[quote][i]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 [i]wonderful[/i] rainbow! So sad. My tears are staining the page. 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[/i][/quote]

Limestone felt a pair of hooves on her torso. A second later, she went flying across the room and crashed 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 Limestone's throat, Maud said, "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—"

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 in South Field."

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

Limestone scoffed. "Little fillies are fragile. Maybe Pinkie should have seen it coming with that freaky super-sense of hers."

Maud blinked. "Do you think this is funny?"

"No," said Limestone with a scowl. "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 rainbow-thing finally made her [i]contagious.[/i] 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 at her sister, slamming her hooves hard against Maud's barrel, but Maud didn't let up. It took a 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 in the snout.

Maud panted. "You—you—"

"I saved the farm!" Limestone seethed. "All Pinkie did was planning parties, right up until the end. Not helping, just planning, planning, [i]distracting[/i] 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 we starve! You get that, [i]Sis?[/i]"

"I'm going to tell," 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 apart for good?"

Maud swallowed. "No."

"So keep quiet." Limestone stood up, letting Maud tend to her bleeding nose. "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.

Limestone realized she was shaking. Swiping her dry tongue around her dry mouth, Limestone sat down and flipped her diary back open.

[quote][i]I'm sorry about what happened. I am. But at least now Pinkie can be happy in Heaven. She can party all day long, while everypony else makes themselves useful. That's all I want.[/i][/quote]

Limestone shut her diary. As she locked it away, she gritted her teeth and tried to ignore the ringing in her head; a squeak, like the beginning of a laugh, cut short.