To Lift and Laugh
What was a memory worth?
Pinkie Pie held a gem on the surface of her hoof. It had cost a considerable amount of bits, not that Pinkie really cared. Bits had never really meant anything to her after all. There was something much more important to her.
Smiles! Laughter and smiles!
She smirked to herself, thoughts wandering to the next party she had planned. It needed more streamers for sure. Streamers and cake. A touch more of ballons? Maybe that would overdo it. No, when would too many balloons even be an option? Their bright colors would liven up anypony's day!
Well, except the one she was thinking about right now.
Pinkie Pie was currently in a bush. Well, it was more of a scraggly shrubbery really. She was hiding behind it to little effect, laying on her belly and staring out from behind it with sparkling blue eyes. Yet, as she looked out from behind the shrubbery more and more, their sparkle slowly faded.
Her friend, Twilight Sparkle, was watching the horizon again. Her purple coat was caressed by a warm wind. Her shoulders were slumped as she sat on her flanks. She looked small, her head slightly dipped, and her hooves held close to her body. And on her back... a pair of wings.
Twilight was a princess now. Earned through the lessons of friendship, tried and true with the challenges they faced, she had become something straight out of grandma pie's fairy tales. It was fascinating really, to see it. When she had ascended to an alicorn, Pinkie Pie had thrown her a party for the ages. The thought brought a smile to her face, and she hid her chuckles by stuffing her face into the grass.
That party was really something! One of her best, if she had to admit. The smiles on all of their faces were a sight that filled her heart with joy.
Now though, Twilight never really smiled anymore. Well, she did, but Pinkie knew it was fake. She had a knack for telling when a pony wasn't really happy. Maybe it was in her blood, or maybe it was her role as an element of laughter.
And Pinkie knew what it was that troubled her. Immortality.
It wasn't really something most ponies thought about. The princesses of sun and moon never really seemed bothered by the factor of living forever. Or living a long time, the details of their true longevity were a bit clogged up with cake.
There was a solution for this problem though, or maybe it wasn't a solution, but Pinkie knew she had to do something. Making ponies happy was her calling. Pinkie Pie had prepared this gift for Twilight. It was on the end of her hoof right now. A spherical crystal-clear gem.
It was a memory gem; an expensive gem Pinkie had bought off of some pony who came through a portal in the middle of her room. She still wasn't sure what that was about, but they became quick friends. It got her a bit of a discount on the gem.
According to the pony she had bought it from, the gem would capture a memory of the wielder. It could then be replayed in another pony's mind when they activated the gem. How it worked Pinkie didn't know, she never really paid attention to details like making sense. It would help her out though.
She had selected a memory of her own and put it in the gem. To be honest, she forgot what memory she put in the gem, but she hoped it was a good one. When the gem caught a memory, it disappeared from her head forever. Pinkie was confident in herself though. She knew that she wouldn't choose a silly memory for a situation like this. Or maybe she would, sometimes she didn't even know herself.
It was time to give Twilight her gift though. Maybe this would turn her frown, upside down!
"Hey Twilight!" Pinkie wanted to be next to her, and suddenly she was. Reality never seemed to care what she did as long as she played by the rules. "Whatcha doing out here alone, you're all frowny again!"
"AH! Pinkie!" Twilight nearly jumped out of her coat. Her new wings snapped back to catch her. "What are you doing here!"
"I saw my friend was all frowny, and it's my job to change that!" Pinkie pulled the sides of her mouth into a smile. "Come on, I got a party planned today and everything!"
"Not now, Pinkie." Twilight lifted her gently off the ground with magic, enveloping Pinkie with a lavender hue then putting her to the side like a desk ornament. "I... need time to think and be alone."
"Alrighty!" Pinkie put on a huge smile, hiding the worry bubbling in her chest. "But, before I go, can I give you a gift? A little something to cheer one of my bestest friends up!"
Twilight glanced over at her, before turning away and sighing. "Okay. Just because it's you Pinkie."
"Here, this is for you!" Pinkie held out the pearl-like clear gem.
The gem seemed to shimmer in the fading sunlight. A white fog almost seemed to swirl within, writhing with lost time. Inside was a memory that Pinkie knew she would never get back, but that was okay. If she could see Twilight smile again, then that was all that mattered.
Her memories were more precious to her than nearly anything in the world, but if they could make her friend smile, she would give it all away in a heartbeat. Besides, the lessons she learned from those times were still firmly imbedded in her heart.
Just not the parties, those memories stayed!
"What is this?" Twilight gently took the gem. "It seems magical in nature."
"It's a memory stone!"
"Memory stone?" Twilight seemed more interested in the gem now. "What does it do?"
"It holds a memory, silly!" Pinkie grinned. "One of my memories!"
"One of your memories!? I can't take this!" Twilight held the gem back to her. "You need those!"
"It's already gone, Twilight. I can't take it back, it's yours now." Pinkie patted her on the back, her joyful tone growing just a tinge more somber. "Please, I know it's a lot to accept, but I want my friends to be happy."
Twilight glanced down at the gem before looking back up at Pinkie again. Her face grew troubled before she let out a defeated sigh. "Okay. But don't do this again! Your memories are precious."
"I know silly! Thats why I gave it to you!" Pinkie beamed. "So, do you still want me to leave?"
"I just need some time alone Pinkie. Thank you for the gift." Twilight clutched the gem to her chest, looking over it with fond eyes. "Thank you. I don't know what possessed you to do such a thing, but ill cherish it."
"No problem! Thats what friends do!" Pinkie Pie said. "Now, I hope that I'll see you at the party!"
Pinkie Pie pulled Twilight into a sideways hug before she could react before bouncing away. She giggled, and spared one glance back, only to see Twilight entranced by the orb.
Maybe it was a little too much. A gift like that was something that might weight on a ponies' conscious. Pinkie hoped that she was doing the right thing. Maybe she wasn't the best at reading the room, but she was the best at getting ponies to smile!
As she bounced away, Twilight was left alone with the orb.
She played with it for a moment, feeling the smooth shell-like outside of them gem. How Pinkie came across such a magic item was unknown to her, she had learned not to bother asking. Maybe she just pulled it out of her mane in some reality shattering way that only Discord had a chance to understand.
Twilight considered breaking the gem, if only so that the memory might be released back to Pinkie. If it didn't do that though, the memory would be wasted. That wasn't something that should be wasted.
She couldn't help but be curious though as to what kind of memory Pinkie would give to her. It was probably something like a party, or maybe a silly prank.
Her mind was tired, tired of thinking. Thinking of what was to come centuries from now. Thinking of the deaths of her friends as they withered from old age, and she remained healthy and timeless as ever. All she wanted to do was stop it, stop the thinking, stop the hollow feeling deep in her chest, stop the building constricting feeling in her throat. So maybe, maybe if she was Pinkie Pie for just a little bit, she would feel as happy as her.
So, she touched the gem and injected a little of her magic into it. The spark of magic entered the gem, and suddenly Twilight wasn't herself anymore.
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Rotting. Pinkie Pie was rotting inside.
The wind was cold tonight. It chilled Pinkie Pie's coat and bones, a far cry from the warm bed waiting for her back at Ponyville. Not that she would ever return there, those days were done.
A party without her! What a joke, or maybe she was the joke. They were probably all laughing at her right now. Well, she didn't need them. She was perfectly happy out here on her own.
The sparkling balloon, a construction of rope, purple cloth, and a wicker basket was the vessel of her deliverance. The hot air from the hot air balloon warmed the back of her coat, a small comfort in the cold night. Below her, the dark night seemed to stretch on forever. Pinkie knew she was high up, so high up that she couldn't even see the ground anymore.
Moonlight from a white moon shone down on her. It illuminated her half-deflated pink mane and blue eyes. The light caught them, revealing the slightest shimmer of moisture.
It seemed like the scraping, clawing, feeling in her chest would never go away. She felt no sadness anymore, just an emptiness. She felt tired, more lethargic than she had ever been. The only thing she felt was the gentle rise in her chest as the hot air balloon lifted higher into the night.
A chirp came from her mane. Out of it, a green snout stuck out. It was Gummy, her pet crocodile. A small one, but a crocodile, nonetheless. He climbed down onto the edge of the wicker basket which Pinkie was leaning against. His bright green scales caught the moonlight, and his giant purple eyed locked onto her.
"What do you want Gummy?" Pinkie Pie turned her head away. "I'm not in the mood right now."
There were better things to think about. Like nothing. Anything besides the friends who didn't want her any longer.
Gummy's stare was impossible to ignore. It bored into her, piercing her coat.
"Fine, fine! Let's talk then!" Pinkie turned to Gummy, picking him up and looking into his eyes. "What's so important that it can't wait!"
Gummy said nothing, but Pinkie understood him.
"Go back? Why would I do that? They don't want me anymore." Pinkie Pie growled, the clutching feeling in her chest returning as she thought about it. "It's better this way, they will live over there, and I will live over here."
Gummy stared for a moment, then he turned his gaze to the moon. It shone brightly. Where once the imprisoned form of Nightmare Moon was, there was nothing. It reminded Pinkie of the day they faced the wicked mare of darkness together. How together they had stood and defended Equestria. With nothing more than a few laughs, a few friends, and a little courage.
"Oh Gummy, why can't I just forget them?" Pinkie Pie wiped a tear from her eyes. "Why did they push me away? Why do things have to end? Why do friendships have to end?"
Gummy said nothing. He couldn't say anything after all. It reminded Pinkie of something, something she had forgotten.
Pinkie looked back over the night. She remembered that day in the Everfree woods, and the ghost of the voice of her grandma whispering to her.
"Giggle at the ghostly."
It was just a simple lyric to a song she had sung. A way to face scary things, a way to get over the frightening and face your fears. But now that Pinkie was looking out over the night, feeling terrible is every way, a new thought came to her through the words.
It was her choice.
It was her choice to laugh when there were scary things, it was her choice to be happy in the face of danger. Why couldn't that apply to now?
Pinkie Pie looked behind her at the contraption that steered the balloon. The sinking, ripping, rotting, feeling in her chest dulled for a moment. She thought of herself, floating further and further away from Ponyville.
She gritted her teeth, shaking her head to try and dispel the thoughts that crawled into her head. They wouldn't go away; they wouldn't leave her.
With an exasperated screech, Pinkie Pie leapt towards the rope and pulled on it. The direction of the balloon changed, and the balloon began to float back towards Ponyville. She collapsed onto the bottom of the wicker basket, feeling exhausted. The constricting feeling in her throat tightened, and the emotion in her chest forced its way up through it.
Tears sprang from her eyes like water from stone. Sobbing at the bottom of the wicker basket, Pinkie hid her face in her hooves. She just couldn't do it; she couldn't just fly away from everything waiting for her back at Ponyville. Even if her friends didn't want her anymore, she had to try.
A snout nudged her, and Pinkie opened her eyes to see Gummy staring at her.
"Oh Gummy, you know me too well." Pinkie grabbed him, holding him close like a plush. "I'm going back."
She traveled in silence, lost in her thoughts. She thought and thought until she could barely think anymore. Then, there was light.
Sunlight washed over the darkness as the night came to a close. Pinkie forced herself to stand on her hooves and looked back out over the landscape. Ponyville was ahead again, filled with ponies she knew well milling about. Pegasi flew in the air, while earth ponies and unicorns conversed on the ground. She swore she could hear their conversation from here, tickling her ears with jokes and joy. A light, sad, smile carved its way across her face.
"Hey Pinkie! What are you doing flying around in the morning?" A rainbow-maned mare appeared in a flash next to her.
"Oh, just flying around. You should see the view from up here! Or your already up here. So, maybe not?" Pinkie said.
"The view? I wouldn't miss it for anything!" Rainbow Dash landed in the hot air balloon. "Every sunrise ends you know. This is going to pass as well. It's totally not cool, but it's just how things work."
Pinkie Pie mulled over those words for a moment. It was true, wasn't it? Everything had an end, everything would pass eventually, it was just the way of things.
"Dashie... didn't you not... want me here anymore?" Pinkie asked, tears threatening to fall from her eyes.
"What? Who gave you that idea?" Rainbow Dash had a drop of sweat falling down the side of her face.
"Well, you were pushing me away from the party. You didn't invite me..." Pinkie trailed off, searching for meaning behind Rainbow Dash's eyes.
"Uhh..." The sweating intensified on Rainbow's brow. "I uhh... I have to go!"
"Wait! Please Rainbow. Please..." Pinkie Pie reached out with her hoof. "Why don't you want me to come?"
Rainbow searched her eyes then sighed dramatically. "Alright, alright! Fine, I'll tell you. But don't go telling anypony else I told you, got it?!"
Pinkie Pie nodded, trying to ignore the tears threatening to fall from her eyes again.
"We are throwing a surprise party for you." Rainbow Dash sighed. "The reason we are avoiding you is because we wanted to surprise you."
"A party for me?" Pinkie Pie failed to understand for a moment. "Then... the reason you were avoiding me was for a surprise party?"
"Yes. Now don't go telling anypony I coughed it up first. I would never live it-"
"Thank you!" Pinkie Pie grabbed Rainbow, pulling her into a tight hug. She buried her face into her fur, wiping her growing tears into the blue coat. "T-Thank you for not abandoning me!"
"What? Never, we are friends until the end!" Rainbow looked worried. "You know that, right Pinkie?"
"I do now!" Pinkie's mane inflated, as if it was some kind of ballon. A smile sprung across her features as if it was released from a jack in the box.
"Jeez, you were worrying me, Pinkie." Rainbow Dash smiled. "Just make sure not to tell anypony I said anything, alright?"
"Got it!" Pinkie Pie nodded. "My lips are sealed!"
"Pinkie promise?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" Pinkie flailed her hooves around, before smashing a cupcake that came out of nowhere into her eye.
"Alright, thank Celestia for that. I would never live that down." Rainbow Dash sighed and wiped the sweat off her brow. "Well, let's get going to the party again. Try to act surprised, okay?"
"Got it!"
Pinkie smiled as they slowly floated down towards Ponyville again. Rainbow Dash was right; everything came to an end. Both good times and bad. All laughs would come to a close, all jokes would grow old, all smiles would eventually fade. However, there would be new laughs, new jokes, new smiles.
Her grandma pie's words trickled through her mind.
Ultimately, it was up to her to accept it.
Only she could decide if she wanted to be happy. There was no room in life for spite. All things came to an end, but if you could just keep smiling, it would make it all worth it. If she could just keep ponies smiling, then it didn't matter when it ended. It would always reside in her heart forever.
Happiness was rarely seen in life. It was up to her if she wanted to give it or take it away.
"Thanks Gummy." Pinkie Pie hugged her pet crocodile tighter. "It means a lot to me."
The crocodile said nothing, but his eyes said everything. He acknowledged her, and he knew her thanks.
"Are you coming, Pinkie!?" Rainbow Dash had left the basket, dashing ahead towards the ground. "We got a party to get to!"
"Just you wait, I'm on my way!" Pinkie yelled. "I got a smile ready just for them!"
"Don't yell it too loud, somepony will hear!" Rainbow Dash laughed and winced all at the same time. "See you at the bottom!"
To be happy or not,
It was all her choice.
However, the gentle tickling of her mind alerted her to something. The reality breaking nature of her existence touched the veil unseen. Perhaps the present, perhaps the future, perhaps it was nothing at all. But it compelled her to turn and look behind her. Something was there in the fabric of reality, just beyond the closed door. So, she opened it.
"Hey Twilight, what is life without a little laughter?"
Pinkie Pie put on a beaming grin.
"The dark days will pass, as will the good. What you do with them, what you chose to be, is up to you."
Pinkie kept smiling, even as her eyes threatened to flood once more.
"Keep smiling Twilight, keep smiling for me. Okay?"
And then, everything faded to the distant past.
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In a way, she resented Pinkie Pie for giving her the memory.
Twilight Sparkle, ruler of Equestria, sat in a cold stone chamber. In her hoof was a crystal-clear gem. It was worn with age, but never seemed to crack or falter. It was a gem that seemed almost detached from time, as if honoring the timeless, priceless treasure within.
She was much older now. It had been countless years since that day. When she received the memory, she had gone to Pinkie, screaming at her giving her such a depressing gift. Tears had been shed, and by the end they were hugging each other and crying into each other's coats.
After all this time, she still had the gem. It was her most cherished trinket, a piece of the past that never left her. A lesson that she would never forget. Even as the faces of the past dulled to blurs, the blazing images of her friend's faces remained clear cut as day.
Twilight was tired of the gripping sadness in her chest. The loneliness of an eternity. But she always found her way back to this memory. Whenever she was feeling down, whenever she felt like letting it all go, she came back to the gem. She came back to the gem for a reminder.
Be happy.
Tears spilled from her eyes. Her body, larger than even Princess Celestia's had been all those years ago, shook with the wracking sobs. Her ethereal flowing mane stilled to a halt, ensnared in the fluctuating magic of its weeping owner. The crown on her head fell to the stone floor, clattering across it.
Then slowly, her gaze returned upward.
The chamber she was in was a tribute to the past. It had six stained glass windows, each depicting her friends. Each one had taught her a lesson, each one had been a figure in her life. Her eyes met with the stained-glass figure of Pinkie Pie, full of pink, and balloons, and fun. For a moment, Twilight could have sworn the glass smile on her face grew just a little wider.
In the center of the room was a pedestal, and on it, a cushion. This was to be a place of study, thought, and introspection. A place to make friends, a place to make a better life for her little ponies which she watched over. And she knew, it wouldn't be entirely complete without the gem. A memory, a treasure, a lesson.
All things must end.
Twilight reluctantly set the gem on the cushion. It wasn't hers any longer. She had learned the lesson Pinkie spent her life trying to give. Now, with her life, she would give back. It was what Pinkie Pie would have wanted.
The magic had ended.
Or had it?
The magic of friendship remained, it always remained.
And for every end, a new thing began.
"Princess?" A familiar voice called out to her. A friendly voice. "Did you put the memory gem on the pedestal? It's about time for the grand opening."
"Everything is in place." Twilight said with a smile. She wiped the tears from her eyes. "How do you think the ponies will react when they can experience a piece of the legend themselves?"
"I don't know princess, but I'm sure they will learn something from the ancient element of laughter. The scholars are already lining up outside!"
Twilight took one last look at the memory gem. She could visit it anytime. Nothing was going to happen to it, at least she hoped so. And even if something did happen to it, her friends were always with her. In her heart, in her soul, and with every, single, smile.
A grin crawled across her face, infectious as the laughter of Pinkie Pie herself.
"Then let's go greet them, shall we?" Twilight turned around, her hooves echoing in the empty chamber, soon to be full of ponies coming to talk, make friends, and see the gem.
When the door shut behind Twilight, the chamber was left empty.
Sitting on the pedestal alone, the gem was the same as ever.
Then it seemed to shimmer for a moment, and an ethereal noise echoed in the chamber.
A twinkling, melodious, laugh.