Limestone's diary,

5/27/87

We held the funeral today. A few ponies from town showed up—apparently Pinkie had spent the last month making friends with the baker, Hot Cross, and his family—but only Ma, Pa, Marble and I stayed until the end. Maud left halfway through without telling anyone. Figures.

I just can't believe Pinkie's gone. I can still remember the squeak she made when the rock hit her; it sounded like the beginning of a laugh, cut short.  And to think: just a month after she saw that wonderful rainbow! So sad. My tears are staining the page, making the ink run. Truly, we will keep her memory in our hearts forever.

Luckily, things seem like they'll be getting back to normal soon. After all, harvest starts tomorrow, and no amount of tears will

Limestone felt a pair of hooves wrap around her torso. A second later, she went flying across the room, only to crash stomach-first into a bookshelf. She tried to stand, but her assailant pinned her against the wall before she could even take a breath.

Hooves wrapped around her sister's throat, Maud stared. "What did you do?"

A jolt of fear shot up Limestone's spine, but she squashed it. "I didn't do anything. Get away from—ack!"

Maud's grip tightened. "You told everypony that it was a freak accident. That a rock fell and cracked her skull when the two of you were out moving rocks in South Field." Leaning into Limestone, Maud whispered, "Where does a rock fall from in the middle of an open field?"

"There's loads of hills and stuff in South Field."

"Hills of dirt. None with rocks big enough to kill a filly."

Limestone scoffed. "Hey, little fillies are fragile. Maybe Pinkie should have seen it coming with that freaky second sense of hers."

Maud's mouth hung for a moment. "Do you think this is funny?"

"No, I don't," said Limestone, scowling. "Unlike you, I didn't think having a mentally ill sister was something to smile about."

"Mentally ill," Maud repeated.

"You know what I'm talking about. Pinkie wasn't normal. She was broken," Limestone said. "She's been broken since she was born, and that weird rainbow-thing finally made her contagious. She was gonna ruin the farm! Her and her stupid parties—"

"So you killed her?" Maud asked, louder than Limestone had ever heard her.

"I didn't do anything!"

Maud pressed down on Limestone's throat, harder and harder until Limestone could only sputter for breath. Limestone flailed and kicked at her younger sister, slamming her hooves hard against Maud's barrel, but Maud didn't let up. It took a well-aimed glob of spit straight into Maud's eyes for Limestone to escape.

With a shout, Limestone leaped forward and tackled Maud to the ground. The two rolled across the floor until they hit Limestone's desk. Limestone pinned Maud to the floor and punched her hard in the snout.

Maud panted. "You—you—"

"I saved the farm!" Limestone seethed. "All Pinkie was doing was planning parties, right up until the end. Not helping, just planning, planning, distracting everypony! It's been nothing but confetti and balloons, ever since that rainbow flew by. We weren't gonna finish the harvest! No harvest means no money, and no money means no food! You get it, Lil' Sis?" Limestone slapped Maud again. "You get it in that zombie brain of yours?"

"I'm going to tell Pa," Maud said. "You're not getting away with this."

"Ma is barely hanging on as is," Limestone said. "We'll all get over Pinkie. But if you tell them what really happened... you wanna tear us all apart for good?"

Maud swallowed. "No."

"Good. So keep quiet." Limestone stood up, letting Maud tend to her bleeding nose. "You don't know anything. Just go hug Ma and cry into her dress, or whatever it is you do." Sighing, Limestone picked up her diary, which had fallen to the floor during their fight. "And get over it. We're gonna need all the hooves we can get for the harvest tomorrow."

Maud took a deep breath. "You just wasted four."

Limestone paused, then muttered, "Like she would have helped anyway."

Silence filled the room. Without another word, Maud picked herself up and left the room, hanging her head.

For the first time, Limestone realized she was shaking. Swiping her dry tongue around her even drier mouth, Limestone sat down and flipped her diary back open.

I'm sorry about what happened. I am. But I only did what had to be done. At least now Pinkie can be happy in Heaven. She can party all day long, while everypony else actually makes themselves useful. That's all I want.

Limestone shut her diary and stuffed it away in a drawer. As she locked it up, she gritted her teeth and tried to ignore the ringing in her head; a squeak, like the beginning of a laugh, cut short. Next Chapter: There's a Metaphor in Here Somewhere Estimated time remaining: 4 Minutes