain what she had lost.
"Bigger things than friendship"
The day was beginning it's end. She made her way to where the Carousel Boutique once stood.
All that was there was a stone foundation covered with overgrown plants.
She walked to the center and laid her weary body down for a few minutes and closed her eyes.
Rarity was becoming very popular in the fashion world. Making big statement fashions across all of Equestria.
She had little time to be friends with her.
One day she went to Rarity to talk about what had happened to their other friends but was cut off by another pony.
A fashion designer famous in Manehattan. He offered Rarity a chance to design and sell clothes in the most luxurious boutique in all of Equestria. Rarity quickly agreed to this, and the designer stated,
"To Manehattan we go!"
She congratulated her on her life achievement.
She asked her if she would still be friends with her, and she muttered,
"Of course darling!"
"But, there are BIGGER things than friendship"
This shattered her already broken heart.
She turned around and walked away.
The next week she came back, the place was gone.
The only thing that remained was a wooden sign that said,
"Relocated to Manehattan"
No address was left behind.
Regrets of Yesteryear
It was dusk now, and the sun was on the horizon.
She went inside, and placed her knapsack on the burnt floor.
During this year of despair and lost, she had not been a friend to Spike.
Everytime Spike would want to talk to her, and offer comfort, she replied,
"Not now"
"I don't feel like it"
"Leave me alone"
She was blind to the great space she had put between them.
Ten years ago to this day, she woke up from a nap to the sound of lightning.
Spike was gone.
A note left on his bed read,
"I'm sorry, I cannot live like this anymore.
This is not what friendship is supposed to be.
I'll always remember you.
Goodbye.
Spike."
She dropped the scroll and ran out the balcony, she saw a shadowy figure fly off into the storm. He did not look back.
She was truly alone.
She was hallowed inside.
She regretted treating Spike the way that she did every single day from that day til now.
She climbed up the stairs, her knees failing her at every step, but she persisted til she got to the balcony.
The leaves swarmed around her and the wind and rain danced amungst the lightning under the direction of the black clouds.
Ten years.
Ten years of this.
Ten years of regret, despair, sadness, and loneliness.
She looked out and could still see Spike's silhouette as if it were a decade ago.
Tears ran down her face as she cried out into the storm.
After an hour, she went back inside, and brought up the Pink Book and placed it on her bed.
She opened it and relived all the good memories her and her friends.
The came to the last page and read,
"Friendship is Magic
Friendship is forever."
She closed the book and placed it under her pillow as she put her down for the very last time.
She closed her eyes, and whispered,
"Friendship is forever"
