Destiny Sparkle

by Spirit Guide

Restoring in Remembrance Pt. 1

I am not a morning pony. At least, not in this world.

This particular morning, I felt like a sack of rotten apples, despite having been surrounded by soft plush forms of my friends all night. When I woke up, I immediately turned over, only to fall out of bed and smack onto the carpeted living room floor. I looked up blearily at my bed and made an angry face, knowing that had I had fingers like Steven, I probably would have made a rude gesture at it. Not a good start to the day.

Since I was already up, I decided to get on with things. I dragged myself to the table and climbed into a chair. A bowl, spoon and a box of cereal were already on the table, put there by Steven last night. Activating my magic, I opened the fridge and retrieved the milk carton while simultaneously turning the box upside down and drowning my bowl in cereal.

My bowl filled, I tipped the carton over and spilled the milk onto the cereal mountain, giving little thought to why the milk was orange this morning. For all I knew, it was a variant like chocolate or coffee. Humans have weird taste in milk.

I ate my breakfast in weary silence, making silent excuses for everything that felt off about my cereal that morning. I don’t recall it ever being that tangy, but I was too tired to care.

When I’d finished scooping up the last cereal pieces from the table, I put my bowl in the sink and went to the couch. After a few minutes of stillness and blinking, my eyes strayed to the grandfather clock and strained to read the time.

Ten twenty-one!

Any exhaustion I felt evaporated like ice in the Badlands. It was already late in the morning and Steven had probably gone to work by now. Heart pounding, I teleported from the couch all the way upstairs and bucked open Steven’s bedroom door, only to find his bed empty and neatly made.

Meadow muffins!

A made bed and an empty house means that Steven’s already gone out to work. While the thought of being alone wasn’t nearly as bothersome as before, Steven’s absence in the morning still spelled trouble; it meant no morning talks by the fireplace, no cuddles and–

No bellyrubs.

That last one hit me hard. Were I anything like Rarity, I would have pulled the couch right over to where I stood and promptly fainted on it. As it was, my pout felt pretty taut. This is going to be a crummy day, I thought to myself. Already, the morning is a dump. Then I heard the singing.

Five days of endless storming, harsh weather, wind and rain
But right out of reality, someone to end its reign
A scholar, hue of purple, magic under her control
and combined with the will to read and write down any scroll

Forget ice in the Badlands. All my previous stacked feelings took leave like Rainbow Dash during cider season. Following the direction the familiar-yet-new song came from, I located the door leading to the backyard of the house. A key was stuck into the door’s keyhole, turned and unlocked.

As I put my hoof on the handle of the back door, I remembered another of the things Steven had instructed me about. “If you find the need for some fresh air and the window’s not doing it well enough, take the back door in the living room. It leads to the backyard.”

“Isn’t that still outside?” I had replied, though hopeful it could still work out. “Couldn’t I be seen?”

“The backyard is fenced and walled in, higher than in front. Also, since we’re on the edge of town, the likelihood of someone passing by and seeing you is a good thousand-to-one.”

The numbers hadn’t reassured me at the time, as there was always that one that could lead to my being discovered. But it was quickly determined to be a silly estimation and that the reality was that the wall would have to be broken or scaled to get in.

My mind settled, I opened the door and looked out. The backyard was about twice the size of the front yard and even though the hurricane had ended weeks ago, the plants hadn’t managed to renew their probable former lushness: bushes stood as little more than stripped roots; trees hung with bare branches; clumps of small shoots sprung up where once might have been beautiful flowers.

And in the center of it all was Steven, digging at the ground with a trowel.

That was really all I needed. My legs carried me over the yard as fast as my heart would let them, and I threw myself onto Steven’s back. “HEY YOU!” I sang out as we pitched forward into the dirt.

“Oof!” Steven landed flat on his front, his face planting itself in a patch of new grass. He blew a few blades out of his face. “Morning, yourself.”

“Sorry, sorry.”

I teleported unnecessarily off Steven’s back beside him, and waited impatiently for him to get back on his knees. His face was bright and cheerful, although a little dirty from his fall just now. Overall, it was Steven, but he was out of place.

“Steven, what are you doing home?” I asked the obvious question. “You’re usually at work by now; I… I was worried I’d missed you.”

He gave me an amused look. “Twilight, it’s the weekend.”

“The….. the weekend?”

“Yeah, the weekend,” Steven repeated. “That time when I don’t go to work and we get to stay home all day.”

I let the information sink in, allowed the realization to settle. All that time getting worked up was for nothing. Steven was still around, not at work, and most likely ready to spend the whole day with me.

Best news all morning.

Glomp

“Oof!”

Steven grunted again as he want sprawling into the dirt, this time with me on his chest. I brought my face close to his. “Next time, don’t let me get worked up like that. I genuinely worried.”

“Okay, okay, sorry,” he said, holding up his palms. “I’ll do better next time, alright?”

I gave a short nod, my muzzle almost touching his nose. “All right.”

“Great. And, uh, I don’t mean to be rude but why does your breath smell like orange?”

“Huh?” I did the classic breath-test and found that mine did indeed smell like fresh citrus. “I don’t know. I didn’t have orange juice this morning; just cereal with milk.”

“Did you?”

I replayed the morning, thinking back to my trance-like breakfast. The details of the milk carton escaped me and I didn’t remember seeing that cow on the side. I ran my tongue all over my mouth, coming away from my teeth with teeny tiny transparent pieces of citrus, and then let it sink in.

“I, um uh…. I may have gotten a little bit mixed up after just waking up,” I said embarrassedly, rubbing my leg.

Steven’s mouth tilted into a coy curve. “Hope it tasted good.”

“A little tangy, to be honest.”

“At least that’s breakfast out of the way. Now we can get to work.”

He picked up his trowel and went back to attacking the ground. I was quick to inquire. “What are you doing?”

“Digging a hole in the garden. I have a plan in mind for today involving it.”

“But…” I leaned up on his back and put my head on his shoulder. “We didn’t have our morning cuddles yet.”

Steven lifted his head and smiled. “Tell you what, Twilight: I’ll tell you my plan while we have our morning cuddles right now.”

“Yes!” I leapt around and pronked back into the house. Steven followed and closed the back door, joining me on the couch. I waited for him to sit down and draped myself over his legs when he did, using my magic to pull over some of my plushies to cuddle with us. Steven ran his fingers gently through my mane, and then he started to explain.

“My mom was a big fan of nature and its beauty. She prided herself on beautifying every aspect of her surroundings that she could. This ultimately led to her part-time gardening job. The plants just grew from there, literally.

“Of all the gardens Mom worked on, hers was undoubtedly the best. She gave it her all wherever she worked, of course, but when it came to her own turf it was like magic. Plants flourished and bloomed in every natural color, trees bore their fruit in great quantities and the shrubbery was solid. The garden was heaven.”

“Your mom sounds like a really hard worker,” I said.

“She was, and so careful in it too.” Steven slid his hand up my neck and started scratching my ear, earning an appreciative sigh from me. “When I looked out the window after the hurricane and saw the garden in its apocalyptic state, a part of me seemed torn; the part of me that misses them, now and forever.”

I didn’t reply. I couldn’t. What Steven was describing was so far beyond my studies and I had no experience in it. I couldn’t begin to fathom how he felt. But after all we've been through together, I knew he wasn’t a person who was letting it rip him apart, to be forever alone and cold. “The garden is like a monument, then.”

Steven smiled. “That’s certainly how I think of it as; her last gift to me. I tended to the garden, as Mom had before me, keeping it clean and fresh. The hurricane blew all that away and now I seek to recreate what once was: my mom’s last garden.”

I looked at Steven with admiration. His reverence for his parents was greater than I could comprehend and absolutely blew me over. Although they were no longer with him, he held them in the highest regard and sought to preserve their memory in the best way he knows.

“That’s it, then.”

“It? That’s a fair bit more than just it, Steven,” I retorted. “You’re looking to remake what was all for the memory of someone you love.” I was careful with my words, concerned that I might unbalance a hidden feeling. “That’s about as great a choice as can be made.”

“Speaking of which, I should probably get back to it.”

It took me a few seconds to get what Steven was hinting at but when I did, I went ballistic. All this time, through all my personal needing, I had been preventing Steven from rebuilding the monument to his mother. In my frantic fit, I activated my magic and teleported myself and Steven back into the yard. For me, it was as normal as scratching your ear or wiping your nose, but Steven reacted quite differently.

Plop

Falling backwards was an action I was used to dealing with so I was quick to respond, moving myself underneath Steven as he toppled over. He was a bit heavy so I quickly let him down on the grass. His expression was dumbfounded and awestruck.

“We just teleported…”

Oh man, I hope he’s not disconcerted. I gave him a non-too-hard slap on the cheek. “Steven, are you okay?”

He was still for a moment, then nodded. “Just…. just got surprised by it,” he muttered, looking down at his hand. “I’m wondering if the reason I was able to teleport with you at all is because I have magic of my own.”

“Never had a problem like that before,” I replied.

“Maybe I’ll be able to teleport by myself one day.”

I had to laugh. “After a lot of practice. Now, don’t we have a memorial to replant?”

“Yes, yes we do.” Steven led me to a hidden compartment in the backyard wall. Inside were different gardening tools, including spades, rakes and watering cans. “We have all the tools we need, but we’re missing the most important thing: plants and seeds to grow. My mom always had her own on hand, but….. it all declined since her passing.”

“Then we just have to get new plants and seeds, and maybe some fertilizer too,” I said, suggesting with what little I knew about gardening. “Do you know where we could get all that?”

“I know,” Steven answered, his face split into a smile, “and so do you.”

I took a minute and was soon smiling right along with him. “Pachy Sandra!” Of course, the female fellow-fan florist. she was sure to have all that and more! But then a new problem crossed my mind. “How will you get everything here, Steven? Pachy’s shop isn't exactly a hop, skip and a jump away.”

Steven looked back at the house, smiling. “I’ve got a plan in mind for that, too.”

“So we’re all set then?”

“Mostly, but I had another idea: while I go and get the plants and such, you could already start digging the holes for everything. Would you be okay with that?”

“Would I?!” It felt silly Steven would even think I wouldn’t! “You just tell me where you want what, how wide and how deep, and it’ll be done before you get home.”

My human friend beamed and ruffled my mane. “Thank you, Twilight. You’re the best friend I’ve got here.”

“If by ‘here’ you mean the house, you may as well add ‘only’ too,” I said happily, pronking after Steven with a spade handy. Then came fifteen minutes of discussion and decision, in which Steven explained to me his wishes and instructed me in the art of beginner’s gardening. In all he told me, I found nothing that I could tweak and make better; Steven was so adept and sure on the matter.

“That should be everything,” he said at last. Indeed, the yard looked ready to be worked, with X’s of varying size marking the places where holes were to be dug. “I know you’ll be okay.”

“You know me well enough,” I guaranteed, resting the spade against my shoulder like a pro. “I’ll take care of the digging; you just go put your plan for getting all the seedlings and plants here into action.”

“Don’t worry, Twilight; I’ve confidence in the plan.”

I followed Steven into the house and, after he had retrieved his wallet, escorted him to the door and wished him luck. As he passed the boundaries of the front yard, he set off at an easy run up the street and into town.

I should have plenty of time to dig out all those holes before he gets back, I figured. But I’m not going to procrastinate; I’ll do the digging first and if there’s time left over, then I’ll have some fun.

So after making sure the front door was locked, I returned to the back garden and set to work. Wielding spades and shovels with my magic as I would books, I broke into the crust of the earth and scraped out the soil within the marked spots, pitching the dirt over my shoulder into a heap in the middle of the yard. I grabbed the old dead plants and ripped them out of the ground with my magic, tossing them into a separate pile. As I worked, I sang a continuation of the parody Steven had been singing earlier.

It’s time for us to recreate all the things that once were
A monument to withstand time, just like it was before
My friend needs help, there’s much to do, better do all I can
Fortunately, I’m the right pony to lend a helping hand

"Or hoof. You understand."

Garden Dig Up, Garden Dig Up
Holes for every plant and seed
Garden Dig Up, Garden Dig Up
Steven's words, I shall heed
By example, he does lead

Changing the words to the Winter Wrap Up song felt funny, but fun too. Now I understood why fans did it. With the parody in the making, I continued to dig, dig and dig out the marked spots. After finishing two thirds of the job, the repeated actions were beginning to tire me out so I took a break, resting on the mound of soil I'd dug up.

"What a beautiful day," I murmured to myself. And it was: the sun was shining, the few clouds rolled across the sky and a gentle breeze blew about the loosest of debris. I could feel the soft cool dirt beneath me get stuck to my back and my mane, but I didn't care. My only interest was completing my duty of hole digging before Steven returned.

And, maybe, noticing the tree.

It was really only out of the absolute corner of my eye that I caught sight of it but, hooves down, it was there. Nothing special, really: like all the other trees, it had been stripped of all its leaves and/or fruit and looked quite sad. But for some reason, just the sight of the huge, bare, solitary plant made my head itch. I just wanted to let out all my magic, to hug the tree with all my inner might, to force it back into its chlorophyllic plumage.

What is with this tree? I wondered. Very few possibilities came to mind; heck, I only lived inside the Golden Oak Library so unless that old place had left some mark on me, this whole situation was just plain weird. What kind of a plant is it to make me so crazy?

Eventually, I found myself shelving the issue for when Steven came home, hoping that he would have at least one answer for me, instead deciding to return to my job. Time seemed to fly while I was absorbed in my work, but I felt my calculations to be accurate. Steven left approximately thirty-four minutes ago. In that much time, he could probably arrive at Pachy's shop and pick out all the different plants and flowers he wants for the garden. But I still don't know how he intends to bring it here.

Brrrrrrrrrrvvvvvvvvvvvvvmmm

Author's Note:

Wonder how quick I can come out with more chapters if I cut them up

Comments

[Texus]

aaahhhh it's this story, now I remember, but what's with the anthro tag? since when is that there? I always imaged her as a Pony, and I kind of hope this only means that she is going to transform into one sometimes. Sometimes I just prefer the regular ponys.

[Spirit Guide]

7198044 Anthro tag is there, but not yet used in the story. She's been a pony since Chapter 1