Through Crimson Eyes

by Level Dasher

Chapter 13: The Letter

Mom poked her head through the doorway. “What was THAT about?”

“Don’t ask.”

“Don’t ask.”

“Do you want me to go talk to her?”

I thought about the looks Tess had been giving her lately. I decided it was probably a bad idea. “No, it’s okay. She’ll probably come back in a minute. Just let her blow off the steam.”

Mom shrugged. “Well, okay. I’m out here on my computer if you need me.”

“Sounds good.”

As Mom shut the door, I propped my face on my hooves and sighed. I heard Starry do the same, but his sigh sounded slow and heavy. It had an air of relief about it, but a hint of worry as well. “Good, she’s gone.”

I cocked my brow at him. “Huh? Why is that good?”

“Oh, I don’t mean it that way. It’s just… now I can tell you what I really talked about with Miss Turner.” The tone in his voice made me wary.

He trotted up to my window and looked out of it for a moment before he turned back around to face me.

“Miss Turner’s really worried about you, Crimson. When I talked to her at lunch, aside from congratulating me for getting my mark, she took the opportunity to really talk to me about you. I would have told you about this sooner, but when she told me to let you rest, I figured I could just tell you today.”

“What does this have to do with Tess being gone?” I asked him.

“Well, I didn’t really want her to hear this. Especially now that I know she finally opened up to you.”

“Dude, you sound a little too serious for my taste.”

“Yeah, I know, with good reason.” He sighed again. “You remember Miss Turner’s cousin, right? The one that gave you the Crusaders book? Well, it turns out his daughter had cancer, too. She—”

”Wait… had?”

His lips pursed into a flat line and he nodded. “…Yeah. Miss Turner doesn’t keep that much contact with her cousin, so she didn’t know until recently. He told her about it when she asked him for a copy of the book. I could tell she was trying really hard not to cry when she told me her cousin’s daughter didn’t make it.”

It felt like a buck to the head. I didn’t know how to respond; I just looked off into space until Starry spoke again.

“Actually, I don’t know if I should’ve told you that. Miss Turner clearly knew that Tess and I were going to see you today. This is from her; she might have wanted to tell you herself.” He took an envelope with my name on it out of his saddlebag and gave it to me. “Go ahead and see what that is. I’ll go find Tess.”

“Alright. Hopefully she doesn’t want to hurt us for not telling her we knew. Be careful— you know that filly can be a hard hitter, magic or not.”

“Oh yeah, I know.” He trotted out the door, leaving me alone with Miss Turner’s note. I opened the envelope and unfolded the familiar stationary.

Crimson—

I had a conversation with Starry yesterday. I congratulated him on earning his cutie mark, which he told me you helped him acquire. The logic behind his explanation was quite interesting— we spoke at length about it. I am pleased at how humble you are, but I believe there may be a hint of truth in Starry’s reasoning. You do seem to have played a big part in helping him realize his talent. If he wishes to credit you, I would allow him to do so. He seems to have taken joy in the fact that one of his closest friends helped him obtain his cutie mark, despite the conditions.

Starry also told me that you appear to be taking your new situation quite well; I’m glad to hear that. I have something I want to tell you, but I must ask you not to tell anypony else of this. Starry is the only exception: I told him myself because I needed to relay it to somepony for my own sake, and I know how close you two are.

When I first spoke to my cousin about getting you a copy of The History of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, I told him the basics of your condition; I had a feeling he wouldn’t get a copy of the book for just any random student. Considering how open you’ve been with your classmates about your medical history, I hoped you wouldn’t mind. I would have asked you first, but I wanted the book to be a surprise.

I was still expecting some resistance from my cousin when I made the request for the book, but I was taken aback when he immediately agreed to get you a copy. Then he told me something that I was not prepared to hear.

My cousin’s daughter, who is barely a year or two older than you, was diagnosed with Acute Neighloid Leukemia last year. I fear that the more I write about it, the more upset I may become, so I will skip to the point: she is unfortunately no longer with us.

The reason I was able to hoof-deliver your thank-you note to my cousin is because he requested that I visit him this weekend. He needed to speak with somepony about his loss. After a long conversation, he asked me to tell him a little more about you. I told him about who you are as a pony, not as a patient. He wrote a message to you, but I have a feeling it would be hard to read with the wet splotches on it, so I am ending my letter by copying what he wrote to you below.

His letter is painful for me to write, and may be hard for you to hear, but I think it is something important for you to understand. My cousin told me I could change some of it as I saw fit if it sounded scary for you. However, with all you’ve been through, I believe you are mature enough to truly understand exactly what he has written.

Feel better soon. Everypony misses you, including Brick and Boulder. Brick even asked me where he could get some dye for his mane!

—Miss Turner

“Dear Crimson Star,

My name is Tall Tale. Your teacher, Miss Page Turner, is my cousin. She told me about your battle with cancer. For your privacy’s sake, I did not ask her for too much detail regarding your history, as I know all too well how painful this process can be.

My daughter, Quick Quill, was diagnosed with cancer last year as well. She was barely older than you. She fought hard, but it pains me tremendously to say that she lost the battle. I tell you this because as her fight became harder and harder, I noticed a change in my daughter that I do not want your family and friends to see in you.

As my daughter neared the end of her battle, it appeared to me that she had stopped trying to fight. She became distant, and did not seem to care what happened to her anymore. While I encouraged her to fight on, she seemed to have simply accepted her fate. She had given up hope, something that I never dreamed she would have done.

Based on what my cousin has told me, you are a brave soul with a strong heart and mind. You have many friends and a solid family to support you. Not only for your own sake, but for theirs as well, do NOT give up hope. My daughter failed to realize that hope was crucial to succeed in her battle. When she gave it up, it was not long before her battle ended.

A line from a film I saw many years ago sums up my message to you quite well. Just remember, Crimson: hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things. And no good thing ever dies.

I hope you are enjoying the book. It was an honor to obtain it for somepony like you.

Fight on.

—Tall Tale”

Don’t give up hope: Blackhawk said that, too. It could just be a coincidence, but these connections keep appearing. Maybe there is a reason for everything that’s happening…

Author's Note:

I'd like to thank Crystal Moose for allowing me to use Brick and Boulder from A Daughter and Her Dragon (which despite now being in MY story list, is still his baby, so he deserves the credit).

Another instance of one chapter being split in two. Hence the abrupt chapter start.

Comments

[Dreams of Ponies]

Ow... my feels, ughhh....

Also a really good note on the power of will and positivity

[Draco Dei]

What movie is that?

[Level Dasher]

9986772
That's a line from The Shawshank Redemption, which, metaphorically, is actually very appropriate for a story like this (like, almost to the letter, now that I think about it). It's a fantastic movie, and if you've never seen it, you absolutely MUST.

[Draco Dei]

9986796
Seen it. Liked it. Didn't remember the line.