//------------------------------//
// Saturday 
// Story: Life Is like a Cookie Jar 
// by TheReaderAndWriter 
//------------------------------//

"I told you two that these were for my friends! They are coming over later today and I have nothing to give them with the tea!" shouted Sunny to her husband and daughter, although it might have been more appropriate to describe it as roaring. She was holding the almost empty cookie jar in her hooves. She looked absolutely furious and both Raindrop and Cloudy kept close to each other, both looking at the ground in slight shame. She had yelled at them for a good ten minutes.
"We're sorry," said both Raindrop and Cloudy in unison.
"First my husband almost dies, then my daughter spends the whole day somewhere with some boy I don't know, and now this? This has not been an easy start to the weekend," said Sunny, sighing heavily.
"Well, it's almost over," said Cloudy.
"Mom, we'll just buy some from Sugarcube Corner," said Raindrop. With her father fine, going back to that place was a lot easier for her. Still, it would always have a certain stigma about it. It would always remind her of just how close she had been to losing somepony close.
"I can't just buy something from there. I want to be able to say that these came from me. What am I going to do? Split this cookie amongst eight different ponies?"
"Next time maybe you should make them less delicious?" suggested Cloudy. Sunny's face could not have been more deadpan.
"If you wouldn't just have gotten out of surgery, I would hit you right on your head. But then again, maybe giving you brain damage wouldn't be noticeable," said Sunny. Cloudy chuckled, albeit nervously, at his usually loving if stern wife. Raindrop noticed he was sweating a little bit.
"It will be alright, we'll just go into town to do some shopping. We'll bake a new batch... heh, reminds me of what you said last night. About the oven," said Cloudy and chuckled a bit.
"Now is not the right time to talk about that," said Sunny. She had suddenly changed her tone of voice. From outraged, she was suddenly a bit fluttered.
"What's up?" asked Raindrop at the sudden change of atmosphere.
"Nothing, dear. Now, you and your father is going to go into town to do some shopping. You got it?" And it had changed back again.
"Yes, ma'am."
"Good. Now, I have to deal with some important matters. Doctor Heart said that stress wouldn't be harmful, so go, move out, right now. Now, now, now! You better be back in less than two hours, or at least one of you is sleeping on the couch tonight!" Both Raindrop and Cloudy rushed out of the door. They closed it and leaned towards it in a bit of relief.
"She's cranky today," said Raindrop.
"Well, she has a certain right to be, in more than one way if you ask me."
"She should be happy that you are alright."
"Hey, she is. She's just not good at showing her happiness. I blame your old grandfather. He never showed any emotion, always cold. he showed more emotion when in his grave on his funeral."
"Dad, none of my grandpas are dead."
"Oh, really? Wishful thinking I guess." Raindrop just laughed. Her father joined her as they both left their home to go into town.

As they both walked through the streets of Ponyville, Raindrop felt quite touched whenever somepony from her class or a worker at her father's job met them and congratulated them. Cloudy's work friends were just as relieved as Raindrop felt, clearly. Her classmates were very happy for her and Raindrop made sure to thank each of them with a big smile both for their concern and for the lovely gift they had made for her in school.
"I'll see you Monday!" said Raindrop to each and everyone of them cheerily. The latest pony she had said that to was Twist, but the last one she would say that to came along about an hour into their shopping.
"Why your mother would ask for some of these things is beyond me. How many shops in Ponyville sell socks?" asked Cloudy.
"There are shops that sell socks in Ponyville?" asked Raindrop surprised.
"Exactly!" said Cloudy. Suddenly something light and pointy gently hit Raindrop in the back of her head. She turned around and looked at something falling down to the floor, light as a feather. A paper airplane had hit her in the back of her head. Billy was standing not too far away from her. He was levitating a few papers in the air behind him and he had a relieved smile on his face. He actually seemed to have had trouble sleeping too.
"Hey. It's good to see your dad alright," said Billy.
"Hello, Folds. How are you? I see that my daughter has helped you with your little, well, your problem," said Cloudy and glanced at the several levitating papers. Billy looked at him a bit surprised.
"Wait? How am I? How are you? That's what should be asked!" said Billy.
"Oh, I'm mostly fine. Just trying to enjoy the day with my daughter, trying to ignore the headaches after the operation."
"It's not serious is it?" asked Billy. Raindrop looked up at her father, a bit worried.
"Well, not according to my doctor," said Cloudy.
"I'm surprised you aren't celebrating with your friends or something," said Billy.
"Well, to be perfectly honest, I'm a bit surprised too. I mean, my wife told my friend Tripper, and he should have told everypony else. It's weird, but I'm just happy they can relax a little bit."
"You should have, at least be given a balloon, or a flower," said Raindrop.
"I'm just happy that I get to spend another day with my family, sweetie," said Cloudy. Raindrop turned back to Billy, and she noticed the papers.
"So, Billy, why do you have the papers?"
"Well, my horn's acting up again. I'm not actually trying to make them fly, they are just sort of following me," said Billy.
"It still won't give up, will it?"
"Nope. Not a chance. Still, you know, life's been easier around the house. And my parent's are so happy I've started to develop my 'natural talent'. We both know I don't have any. It's all thanks to you, Rainy. Thank you," said Billy.
"Hey, I just gave you a push, Billy. You did all the hard work yourself."
"Well, still, pretty big push," said Billy. Raindrop smiled. " So what do you want for it?"
"What?"
"What do you want for everything you've done? I don't have much, but whatever it is, it's yours," said Billy.
"Well, how about you get my dad a flower? I want him to get one," said Raindrop. Suddenly Billy seemed to consider something at her request, and after a little while he pulled one of the papers to the floor in front of him. He sat down on the ground, and with some magical pushes, some pulls and folding after folding, a piece of paper flowed up to in front of Raindrop. It was folded, quite nicely so, into a paper flower.
"Is this okay? Sorry, but it's everything I can really make," said Billy a bit unsure. He seemed to almost be ashamed that he couldn't give something more.
"Well, it's, it's... it's great!" said Raindrop. It wasn't just nicely done, if it would have been red paper, it could have been mistaken for a genuine rose. She was actually at a loss of breath. "It's beautiful," said Raindrop.
"I've never seen something like that. I think, I think that's called 'origami'," said Cloudy, he too impressed.
"Origami? Folding paper things is a thing?"
"It's an art form, I think," said Cloudy.
"Do something else! Do a bird!" said Raindrop. Billy didn't even seem to think, a piece of paper just flowed in front of him, and without even thinking he started to fold it and twist it with both magic and hooves. In front of their eyes, a swan emerged from the paper. Quickly turning from just a mere piece of paper to actual art.
"Wow, this is kind of fun! I'll see if I can make a pony now," said Billy. He did just that. Once he was finished, he used another piece of paper to make something else. Nopony told him to do something, he just silently got to work. He made a dragon, then a tree, then another swan, a little house and he just didn't stop. He didn't seem to want to.

This kept going for a good twenty minutes. For every paper that Billy Folds folded, his smile seemed to get wider, his eyes lit up more and more, and his horn stopped making the pieces of paper float. Once he had used up every piece of paper an entire little origami model of Ponyville was just there in front of them on the floor. He had even managed to attract a bit of a crowd.
"You know, this is some quality work," said Cloudy.
"Billy?" asked Raindrop.
"Yeah?"
"I noticed it a few minutes ago but didn't want to say anything. You've earned your, well, your mark of mastery," said Raindrop and pointed at his flank. Billy actually spent less time examining the mark, a paper rose, than he did his own horn. When he looked Raindrop in the eyes, she noticed that they were a bit watery.
"I think it's over. No more horn, no more bad stuff. It's over!" yelled Billy, basically pouncing Raindrop to embrace her. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, you're super! Thank you!" cried Billy in joy. Raindrop was blushing to a ridiculous degree, but she also felt pride. She was happy for him, she was proud of her friend, she was proud of herself. After a horrible day, life was good again.
"Well, we better celebrate, right?" said Cloudy.
"Yeah!" said Billy. He was a bit ecstatic. "I mean, not my mark, that you're fine, of course," said Billy, realizing how much he had lost his cool.
"We should do both, at the same time. Billy, why don't you go to our house and tell Sunny that we'll be having a bit of a party? We'll just get the last of the things on our list and we'll be right back home to start it," said Cloudy.
"I will, sir!" said Billy just a bit too loud before runnings towards the door. He stopped in his track, ran back to Raindrop, hugged her again and then continued towards the door, giggling like a lovable maniac.
"Today might just be a good day after all, despite everything," said Cloudy, smiling at the young foal's joy.
"I think it will be," said Raindrop.

"That just took forever," said Raindrop. They were on the path leading up to their home, finally done with everything. They were holding bags with all sort of things in them, actually, some of the items in the bags just didn't seem to belong there. The flour and sugar made perfect sense considering the lack of cookies. But the toys, blankets, buckets, wooden spoons  and comic books just didn't belong there. Raindrop couldn't even consider any significant need for any of it in their home. Finding some of the more obscure things had taken hours, and the sun was on it's way down, painting the landscape in a golden reddish hue.
"It was just nice getting out of the house. Sunny needs a little time to herself to calm down after all of this. I'm surprised that you are doing so well. Considering."
"I'm just glad that you're okay, dad. But I was really scared."
"I would have been even more surprised if that wouldn't have been the case. But, dear, I need to talk to you about something, it's about my condition," said Cloudy. They were right outside the door when Cloudy put down the bags and turned to his daughter. He got down to her level and looked her in the eyes. "Listen, dear..." He didn't seem to be able to find the words, but after a moment he seemed to have settled on something. "I need you to understand that this could very well happen again."
"Come on, it won't," said Raindrop. Her voice sounded just a little bit too frightened. "It won't," said Raindrop, adding a bit more confidence in her voice. It couldn't happen again, she felt like she absolutely, somehow, wouldn't allow it.
"It might. It just might."
"But mom said the doctor said that-"
"Don't listen to him, listen to me. If I ever get ill, or something happens to the family, I need you to be strong, alright? I need you to be stronger than you ever have been, ever. If it happens, can you do that?"
"It won't," said Raindrop, she felt a tear running down her cheek.
"If it happens, will you promise me to be strong? All I need to know is that you will be strong, whatever happens, alright?" asked Cloudy. He was serious, more serious than Raindrop had ever seen him before. He let out a deep sigh, and then he dried her cheek with one of the blankets they had bought. Raindrop lowered her face, she just wanted to stair at his hooves more than anything in that moment. "Hey, it doesn't matter right now. Let's just, let's just try to enjoy the rest of the evening, alright?" asked Cloudy. He picked up the bag and opened the door. It was dark inside. Just as Raindrop realized it was too dark, the lights turned on and almost blinded them.
"SURPRISE!" yelled over two dozen voiced at them. Ponies behind the couch, up the stairs, around the corners, behind the kitchen table. Cloudy's friends, from all over Ponyville, smiled at him and hugged him as he entered. Raindrop noticed how strange he looked. He seemed both terrified of the surprise, but also happy that they actually cared so much. Raindrop could see Billy holding up a sign saying 'congratulations' in the back. Sunny was on the couch, smiling at them both. Cloudy burst out laughing.
"You guys! I just got out out of the hospital, it's not a good idea to shock a patient!" said Cloudy and cracked a huge grin at their welcome.
"Cloudy, I'm just so glad I got to see you again," said Tripper. He walked up to his old friend and gave him a huge hug.
"Tripper, please, you don't need to make such a big deal out of it, also, you might be choking me," said Cloudy.
"Mom, did you do all this?" asked Raindrop, looking at all the decorations that was put up.
"I got some advice from a local party pony. She was possibly crazy, but she knew her festivities," said Sunny and drank a cup of tea from the table. She was smiling quite subtly.
"Thank you, honey," said Cloudy, still in Tripper's embrace, surrounded by his closest friends.
"I realized that despite...things, they should get to see you again," said Sunny, looking into the tea with a solemn look. She simply hated parties, well, not parties per se, more being part of a party. She enjoyed the thought of ponies having a good time just as anyone else would, but she didn't want to be part of it all. It wasn't music and dancing to her when it was that crowded, it was just noise and chaos. Sacrificing an evening of reading a good book with a bit of tea, just to make her husband happy. It was one of those things that had gotten them together in the first place. Raindrop started looking around. Some of Cloudy's family were there. Some of them must have come all the way from Canterlot. Both her uncles were there, as always, teasing their little brother. At least five ponies Cloudy knew from work was there. Raindrop was surprised to see Miss Cheerilee there too, but she didn't say much to her except a simple greeting. She noticed Billy, who was busy making some origami flowers for the decorations, in fact, on further inspection there was actually a lot of them around.
"Hey, Billy."
"Hey, Rainy! This is just so much fun," said Billy.
"I bet."
"But, while I like doing this, I have no clue what this can be used for. What good can this do? What kind of career can I use folding in?" asked Billy.
"Don't worry about it. If you can't find one, you'll make one, if you can't make one, you can always rely on that practical horn of yours," said Raindrop. Billy looked at his horn, and then he smiled at her.
"Yeah, that's true... My practical horn. I almost thought I'd never get to say that," said Billy. He looked relieved by just saying those simple words. Suddenly Cloudy caught everyone's attention from the middle of the room. It was with energy that he said:
"Well, everyone! Friends, family! It was a tough bump, and it just shows that life is precious! So please do me a favor. Let's party like tonight was the last night of my life! Because I love you all, and I don't want to have any regrets!" The response was a unified cheer, and somepony turning the volume of the music up. A quite lively night had started.
"So... do you want to dance, or something?" asked Billy. Raindrop turned around to face him.
"Do, do you really want to?" asked Raindrop.
"Well, yeah. It could be fun. Right?" asked Billy in a slightly shy tone.
"Yes. I'd love a dance," said Raindrop. Billy smiled and so did she.

The last rays of the setting sun no longer touching Ponyville did nothing to slow down the party. Ponies talked, danced, drank, laughed. Raindrop and Billy had gone up to Raindrop's room. The vibrations the music and dancing ponies could be felt clearer than the sound could be heard from downstairs.
"You have a really big room," said Billy as Raindrop introduced some of her dolls.
"Is yours smaller?"
"It's about twice the size of your closet, really," said Billy.
"But I can't barely fit in there," said Raindrop.
"I know."
"Well, it's all thanks to my mom and dad, but mostly my dad. If it wasn't for him, me and mom would probably live in a box. What does your parents work with?"
"My dad is an advisor on ancient laws... it's not a job that gets many customers. He's in a contract right now that says he can't take any other jobs for a while. He was really unlucky. Mom doesn't have a job, so she can't use her skills. It makes her a bit stressed."
"So that's why you have problems with money. That's awful."
"Yeah, but, being low on funds isn't really that bad. What's really bothering me is that dad's been a bit weird this month. Distracted, stressed."
"Is he in trouble?" asked Raindrop. She walked over to the windows looking outside, thinking she saw somepony approaching. 
"Maybe? I don't know. They were both a bit happier when I showed them my new mark of mastery, and that I have improved on magic. Don't worry, they didn't think it was odd," said Billy.
"Do they know you are here?"
"Yeah, I even invited them after asking your mom. She didn't mind, but dad sort of flipped out when I told him. I don't think he likes your dad."
"Why?"
"I don't know. It's my dad's problem."
"So, why is your dad on his way here?" asked Raindrop. Through the window she clearly saw a tall unicorn stallion walking up to their front door. She had never seen Billy's father before, but she didn't need to have seen him to understand who the unicorn was. He simply looked like an adult Billy, with a longer mane and a taller build. Raindrop couldn't help but to think that the stallion looked a bit handsome, even if he really could use a comb for his mane. Billy got up next to Raindrop and looked out.
"Dad? What's he doing here?"
"Maybe he really wanted to come to the party after all?" suggested Raindrop.
"I guess. I'm going down to meet him," said Billy. He hurried out of the room and down the stairs. Raindrop followed him. When she got out into the hallway she could see Billy standing at the bottom of the stairs, next to the corner to the kitchen. Raindrop walked down the stairs and asked why he spied on his father. "He and your dad is talking about something in there," said Billy. Raindrop peeked around the corner. Billy's father was talking to Cloudy right next to the freezer, and he looked strange. He was sweating nervously. Tripper was next to them both. Cloudy asked Tripper to leave. They were the only ones in the kitchen. The rest of the ponies had moved their party more towards the back of the house, partway out to the back garden.
"Listen, Mr. Folds, I want you to know that I'm not angry at you. I have absolutely nothing against you. I'm okay with what happened. I've accepted it. It's in the past."
"Nopony is that pure, nopony is that selfless. I know you are trying to get back at me, you're going to ruin my family. You'll make them take my little Billy away from me," said the other father with a terrified voice.
"Nopony is going to take away your son."
"Then why did you even tell me about what he did to begin with?"
"Because I know you are a smart pony, and a better father than most ponies think. You would have figured it out. I knew that you needed to know. I knew you would keep Billy learning magic a secret. After all, you love your son. I needed to soften the blow a bit, so you wouldn't lash out and in a rush of following the law, putting a colt in jail."
"So... this party isn't about you announcing my son committing a crime, but, then why are you doing this?"
"This wasn't my idea, it was my wife's. She know I needed this chance. In the end I'm glad they are all here. It's... it's my final goodbye. I've told everyone about how I feel about them," sighed Cloudy. He seemed... a bit content.
"Final goodbye?" asked Raindrop under her breath.
"So it's final. You're going to die?" asked Mr. Folds.
"I think that I can actually legally be declared as dead already. The magical energy of the disease has reached everywhere. My bone marrow is dead. It's far too late to make it." Too late... too late... too late... The words echoed in Raindrop's ears. At first she didn't understand, not because she was stupid, but because a part of her mind had such an iron grip on the earlier thought that 'he would be fine'. That idea was slowly dying, fading away, just like Cloudy. She started having trouble seeing her father clearly, because her eyes just seemed to fill up with silent tears.
"You seem to be taking it well," said Mr. Folds.
"Well, to be honest, death has never been scary to me, not my own at least. If it would have been my daughter I would have been so heartbroken and afraid I might have died anyway. I knew I had the sickness at the first symptom. I've told most that need to know it. Sunny knows, as do Tripper. There's just one more that needs to learn it."
"Your daughter."
"Yes. Her. I don't look forward to that awkward conversation," said Cloudy and looked out the window with a solemn look on his face. "The doctor was so proud. He's better than I'd like to admit, but he has probably never heard of this sickness, I'm honestly surprised I know about it. What they took out of my head could barely be called a symptom. But they did give me another day to take care of important matters. I really should have told my wife earlier, not while recovering for surgery." He looked at Billy's father. "Still, Folds, considering the circumstances, I can see why you think you owe me."
"I feel like I have a debt, yes. I was so afraid you would make me pay by-"
"Again, that's not going to happen. But if you really think you owe me something, then I want something really specific." Mr. Folds seemed to steel himself in his wait for the request.
"Anything, but I have little money."
"I want you to look after my family after I'm gone."
"What?" asked Billy's father.
"What?" asked Billy under his breath.
"I love them more than anything, and while my wife is strong, what lies ahead might be too much for her. My daughter is stronger than she thinks, but they might need some help on the way with what's coming. Do whatever you can to help them when they need it. Also, take it from me, spend as much time as you are able with your son now while you still can. I won't get to spend much more time with my daughter."
"I... I promise you, Day."
"That's good. It already was, but maybe you need to hear it for yourself. 'Everything is forgiven'," said Cloudy. He walked up to Folds, and put his hoof on his shoulder. Mr. Folds chuckled.
"For some reason I've never liked you up until now."
"Funny, I've always liked you."
"I suppose I was jealous." Cloudy laughed, and after a while Mr. Folds couldn't help himself but to join in.
"How can they laugh like that now?" asked Raindrop silently.
"Grown ups are weird," said Billy. "Rainy, I'm so sorry."
"I... I need some time alone," said Raindrop.
"Raindrop! Where are you, Raindrop? I need to talk to you!" shouted her father from inside the kitchen. Raindrop panicked. She just ran up the stairs, leaving a trail of tears as she ran. She was almost at her door when she heard something down the stairs. "Raindrop, I need to talk... talk to you, it's... ugh, it's impor... important..." Then she heard a large thud. She stopped in her tracks and turned around, a part of her knowing what she would see. In front of a horrified Billy, right on the first step of the staircase, Cloudy lied unmoving, blood seeping out from his mouth. Raindrop didn't have the willpower to yell her father's name, she barely had the power to stand.