A dull thud and a small cranial pain woke Ditzy; she grabbed her head in confusion and looked in every direction. She found an acorn to her left and sighed reassured. The beaming rays of sunlight hit her soft golden eyes; she shielded them warily as she looked on towards the horizon. The grassy plains were gently waving back and forth just as she had remembered. A cool breeze gently ruffled her feathers, doing just as it had always done every year.
She still felt the same trusty tree at her back, and it was reassuring to her. It was a piece of her childhood. She lowered her head for a moment and felt a familiar stinging in her eyes. That was correct... it was a piece of her childhood. And even though the thought would’ve been wonderful to anypony else, it was the one thing that had hurt her the most that day.
A grey Pegasus sits with her mother near a sturdy oak, gazing at the miracle of her new discovery. She had never seen anything like a bubble before, especially since she was always so sheltered. Dreamy Hooves blew another bubble for her daughter. They both gazed forward as the bubbles flew into the sunset. It was the second time this year that they had come to The Breezy Meadow, aptly named for being a breezy meadow. It was a special spot for the two of them, besides being right underneath Cloudsdale.
Dreamy Hooves felt a small nudge on her right forearm. She turned to her daughter and set their bubble-blowing tools down beside her. Ditzy Hooves’ eyes were more sullen than usual, and for once... they were straightened. They were focused right on her mother.
“Mommy, can I ask you something?”
Ditzy’s words were expressed with a pang of regret, and choked out in a small whisper. She put on her best reassuring smile, if only for her daughter’s sake.
“Yes, Ditzy?”
Her daughter sat silent for a moment. She opened her mouth every few seconds as if to voice her question, yet it never came out. It was only after about 30 seconds of silence that she finally said it.
“After a bubble... pops... where does it go?”
Ditzy held her hooves at her chest and looked towards the sun. She remembered why she was there, sitting leisurely at the oak tree and lounging around. Today was a special day. However, it wasn’t one of those special days that were celebrated. It was a special day that came every year for her. And, every year, it would arrive on the bittersweet scent of fresh bubble-soap, and bring back the haunting whispers of the past. Every year, it became harder to deal with the feelings she had for that day. Yet, she had never missed a single visit to the Grassy Meadow. It was only last year that she had ever missed the trip, and that was the day she had two sprained hooves.
A gentle breeze blew through her blonde mane. It reassured her, and with that, she had suddenly thought of the wind as a gentle caretaker. The moment reminded her of her mother, always gently running a hoof through her hair. As she turned her body to stretch, her left forearm bumped into a familiar object. It was a white cross sticking out of the ground. There were two of them, one to her right and the other to her left. Her eyes slowly ran over the markings and she recognized the words that were etched into them.
‘Dreamy Hooves, 1967-1996’
‘Hafted Hooves, 1966-1989’
Dreamy’s eyes widened for a moment. Then she smiled calmly and kept her gaze toward the fading sunset.
“Well... They all go to a special place... where everything is cool and fluffy, and where it’s never dark or scary. They go to a wonderful place, full of beautiful music and colors brighter than any rainbow you’ve ever seen.”
“They go to Cloudsdale...?”
“No, no silly...” She chuckled a bit at her daughter’s statement. It was perhaps the best guess she could’ve given.
“They go to the same place anypony and anything else goes to when... when they can’t stay in our world anymore.”
“You mean... everypony goes there when they’re gone? Is... Is daddy there too?”
A small tear escaped Dreamy’s eye, she nodded and smiled sweetly at her daughter.
“Yes, honey... They’re with Daddy now. So, whenever you blow a bubble... think of Daddy and how happy he’ll be, knowing how much you love him.”
She knelt down in front of the two graves and stared at them, she could feel her features reflecting her pain. She could feel the tears running down her cheeks. A small sob escaped her. It was hard coming here every year, but it was even harder to do what she was about to do next.
“H-Hi Mom... Hi Dad. I came here just like I do every year to- to see you. I had a little trouble coming here today... I... I almost didn’t show up. And I want to see you two, but... not like this.”
She wiped her tears away from her eyes and stayed silent for a few moments.
“It’s been 24 years since I last saw either one of you. Every time I come here... I... keep thinking of how much I miss you. And, how much...”
“How much I just want a happy family.”
Dreamy lay on the hospital bed, taking small breaths and trying to reassure her daughter. The doctors and the nurses were busy talking outside of the room. The small pitter patter of raindrops falling on the windows seemed so loud.
“Mommy, do- do you really have to go...?”
Ditzy’s eyes were reddened by the countless hours of crying and insomnia. She bore her face into her mother’s right shoulder. Dreamy ran her hoof through her daughter’s hair once more.
“Yes Ditzy... I... I have to go. I have to leave you... my precious, beautiful daughter. What hurts me the most is... is...”
The tears were running down both of their faces. Dreamy choked on her own sobs, feeling both pain in her chest and pain in her heart.
“Is that I won’t be able to be with you as you grow older... I’ll never be able to give you a happy life. Forgive me for... for leaving you.”
“B-but Mommy, it’s- it’s not your fault...”
Dreamy began bursting into a coughing fit, blood staining her hooves and the sheets.
“I... I love you, Ditzy. D-don’t ever forget...”
Her heart-rate was increasing, breaths becoming stilted and shorter each passing moment. Her daughter’s wailing began to fade away as her vision blurred.
“I love you too, Mommy! I’ll always love you...” The filly whispered in vain.
She hugged her mother once more, as tightly as she could have, and right when her mother returned the embrace... she was gone.
A stiff drink, a few heart problems, and a pack a day... that was all it took. That was all it took to deny Ditzy a happy life with her mother. She stared at the graves once more and suddenly realized that she was shaking. She had been coughing the entire time. There was some blood staining the grass below her. It’d only been 3 weeks since she stopped smoking. For the longest time, it was the only thing that would calm her nerves. Every year, the special day would come and she would have a few just to prepare herself.
She leaned against the oak, standing with a memory in her hooves. The smell of cigarette smoke filled her lungs as she turned her eyes toward the horizon. Her wings stiffly folded at her back. She had just flown 6 kilometers around the Breezy Meadow. Ditzy often had to tire herself out to stop the tears. It was around this time that she had also worked the hardest, usually leaving her friend Rainbow confused. Dash would always ask about how she delivered mail so fast, and then Ditzy would always reply that it was nothing at all... Her lit-cigarette silently landed on the ground, some embers bouncing off of the end and onto the grass.
She closed her reddened eyes for a moment and put the cigarette out with her hooves. Her eyes opened once more and she could see it. She could see the sunset. It was just as warm as she had remembered... the glowing ember orange of the fading sun, to the silent goodbyes of the dwarf star echoing throughout the fresh night sky. A familiar pain came to her eyes, but unlike all the other times, she had no more tears to cry.
“Mommy... so, can we ever see Daddy again...?”
Ditzy burrowed her snout into her mother’s chest. Dreamy sighed and pressed her cigarette against the tree’s trunk. She took a few moments to respond, gently running her hoof through her daughter’s mane.
“Well... we can always see him again. It’s just that...”
Her mother’s eyes furrowed slightly. There was a lump in her throat.
“It’s going to be a long, long time before we can see him again. You’ll be a big girl by then... and I’ll probably be too old to hear you.”
A small chuckle came from her, spreading a small smile on her tired face. There was so much she could say... but, she already had the perfect answer.
“But, when we do get to see him... We’ll all be together again. You, I, and Daddy... we’ll all be one big happy family.”
The bubble-soap fell down from the sides of her hooves and onto the silent greens. Ditzy felt her eyes shifting, from sad to sadder, to vulnerable, then finally to bittersweet and enlightened. The brisk autumn wind gently frizzled her blonde locks. With the warmth of the sun’s goodbye in her eyes and the soft embrace of the cool wind, she had found that everything was just right. The perfect moment, one that rang the bells of soft hymns and lullabies from nights spent in a breezy meadow... Her mother was the essence of the wind, and her father, the welcoming glow of the fading star.
She took her bubble-blowing set and prepared a slow, careful action... Only, this year, she could do it happily. The gentle breeze carried out the freshly made bubbles into the departing sun. They sailed away on a soothing, invisible river and into the warm glow. A tired smile crept onto her face as tears of joy fell over her rosy cheeks. She saw the beauty of the sunset... the beauty of the moment.
“And now, you can see how much I love you... from that special place...”
“Where the bubbles go.”