When once before, the sky over Ponyville had been clear, it was now overcast, signalling the rain that was scheduled for this day. Very fitting for a funeral.

The loss of Derpy Hooves rang deep within the community. Not only did it mean that Rainbow Dash had to refill the forms again, which she did without complaining or procrastinating this time, but it also meant the loss of a good friend.

Derpy Hooves was a perpetually cheerful pony- never had a bad word to say to anypony, always smiling, as if life was just one huge joke. Her muffins, once tasted, were never forgotten, and her sheer goofy nature prevented anypony from being angry with her for long. With Derpy gone, Ponyville felt gutted. It was still there, but it had lost something when Derpy had flown too close to that dragon. It had lost some of its soul.

“We are gathered here today to pay our last respects to a fine mare, dependable parent and hard worker: Derpy Hooves.”

Nearly the whole town had shown up for the funeral. Derpy had known everypony’s name and what they liked. Only Dinky and Fluttershy were absent- the loss of her mother in such a tragic accident had caused her to just go off alone for long periods of time to where she was killed, as if she was waiting for her mother to come back. Besides, it wouldn’t have been right for her to go to the funeral, and forced to read a speech about her mother. Fluttershy had wanted to come, but was too busy crying to move out of her house.

“Her life was tragically cut short by a rogue dragon, who, out of malice and boredom, burned Derpy out of the sky. It was instantaneous, and she did not suffer.”

What few ashes they could find had been magically reconstructed by the funeral unicorns, which were unnaturally solemn, even as ashes knotted themselves, back into flesh, bone and sinew.

“And now, we will hear the speeches for the departed. Ms Applejack, if you’d please.”

Applejack walked up to the podium, and removed her hat, a sure sign of respect from her to Derpy.

“Well, ah’m not good with fancy letters an’ all that, but ah’ll do mah best. Derpy was a fine worker, and a fine parent. It ain’t easy, raisin’ a kid all by yourself, but Derpy managed somehow with four jobs to feed herself and her kid. She worked only to provide for her daughter. That’s all ah had to say about her.” She backed down, to be replaced by Rainbow Dash, looking unnaturally solemn with a black cape on, contrasting the brightness of her hair.

“Yeah, I’m not one for speeches and all, and it feels-“ she paused for breath, struggling to find an adequate word for her feelings, and found it, “-like I’m never going to recover, but here I go!”

She cleared her throat, and then began speaking.

“Sure, she wasn’t the most graceful of fliers, or the most accurate flier, come to that. But she had her heart in the right place, and her head screwed on right, for all that her eyes were a bit wonky. And she was the kind of pony who enjoyed a laugh with her friends. That’s all from me.” Rainbow Dash walked off the podium with her head hung low. Rarity stepped up next, looking stunning, as usual, in a custom-made dress for the occasion. Unlike others, she was going to keep it.

“Well, I know Derpy just as well as the rest of us do. We first met when she first delivered mail for me. She crashed through the wall and nearly upset an important design I was working on at the time for a Very important client.” Rarity stopped to take a breath, then continued.

“I was just about to lose my temper with her when she pulled a muffin out of her bag and offered it to me with that look she did so well. From then on, I knew that I wouldn’t care about what she did, as she was one of the most generous ponies that I ever met.” She then moved down the stairs and pulled her fainting couch over to her. Twilight Sparkle was next.

“Well, I haven’t been here as long as you have. But I knew Derpy. She was a fun-loving mare who helped, along with my friends, to make me come out of my shell a bit more. She worked so hard for her lone daughter, making such sacrifices. To me, that’s the only magic in the world I care about right now. Without Derpy, I don’t think Ponyville’s ever going to be the same again. But we’ll have to soldier on, for Derpy’s sake.” Twilight teleported back to her seat and started to let her tears go loose. Other ponies spoke, until the last speaker came up.

Pinkie Pie wasn’t wearing black. What she was wearing resembled a suit, but it was in bright purple and orange, with a lemon yellow tie. She wore a large, misshapen hat in the shape of a smaller Pinkie Pie on her head.

“Okie Dokie Loki! Here’s my speech thingie! I wrote it on a napkin, but it should be okay.’ Pinkie Pie unfurled a napkin covered in icing sugar and began reading.

“Just because Derpy’s dead doesn’t mean we should cry! Derpy was always smiling at something, and I don’t think she’d want us to be sad. So, let’s have a real wake for her!” With that, she produced an accordion out of her hair and began to play the ‘Pony Pokey.’ Other ponies, at first reluctantly, then merrily, started dancing. Even Twilight was ‘dancing’, for want of a better word. She’d never bothered to learn how to dance before, and was now flailing her limbs around like a maddened Gary’s Mod ragdoll, if ponies had Gary’s Mod to compare it to. Other ponies were staying well back from her hooves, fearful of an accidental concussion. Applejack and Rarity were in a heated debate over who would serve the ‘nibblies,’ as Applejack referred to them. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie had decided to prank as many ponies as they could, and Dinky showed up to the wake later, and soon got into the swing of things. An ethereal voice floated through the wake, disturbing only five ponies from their revelry.

“Well, at least they’re having fun out there.”

Derpy Hooves listened to the wake with a fond smile on her slightly transparent face. When she’d died, the mysterious chain had pulled her here on her chest. It had a hexagonal plate that attached to her chest, and no matter how hard she pushed or flew, the plate simply didn’t budge. The chain moved, though. She couldn’t travel far from the house, as the chain was tightly wrapped around it, anchoring her to her place. Derpy estimated that she could move about ten metres in any direction around her house. She didn’t mind all that much, just as long as her daughter was safe. She would watch over her little girl, no matter what. She was jolted out of her thoughts by an incredulous voice.

“D-Derpy?”

She turned around. Fluttershy was there, with her eyes red from crying. Probably about herself, she supposed.

“Hey, Fluttershy! How’s Angel going?”

“Um… he’s alright.” Fluttershy gently waved her hoof through Derpy, who for her part just looked at it. Fluttershy’s eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, and she stared at Derpy in horror.

“It’s okay. I’m still here, aren’t I?” Derpy just wanted to calm Fluttershy down, but Fluttershy had other ideas.

“G-GHOST!”

With that terrified statement, Fluttershy flew off to her cottage at speeds that would have impressed Rainbow Dash.

“…Did I say something wrong?”

Next Chapter: Seiretei interlude. Estimated time remaining: 16 Minutes