Dear Applejack

by Captain of the Guard

Final Goodbye

Applejack’s hooves creaked on the floor as she approached the staircase, tossing the old mare who was knitting in a chair a smile and nod. The clicking of needles ceased, as the white maned mare met her eyes.

“Dearie,”

“Yessum.”

“I wanted to give you this in person.” She took a letter from her lap in her hoof. “It’s the last letter your father wrote.”

She hesitated for a moment, her hoof shaking, and the mare accepted the letter. “Thank ya, Granny.” She was not enthusiastic. “I’ll take a look.”

Granny Smith nodded with a smile, resuming her knitting. As Applejack made her way up the stairs, “Applejack?”

“Yeah Granny?”

“If you ever want to talk, sweetie...”

“Thank you Granny, that means a lot to me.” Applejack smiled, comforted by her grandmother’s care. The click of needles resumed, and Applejack made to her room.

Sighing, Applejack blew a strand of hair from her face. She opened the letter, although she so greatly did not want to read it. This would be the last letter from her father, and she would miss them. She missed him. It read:

Dear AJ,

The last hour of my life is waning, and I am at peace. I know that you will do great things, my dear, and that the love that your mother and I held for you was all that we could really give, although you deserve so much more. Many ponies live their lives trying to form a legacy, trying to make a mark on the earth so that they will be remembered. I never cared for such a thing, but I ended up with the most magnificent and beautiful legacy that anypony could even dream of: you. I am so proud of you, and I love you more than you will ever know.

My life has been a complicated one ever since I met your ma. She was everything to me, and when I lost her, I indeed lost almost everything. I lost her long before she died, though. I lost her because of my own mistakes, and I dragged her into the self dug grave with me. When I wrote to you the other day I was distressed. I wanted to tell your mother so many things, and I never got that chance. Now, I don’t think any of that matters. Maybe I’m just being hopeful, but I think your ma knew how much I loved her in the end. The only thing that I wish weren’t so is that young Applebloom will never know her parents. Poor girl, she doesn’t deserve that pain. At least she as you and your brother, and your Granny. Hell, that’ll be more than enough for anypony.

You will always be the little filly that I held in my arms so long ago, and in the waning of my life all that I see is your beautiful eyes staring up at me, smiling that grin that I adore. It’s a sight that I would not trade for anything in the world. I would tell you to be strong, once I’m gone, but hell, you’re the strongest mare I ever did meet. You and your brother don’t need me to give you strength, that’s for sure. I would ask of you to take good care of your family, but I already know you’ll be everything they could ever ask for, because that’s what you were to me. So the only thing I ask of you in my parting is that you live your life better than I did.

Once, a few years back, when we playing out in a field, you told me that you were afraid of losing me. I told you that when the time finally came, you’d know it was the right thing. Now, you’re probably telling yourself that my death is unfair, unjust, and that I don’t deserve to die. I think this is a good way to go, writing to my daughter. So please don’t cry over my death for too long. You don’t deserve to suffer a loss this early in your life, I understand that, but it’s entirely my fault that I’m dying. It’s all my fault. I’m paying the price, darling, and I hope you understand that I’m doing so with a grin and with fond memories of my life. Hell, there’s a lot of not so fond memories, but I don’t need to hold onto those, and neither do you.

I love you, dear. I love you and your siblings and your ma, and nothing has ever or could ever change that. I know all this time I’ve been saying that I wasted those years, but that ain’t fair. Not a single day with you in my life is wasted, and so now I see that all those years had some light in them. Not a whole lot of light, but a light brighter than the sun. I’m watching the sunrise this very moment, as the wind in my mane grows warmer. I belong in this here country, and no hospital ponies are gonna tell me otherwise. The sun’s light is flooding gold the fields of green before me, and I bask gladly in that light. My death is the sun. My death is bright and warm, because my love is strong enough to capture my every thought and will. Remember that, my dear daughter, there’s another rise of the sun, and you don’t want to miss it. Tell your brother that he’s the greatest son that ever was born, and that I love him and I’m so proud of him and I know he’s gonna be a great stallion. Greater than I ever was. Tell your sister, Apple Bloom, that I loved her so much, and that I am so, so sorry that I couldn’t be there. Tell my ma that she was the best darn mother in Equestria, and a true hero the the Apple family. Thanks for taking care of the kids, ma. Thanks for everything.

So let this be our final goodbye, my dear. I can’t say if your ma and I will be watching over you, or anything equally hopeful. In fact, all I really know for sure is that I love my family. I think that’s enough, though. Thank you for everything, my daughter, and know that I go in peace and in joy.

Pa

I love you.

Applejack, her eyes welling with tears, drew a piece of parchment from her nightstand, followed by a quill and inkwell. She began to write.

Dear Pa,
I love you so much, and you and Ma were the most amazing parents I could ever imagine, so don’t you think otherwise. I should be mad at you for putting me to tears like this everyday, but I guess I’ll have to forgive you. I don’t care what mistakes you made. I love you, and you were so much better of a father than you think. I love you so much. Thank you for this, Pa. Thank you for everything. I wouldn’t be the mare I am if it weren’t for you and Ma. I love you.

A tear dripped onto the paper.

I’ll take care of Macintosh and Bloom, I promise. I’ll take care of the farm, and I’ll keep everything in place. We got a new addition to the family, y’know? Winona’s her name and she’s the cutest darn dog you’d ever see. Granny Smith is doing good, just as energetic and sweet as ever. I would write more, but I just realized that there’s no way I can send this to you.

Applejack laughed audibly at her realization, then sniffling as more tears fell.

So yeah, this'll be our final goodbye, unless I see you again. If I do, we have a lot to talk about Pa. I love you too.
Applejack

Comments

[SuperPinkBrony12]

That ending.

[Sketch D Tail]

You beautiful man, that was such a good story. Many manly tears have been shed from this story, I salute you.

[Captain of the Guard]

Thanks to everyone. They'll be more stories to come, many of which sad. I'm thinking of doing a sequel with letters to Applebloom.

[Alcher Shinz]

Thank you very much for this touching story. I know that I haven't commented on any of the other chapters, but that was only because this was impossible for me to stop reading long enough to do so. I wanted to say a few things that I thought throughout reading this.
1. DAMN YOU FOR WRITING THIS STORY! It was brilliantly done, making it even harder to read.
2. Ever since my father died four years ago, there have been very few occasions, less than can be counted on one hand, that I have cried. Ever since his death, I have been able to feel everything, but not cry. I had pretty much shut down that emotion to stop the pain.
3. I didn't know that it could rain indoors, and right now, it's a maelstrom.
4. One reason that I truly enjoyed this was because this closely resembles my family. My parents would bend over backwards to help those who needed it. They were always cheerful and let us (me and my younger brother of five years) make our own decisions, in most instances at least.
5. Another reason that this story impacted me so much is because my father was an alcoholic. He didn't really so this, but he drank every night and, thankfully, never went into a drunken rage. From what my mother has told me, she even got to the point where she was ready to file for divorce.

I greatly appreciate the obvious effort that you put into this story, and I look forward to reading more of your works.

[Captain of the Guard]

2862856
Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it. I hope the story did not upset you, though.

[Alcher Shinz]

2876338 Not in the slightest. It was a great story and very touching. I thank you for daring to write something as controversial alcoholism and doing so as well as you did.

[JSAR1562]

I'm an alcoholic. 125 days sober. And I'm balling like a baby. This could have so easily been me. This is millions of people's reality. It hurts so good. Idk if I should hate you for making me cry or admire and adore how much pain you put in so little paper.