They have all gone through that. They all still go through that, every time they see her. And naturally, the idea… nay, the certainty that a pony you loved, or still love, is right there can make some ponies… act out in rather unsavory ways. So, they have all learned to resist those thoughts.
And that is the purpose of the second rule. To make sure everypony keeps a healthy distance from her, lest one of them does something they shouldn't and ruins the gathering for everypony else.
Most of them have learned to push those feelings away, and can even talk to her normally, on the rare occasions that she stops and speaks to one pony or another.
Some of them needed… encouragement. Like the pony who is currently using his shovel to dig a grave, who nowadays wear an eyepatch over one of his empty eye sockets because… well, because he needed help so he could see things better.
And a few ponies, like the one who is about to be buried, simply can't control themselves at all.
So, acts like this are necessary.
Because it is imperative that they do not scare her away.
After all, if she ever decided to stop coming to their gatherings… well, the inevitable would still happen, some day in the future. But they would not be a part of it.
And that, they all know, is an agony none of them are prepared to suffer.
