Saying Goodbye

by Nerdz

The Hardest Part of Growing Up

Howdy! Mah name's Applebloom. Ah'm the President of the Ponyville branch of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, an' Ah live with mah brother, sister, and granny on our farm, Sweet Apple Acres. But, ya prolly knew that already. Lemme tell ya somethin' ya don't know. Ah, like most foals mah age, thought Ah knew everythin'. Ah thought that Ah could handle every challenge life could throw at me. Ah thought Ah was all grown up.

Ah was wrong

And Ah learned that in prolly the hardest way Ah could. Ah'm gonna tell y'all a story. A story about love an' loss, but mostly about growin' up.

***

It was Saturday evenin', an' Applejack was helpin' Granny Smith fix supper. Big Mac was still out the south field, the one near the road, with Fluttershy. She'd been there since Ah got back from crusadin' a few hours before. She'd told me that some 'a the Vampire Fruit Bats from our reserve had wandered out an' gotten themselves confused inta thinkin' that field was the reserve and refused to leave. Ah still had some time to kill before supper'd be ready, so Ah brought some paper down from mah room an' started writin' in the kitchen.

Ah love writin' a whole lot. Not enough to try to get a cutie mark outta it, but enough to work really hard at it. Applejack loves writin', and Granny told me that Mama did too. Ah don't really remember Mama an' Daddy too much. They went to live with angels when Ah was a baby. It doesn't bother me too much; it makes it easier on them to watch over us.

Anyway, Ah'm gettin' off topic.

Ah was workin' on a story Ah'd started a while back, about an orphan who'd gotten separated from her family an' didn't realize she was a princess. Winona, who'd been layin' underneath mah hooves, got up with a stretch an' a yawn an' walked over to the door an' scratched on it. Applejack walked away from the stove to let 'er out.

"All right girl, now don't ya be too long. It's gettin' dark." she'd said. Winona gave 'er happy pantin' grin an' trotted out the door.

Everythin' was purdy quiet after that. Ah was makin' good time on the chapter Ah was writin', an' Applejack an' Granny had supper 'bout done. It was then that Fluttershy knocked at the door. Ah wasn't payin' much attention; Ah only heard Applejack's half of the conversation.

"Oh hey, 'Shy. Thanks fer helpin' the bats. Come on inside an' fix ya a plate." there was a pause. "Okay, suit yerself." another pause. "What's up?" a third, longer pause, then mah sister's panicked voice. "WHAT!? Applebloom, stay in the house! I'll be right back!" then she was gone.

Ah looked at Granny. "Whaddya think that was about?"

"Ah dunno. Clear off yer stuff an' set the table."

A few minutes later, Big Mac came inside. He whispered somethin' to Granny, an' Ah heard 'er gasp. Then, he turned to me.

"Applebloom, ya need to come with me fer a minute."

Ah was more than confused by this point. "Okay, just lemme finish settin' the table fer-"

"Nnope, ya need to come on now."

Ah stared at 'im fer a second before settin' down the plate Ah was carryin' and followed 'im out the door. We walked in silence fer a few minutes, headed towards to road. As we got closer, Ah could see the lanterns hangin' off the front of a wagon on the side of the road. At ferst, Ah though there'd been a wreck, but Ah didn't see another wagon. Ah turned to mah brother.

"What happened?" Ah asked.

He turned to me with a serious look, the kind he gives me when Ah come home with a bad report card, or after a meetin' with Miz Cheerilee.

"Winona's been hit. Ah won't lie to ya; it's purdy bad. Ah figgered yer old enough to experience this."

At ferst, Ah let the tears fall, but then Ah stopped mahself. A few months ago, me, Sweetie Belle, an' Scootaloo volunteered at Ponyville's vet clinic tryin' to git our cutie marks, an' the vet told us to never cry in front of the animals, 'cuz ya'd only scare 'em. So Ah dried up an' put on a brave face.

Ah almost cracked when Ah saw 'er.

She wasn't bleedin', but she was bad hurt. She was layin' on 'her side on the side of the road. Her mouth was open a 'lil bit, an' her tongue was hangin' out. 'Er eyes were wide an' dilated, an' she wasn't blinkin'. Fluttershy and Applejack were knelt beside 'er and Carrot Top, who'd been the one that hit 'er, was explainin' what'd happened.

Basically, Winona'd run out under 'er back wheel, and she'd turned around when she realized she'd hit somethin'. Big Mac and Fluttershy, who'd just finished up with the bats, came runnin' when they heard Winona yelp. Fluttershy and Applejack got up when Ah got there. Ah sat down by Winona and started whisperin'.

Ah'll never forget how her face lit up; how she tried 'er best to crawl into mah lap. Ah jest sat there, rubbin' 'er and tellin' 'er she'd be okay.

"Think we could git 'er to the clinic?" Ah heard Applejack ask. Fluttershy started to answer, but Ah cut in.

"Clinic'd be closed by now."

Everypony was quiet for a few moments, and Carrot Top apologized once again. Ah turned to 'er, still pettin' Winona.

"It ain't yer fault. She ran under a back wheel. Like ya said, ya never saw 'er. Ya coulda just kept on yer way, but ya turned around to see what happened. Ya coulda left an' never even thought about it, but ya didn't."

Again, everypony was quiet for a few moments. This time, however, Fluttershy broke the silence.

"There's an animal hospital in Canterlot. It's open for twenty-four hours."

"How long would it take me to git us up there if Ah'm hooked to the wagon?" Applejack said.

"If you gallop, forty-five minutes."

An' that's what we did. Applejack hitched herself to the smaller wagon, and Ah sat in the wagon bed with Winona. The ride felt like an eternity. Ah spent the entire time rubbin' Winona; talkin' to 'er, singin' to 'er, makin' sure she didn't get to hot er cold. Every now an' then, Winona'd whimper and toss 'er head, er try an' lick mah hoof. By some miracle, we made it to Canterlot in forty minutes. Winona tucked 'er nose under mah hip as we pulled up in front of the animal hospital. In the light bleeding out of the windows of the square building, Ah got a good look at Winona.

It was then that Ah noticed she wasn't breathing.

We got 'er inside, and a nurse took her to the back, saying somethin' 'bout tryin' revival. The brave front Ah'd forced all night broke as soon as those doors closed. Ah fell in a chair, sobbin', shakin', blubberin', the whole nine yards. Me an' Applejack sat there, clinging to each other, praying. After several minutes, the vet came out.

During the Crusaders time as vet volunteers, an old cat had been brought in. He'd had a heart attack, an' it was the ferst emergency call we'd gotten to help with. Unfortunately, the old cat's heart couldn't take it, an' he'd passed in front of us on the operating table. Thanks to that experience, Ah knew what it meant when the vet came out, but nothin' coulda prepared me fer what she said.

"I'm so sorry...she was too far gone..." she went on to tell us that 'er pelvis had shattered, 'er spine had been completely severed, an' she'd died from internal bleedin'. She said that there was nothin' anypony coulda done.

"Do you want to bury her, or do you want to have her cremated?" Applejack turned to me, letting me answer.

"Ah wanna bring 'er home."

We left 'er body at the hospital 'till we could get 'er grave ready. We buried 'er by the lake as Celestia lowered the Sun on Monday.

***

Ah did a lotta growin' up that night, an' Ah know now that Ah got a lot more growin' up to do. An' Ah learned a very important lesson; one that ain't taught in school. Somethin' that can only be learned by hooves-on experience:

The hardest thing about growin' up, is learnin' to say goodbye.

THE END

Author's Note:

This one-shot is dedicated to my sweet Charlie, 6/XX/10-2/28/15.

I know that I'm not the first to write a "Winona dies" story. I know I won't be the last. I wrote this story based on what happened the night that my Charlie died.

My mom had let the dogs outside. It was already dark, so we didn't put them on a leash. A little while later, Yoshi came back, and, as usual, Charlie was taking longer. My mom ran out after getting a call from my aunt, and my uncle came for me a few minutes later. Everything happened pretty much the same as in the story.

I did not write this story for the pity and sympathy of random people on the internet. I wrote it to beg everyone who reads it to keep your pet on a leash. I don't care if your pet never chases cars, or how fast they are, or how dark or hot or cold it is, or how little traffic you have. One day, they will get it. Please, please, please, PLEASE either keep them in a fence or on a leash. I wish I did. You don't realize how easy it is to lose them until you do.

Comments

[WhitewolfStormrunner]

Lovely, if sad, story, and very wise advice.

I know that I never take my Chihuahua, Pedro, out unless he's on his leash.

I didn't when he was just a year old pup, but then, he never went out of the yard where we were living at the time. I just stayed with him and watched him, and he always came back inside with me once he was done with is "business".

Then one day, he was sniffing around near the edge of our yard (we had tons of wild rabbits in the neighborhood, and he thought (I guess) that he was quite the hunter) when, for whatever reason, he bolted across the road in front of our house, to where a church property was. It scared me to nearly to death, and I know that it took me a full 30 minutes to chase his ornery little butt down, catch him, and carry him back across the road and take him back on the house.

After that, he has never gone out the door except on a leash. So yeah, keep your four-footed buddies on a leash, kids. it could save you a lot of pain and heartache if you do.

[Gadgetphile]

headed towards to road.

*the

she didn't get to hot er cold.

*too
*nor
In addition to this, you keep misspelling Apple Bloom. (But that's a rather common mistake.)

[Nerdz]

6125845 Thanks for letting me know! But 'er' in this case is actually correct because I was trying to make it seem like a thick country accent, as it was written from Apple Bloom's point of view.

[SciWriter]

Pretty good. I get the feeling an actual child is writing here, without the horrible grammar that would generally follow with that.

[Nerdz]

6399283 Thanks!

[Rinnaul]

Reviewed by the Pleasant Commentator and Review Group!

Eventually!

[Golden Fang Ryu Shenron]

Wow...that was a nice good sad one shot. Losing a pet to either injury or old age can really put a tole on you. Especially with how long the Apple family had Winona, since they must’ve had her since she was a pup. When you’ had a pet for that long, it only makes it that much harder to say goodbye. We wish our beloved furry friends would stay with us forever, to always be by our side...but eventually we’ll have to let go, and let them pass on into paradise.

I remember a movie that I watched about three or four years ago, talking about a mare named Ruffian, who was a race horse that lived in the U.S.. She was an amazing race horse, won every single race that she was taken to. Everyone loved here, and she was a national hit everywhere she went, so much so that it was thought that she’d race till the day she retired. Until that one fateful day that changed everything.

Ruffian was going against a thoroughbred colt on one summer day. The stadium was packed and everyone was shaking in their seats to see the duo race, with some even betting each other on which horse would beat the other. Even the announcer sounded like excited so see Ruffian soon through the track. It wasn’t long before the whistle blew and both horses burst through the field and started galloping across the track. Everyone was practically screaming as they watched the race unfold. To some it would just seem like a race between two horses, but to me, it was more than that. These were to beautiful creations of Mother Nature racing against each other as if they were running wild and free through the grasslands and meadows with nothing keeping them restrained. The sight was amazing, the way they zoomed across the track almost as if theall were hours, the way their hooves thundered across the dirt ground as if their was an earthquake happening right beneath them, the way their names and tails whipped and flew through the air as they took long strides throughout the race, as if they were actually flying. It was amazing, and I’m pretty sure many of the people watching her were amazed too. It was a moment that seemed to go on forever, with nothing to ruin it...until it happened...when Ruffian broke her right foreleg.

I’ll never forget the sickening spine chilling sound of her leg cracking. Even now, as I’m typing this comment, I can still hear it. The sound of the muscles and tendons ripping and tearing, along with the bone starting to crunch. Then, all to quickly, it snapped...and the whinnies that Ruffian let out immediately after...it was just...awful.

Something deep down inside me that Ruffian’s fate was sealed and that her racing days were over, and it was only confirmed when the people that were caringn for her decided to put her out of her misery instead of letting her suffer. I can still see those large eyes that looked into those of her caretakers as she slowly fell into an eternal slumber. What really rigged at my heartstrings was while she was recovering she started moving both her forelegs as if she was galloping..she thought she was still racing.

After that, they lay her to rest at the very track where she had her final race...it was a moment I’ll never forget for as long as I live. At least she’s finally at peace...wherever she is.

Sorry about that, I didn’t mean to make that so long and dramatic...I just thought I say what this story reminded me of, that’s all. Your story is a perfect example of what many pet owners will have to go through...and that is to one day loss there pets, be it by attack, an accident, disease, or just by natural causes. It’s said yes, and the pain may never go away, but as long as you keep your pets memories alive, find someway to keep them in your head and your heart, and remember all the good times you’v spent together...they’ll never truly be gone. I think that’s another lesson that Apple Bloom can learn here. That way, Winona won’t be completely gone, and perhaps one day, they’ll be reunited once more. Farewell Winona, you’v been a great partner and a wonderful friend...may you find eternal happiness in Paradise.

Great one shot by the way, very sad, but very good too

[RejectOwl]

I just lost my dog last fall. Why did I read this? What possessed me to read this? This was amazing but now I'm sobbing.

[Nighlocktheawesome00]

Winona, no!