A knock sounded on the bedroom door. "Come in!" called Pinkie Pie.

Mrs. Cake entered the room and immediately waved her hoof in front of her nose, wincing. "Pinkie, we need to talk."

Pinkie looked up from where she sat on the floor. "Whaddya wanna talk about?" she asked, cocking her head. With one hoof she petted her little friend.

With a heavy sigh, Mrs. Cake shut the door and sat on the floor next to Pinkie. "Carrot and I have discussed this. You need to move on," she said, very gently.

"Move on? W-what do you mean?" A nervous smile crossed Pinkie's muzzle as beads of perspiration dotted her forehead.

Cup Cake reached over and took Pinkie's hoof in hers, pulling it away from the rotting, lifeless husk. "Pinkie, this has to stop. It's decaying. Badly."

Pinkie laughed out loud. "What? No, silly, he's fine!" she said, reaching over to jiggle her friend back to life. "I'm doing perfectly well, Mrs. Cake," she voiced in a deeper pitch out of one side of her mouth.

Sympathy reflected in Mrs. Cake's eyes. "Pinkie, please. We can't let you keep pretending," she said. "I respect your feelings, but this is a bakery. It's starting to draw flies, and the odor..."

"[i]He[/i] is not an 'it'!" said Pinkie with a scowl, but her eyes began to water. "And he could get better..."

"We both know that's not going to happen." Cup pulled Pinkie's hoof away again. "You're a grown mare now. You need to face facts."

"I don't want to lose him..." whispered Pinkie, closing her eyes as a tear rolled down one cheek. "It's not fair! He's still alive to me."

Mrs. Cake took a deep breath. "Pinkie, didn't you have to get rid of... say, a stuffed animal, as a foal?"

Pinkie shook her head. "No. All my toys were rocks," she said.

"Oh, dear... Well, you had to get rid of your rocks, didn't you? When you moved to Ponyville, you didn't bring them with you," said Mrs. Cake. "Were there any special rocks you treated like dolls?"

"Oh, sure! But Dad wouldn't let me bring them here," she said. "He thought I was 'too attached' to them, or something. I dunno." Her mane began to droop.

"What happened to them?"

Pinkie closed her eyes. "I don't know. He probably sold them, or... he ate them."

"Ate them? You... [i]eat[/i] rocks?" said Cup, incredulous.

"Yeah," said Pinkie, pulling her hoof away as her mane and tail flattened completely. "Why are you doing this to me?"

"We care about you, Pinkie," said Cup Cake, reaching over to stroke Pinkie's cheek. "If you can't handle this, how are you going to manage when somepony you love dies, like your parents?"

"My parents aren't that old!" said Pinkie, and anger flashed across her cheeks. "I shouldn't have to think about this now!"

"Someday your pet Gummy will die," said Mrs. Cake. "Alligators don't live that long, especially those who share his condition. How are you going to manage then?"

"I have no idea," gasped Pinkie, and she began to sob.

Mrs. Cake pulled Pinkie into a hug. "Fluttershy has pets pass away all the time, and she's learned to deal with it. You can do this too."

"Fluttershy is braver than I am," whimpered Pinkie. "And she's a year older..."

"You're a fully-grown pony, Pinkie. You need to mare up."

Pinkie nodded solemnly. "Do you want me to dig his grave?" she asked, wiping away a tear with her knuckle.

Cup Cake sighed. "Sweetie, no. If we gave him a grave, you'd visit it every day. We need you to be stronger, Pinkie. Fluttershy doesn't dig graves for her pets, does she?"

"N-no," said Pinkie, the word catching in her throat.

"It's the circle of life. Place him in the compost heap, and his body will nourish the garden," said Mrs. Cake. "Do you need me to help you?"

Pinkie paused in silence. "No. I can do it myself," she whispered. With that, Pinkie Pie stood up, picked up her friend in one hoof, and walked out of her room and down to the garden.

Standing in front of the compost heap, Pinkie shed a final tear. "I guess I'm really a mare now," she said, dumping her friend into the refuse with several loud thumps. Then she set the pail down and smiled a sickly smile.

"Goodbye, Mr. Turnip. I'll never forget you," she said. Then she turned and walked away.