Loyalty: I Offer This Plea
"What are we doing?! What kind of sick, twisted ponies are we?"
The four other ponies in the room turned to Rainbow Dash. Twilight was the first to speak.
"This is what she wanted–"
"And?!" Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth. "One of our best friends die and we throw her a PARTY?!"
The room fell silent. Nopony quite had a response to her outburst. Figured.
"I'm going outside."
With that, she opened the front door of the library and stepped out.
"Why...?" She plopped down on the front steps as the door closed behind her.
One of her closest friends, gone without the slightest warning. She wasn't even sure how to feel.
"We had so many good times together... Why did it have to end?"
She let her mind begin to wander, in an attempt to relax. She soon found herself thinking of a certain day from a few months ago...
"Oh, we just saw Twilight! She was headed back to the library. You should go find her; she was getting a tad bit impatient."
"Th...thanks! Oh, I hope she isn't too angry..." Spike ran off towards the library, at the suggestion of Rainbow Dash.
As soon as Spike was out of earshot, Rainbow Dash looked at Pinkie, and they burst out laughing.
It was a bright sunny day, and Pinkie Pie and she had decided to do a round of pranks. Twilight had passed by earlier; she had sent him out to restock on quills, and he was taking a long time, so she set out to town to find him. A few moments later, Spike had passed by in a panic, and, well...
"So, Pinkie, how mad do you think Twilight will be?"
Pinkie giggled. "At Spike? Not very. At us? Maybe a bit."
Dash smiled, and flopped onto her back. "I love days like this."
Pinkie flopped on her back as well. "I know! They're so much fun!"
Dash looked over at her. "We've been doing this for a while, haven't we?"
Pinkie nodded. "Yup."
They fell silent for a moment, simply enjoying the warmth of the sun. Then, Pinkie gave a slight gasp.
"That's right! It's that day!"
She got up and walked over to a bush a short distance away. She pulled a large, wrapped box out it, and walked back over to Dash. "It's the anniversary of the day we started pranking together!"
Dash took the box, a little puzzled, but very pleased. "Th...thank you!" She quickly ripped the wrapping off of the box. She heard a slight sound from Pinkie as she reached for the lid, but disregarded it. She pulled it off...
And suddenly, streamers and confetti burst in her face. The sheer shock of what had happened sent her careening onto her back.
Pinkie burst out into laughter. "Ah, you fell for it!"
Dash frowned for a moment, but quickly reverted into a grin. "I guess I did."
Pinkie shook her head to regain her composure. "But, no, really, the gift's at the bottom of the box, silly."
Rainbow Dash got up and peered into the box, and saw a dark blue scarf. She pulled it out.
"I know Winter's a ways away, but I figured since it's colder up in the sky anyway..."
Dash grinned. "You don't need to say anything more. I love it!" She took put it on with a slight flair. It felt a bit warm– it was just the start of autumn– but it didn't bother her. "Thank you so much, Pinkie!"
"You're welcome!" she said with a smile.
"Pinkie, Rainbow! Have either of you seen Spike?"
They looked at the source of the voice. No surprise; it was Twilight.
Pinkie quickly responded. "We told him that you went into town, and he went to look for you. I don't know how you two missed each other!"
"Dang it. See you two later!" She quickly ran back in the direction that she had come from.
They took a moment for her to disappear from sight, and then burst into laughter once more.
"How long do you think we can keep this going for?"
"I don't know!" Pinkie grinned.
Rainbow Dash gave a warm smile. "Thanks for doing this with me. I'm sorry I don't have a gift for you..."
Pinkie raised an eyebrow, then shook her head. "Dashie, never stop smiling."
"Huh?" Rainbow Dash's expression changed to that of confusion.
"That's always good enough a gift for me. So please; don't stop smiling. I know you'll have times when you're sad, times when your angry; but I just want you to be able to stop yourself and smile every once and a while, even without me around. Okay?"
Dash thought for a moment, then smiled again. "Okay."
"Pinkie Promise?"
She sighed, and began to go through the motions. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."
"Good. There's your gift back..."
"Never stop smiling."
Dash looked up at the sky. If they were to all start mourning, how would Pinkie feel? No...
Always, always, she wanted them to smile.
She got up, put a smile on her face, at least as best as she could manage, and opened the door to the library once more.
Author's Note
I have the feeling that these chapters will all be relatively short.
(There is a high chance I will come back and adjust this chapter.)
Prologue: To Life and to Death
Applejack sprinted from the Everfree Forest, tears streaming down her eyes.
"Th...this can't be happening..."
She was rapidly approaching the edge of town.
"Th...there's no way..."
As she entered town, she ran past Lyra... past Roseluck... even past her own brother...
"N...no time to say hi... I need to find the girls!"
She skidded to a stop in the town square and glanced around. "Where are they, where are they?!"
Her eyes settled on a small tree a short distance away from the square. Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Rarity were resting beneath it.
"Girls! We have a problem!" she yelled as she dashed over to the tree.
The group looked up at her. Twilight was the first to speak. "What's wrong, Ap–"
It was at that moment that she saw Applejack's eyes. "...A...Applejack...?"
"Weren't you with Pinkie Pie?" Fluttershy stared at Applejack inquisitively.
She grimaced at the name. "N...no time! F...follow me!" She turned toward the Everfree forest and ran off.
The four nodded to each other and followed her.
"For the last time, Applejack, just tell us!" Rainbow Dash landed in front of Applejack to block her way.
"Ah... can't say it..." she gave a pained look. "B...besides... y... y'all can just see for yerselves..." She walked around Rainbow Dash, and pushed a bush out of the way.
They all stepped into a small clearing in the woods. In the center...
"Pinkie Pie!"
She was laying motionless in a pool of blood. Rainbow Dash rushed over to her, as the other three remained static. "Pinkie? You're still there, right?" She nudged the body, as tears began to well up in her eyes.
There were three large gashes on her side, resembling a claw mark. Blood was still slowly trickling out of the wounds.
"Damn it!" Rainbow Dash turned to Twilight, tears now flowing full force. "Y...you can save her, r...right, Twilight? Y...you're an alicorn!"
Twilight grimaced as tears began to trail down her face as well. "Even... I can't... bring the..."
Her speech halted. She couldn't bring herself to say that word.
Rarity had already collapsed into a heap, sobbing. Fluttershy, tears in her eyes, flew over to the body, inspecting it. "Th...that claw mark... a... Timberwolf?" She looked over to Applejack, who gave a nod.
"Is it gone...?"
Everypony froze in place. If it was still around...
Applejack shook her head. "That thing is gone. It's not coming back anytime soon. I personally made sure of that."
Everypony fell silent. There was no more denying it.
This wasn't an illusion.
This wasn't a dream.
This was all real.
Pinkie Pie... the one pony that could make them smile, no matter what...
was dead.
