*February 14th, 2020*
Today is the sort of day that always goes one of two ways for someone, depending on a sole factor. There are those who are taken and tend to have a fun, expensive, fancy day with their significant other. This group doesn't usually mind that the holiday that they're celebrating was invented purely for commercial reasons and instead takes advantage of the occasion in some way, shape, or form.
Then there are those who happen to be single. For people like me, this has always been a terrible day from start to finish. It's usually a workday, which means that I always get to be the one selling Valentine's Day merchandise and candy to the happy customers about to go see their partner. The worst part is when they try to ask me for advice on what to purchase, as if I've had a relationship with a girl who wasn't my middle school classmate at the time. To sum it up, Valentine's Day is one of my least favorite out of the entire year.
That was, of course, what I would have told you several years ago before I found Dashie. Her rainbow-colored mane and bright purple eyes have drastically changed my opinion on the holiday as the years have gone on. Although my opinion isn't the same one that you would hear coming from most people, not in the slightest.
Nowadays, I see the holiday as not just a day to show how much you love your lover, but also anyone that you love. Your mom, your kids, your cousins, grandparents, even your little pony if you happen to have one.
You may think that I'm forced to have that sort of opinion given the circumstances, but even if that is true, I certainly don't mind it. I can't exactly have a girlfriend with Dashie around. The extra income might be nice, but that would come with a whole lot of risks and downsides. Not only would I have to take time away from Dashie in order to spend time with her, but I'd eventually have to let her into my house. I would probably have to hide Dashie in her room whenever I had her over until I could trust her enough to reveal her to Dashie. That just wouldn't be fair to my little girl... Even if I could miraculously meet the love of my life while at work or on my walks to and from work, it would be selfish of me to even consider something like that.
Then again, Dashie would love to have a mom around. You can't let her watch television without learning about family along the way. She knew that I was technically her dad, even though we weren't of the same species. But, she did once ask where her mom was when she was younger. I had to explain to her in the best way possible that some kids grow up without a mom around and for various reasons. It was tough to explain why she didn't have one here. I had to remind her that she wasn't of this world and her mom wasn't here. She was a bit sad at first, but she did eventually calm down about it.
Even though we had that conversation so many years ago now, I still think she wishes she had a mom, without saying a word about it. I can't even imagine having a girlfriend in my life, let alone a wife that Dashie could call 'Mom'. But I suppose that I can never say 'never'. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow and allow whatever happens to happen.
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I finish my train of thought as I near the porch light connected to my house. With it being February, it wasn't quite dark out, but boy was it cold. It barely got above freezing during the day, and was well below it by the time I got off of work. I had to speedwalk my way home with my groceries in hand just to keep my legs from getting too cold.
Upon reaching my door, I grab hold of my keys, and with my barely functioning hand, I slowly unlock the deadbolt, the Masterlock, and finally, the doorknob. I open the door and quickly close it behind me, due not only to the cold temperature but also as a precaution to make sure for certain that no one spots Dashie from outside. There may not have been anyone around from what I could tell, but it's always the moments where you're caught off guard that end poorly. Better to be safe than to be sorry.
As I close the door, I hear the sound of the TV in the living room for what must be the prerace coverage for the NASCAR Truck Series at Daytona for the first race of the season.
"Dashie, I'm home!" Back when my little girl was younger, she'd come galloping towards me with a face full of glee. Nowadays, not so much. But that's okay, it's all a part of growing up.
After hearing no response, I assume that she's using the restroom or something. I walk through the front hall and into the kitchen and what I see shocks me.
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I see Pops walk up to the front door through the front window where I currently sit waiting for him. As he starts to unlock the door, I quickly fly through the front hallway and into the kitchen, not wanting to be spotted. I open the pantry door and hide inside as the front door opens.
"Dashie, I'm home!" I don't respond to him when he calls out for me, not wanting to ruin the surprise that I've been working on all day. He probably won't think much of it.
After a few seconds, I hear his footsteps as he makes his way into the kitchen with what sounds like plastic bags in his hands. His footsteps come to a stop and I can see his bewildered face through the slits in the door.
I jump out of the pantry and yell at the top of my lungs. "Surpriiiiiise!"
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I jump back as Dashie comes out of nowhere in front of me. "Woah! What's all this?" I look around the kitchen island countertop, it is decked out in paper hearts, confetti pieces, and a cake that spells out 'Happy Valentine's' in pink frosting.
Dashie replies with the amount of pride that you'd come to expect from her. "You like it? I worked all day on it by myself! I wanted to surprise you like you always surprise me Pops."
I honestly don't know how to respond at first... It takes me a moment, but I do come up with a response. "I... Thank you, Dashie. I love it, almost as much as I love you. I'm not even going to ask how you did it, but I am so proud of you. You are just so awesome!"
She truly is one awesome pony. It's no wonder she's my favorite. Being in such awe of her surprise to me, I almost forgot about my surprise to her.
"Well, it sure doesn't beat this by any means. But, I got you a few things too, Dashie." I pull the contents out of the two brown plastic bags that I had brought home with me and hand them to Dashie.
"Aw, my favorites! Thanks, Dad. And I love you too!" I hold my arms out in front of Dashie and we come together for a warm embrace. It was always cold in the house during the winter months, with the broken furnace and everything. But, at that moment, it all went away. I felt as warm as a summer day, with a rainbow in the background, of course. I can only imagine that Dashie feels the same way.
Just as I was starting to think that the sappy moments between us were coming to an end, my little Dashie goes beyond the call of duty and does something like this. It's the kind of thing that I don't think I ever did for my parents, even if I wanted to. I am just so proud of my little Dashie tonight and the mare that she's growing into.
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After settling down over our surprises, I get to work on dinner as Dashie watches the start of the race. After all of her hard work today, she deserves to relax for a bit.
Our Valentine's night is spent eating plenty of food, both the regular kind and the junk kind. We sit in the living room for hours watching the race and enjoying our treats, including the cake that Dashie made. It could definitely use some work, but I'd say that for a pony who has never made a cake or much of anything on her own before, she did a pretty good job.
Dashie ate all of the assorted chocolates that I got for her before the race was even over. I wish I could still eat sugar that quickly, but whenever I do, my heart just feels weird, so I tend to pace myself.
We enjoy each other's company into the AM, as I didn't have work for the next two days. In all of the fun, I nearly forgot to take a picture for our scrapbook. I did thankfully manage to get one of her decorations and our candy, even if it was mostly wrappers...
Dashie decided to go to bed shortly after midnight, not that I blame her. I elected to stay up a little bit later to clean up our mess. I would usually get Dashie to help me out with this sort of thing, but I think that she's done enough work for one day. I eventually get everything either cleaned up or put away, aside from Dashie's kitchen decorations, of course. I don't know if I'll ever have the strength to put them away with just how cute it is and how much it means to me. We'll do something with it for sure, but just like a Christmas tree, we'll probably end up leaving it out for a few days at least.
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After a day like that, I am exhausted. I've been up for over twenty hours now. I tiredly take a shower and head off to bed.
To sum up our year so far, I'd say that it's going pretty well with all things considered. There hasn't been too many out of the ordinary things since the turn of the decade. Although, there is one thing that worries me for the near future...
It was something that I overheard while at work a few days ago, something about a contagious virus spreading in a part of China. Apparently, it's been around there since last year and it shows no signs of slowing down. I think they call it COVID-19? I don't really know a whole lot about viruses aside from the little that I remember from high school, but I do know that there's no reason to believe that it'll stay put. If the world doesn't do something soon, I'm not so sure what might happen. From what I heard, it isn't that deadly, at least for the young and healthy, which I'd like to think still includes me.
At the end of the day, I'm probably just overthinking it. After all, if it was really a serious threat to our country and the rest of the world, then the leaders would have done something about it by now. Sometimes you just have to trust those who lead. We wouldn't be where we are now without them.
I shake that thought out of my mind, not wanting to spoil the good vibes of the day. I've always lived my life one day at a time, and for now, I see no reason to stop. No matter what happens, everything will be alright as long as Dashie and I have each other.