Moving On

by Manitive

Chapter Eleven

Nowhere. Nothing.

That's the best I can describe the place where I ended up after I fell unconscious.

I remember that it was bright. Really bright, like someone was holding a spotlight right into my face.

But I didn't see the source of the bright lights.

I couldn't feel anything, and yet, I could feel.

I was weightless, floating in a room of nothing.

The pain from before. Gone.

I listened closely. Nothing.

I tried to move my body, but I couldn't. I didn't even feel any of my limbs.

I tried to move my head, but again, I couldn't.

I was genuinely scared.

I tried to scream for help, but no words left my mouth.

I lost every control over my body in this 'Nothing'. I couldn't move, I couldn't see.

I couldn't hear, I couldn't scream for help.

But most importantly, I couldn't cry.

I hadn't lost my memories from before I fell unconscious. I knew that I was going to die, leaving a daughter behind who I adopted only a few days prior. Who didn't know how it feels when someone deeply cares about you.

Whose biological parents abandoned her just because she wouldn't be able to fly properly.

But I also left my new friends behind, who deeply cared for me.

But...

Was it really that bad?

Don't get me wrong; I loved those ponies. I really did, with all my heart. They brightened up my every day since they arrived on Earth. Because of them, I began to feel happy again.

The depression over my loss was cured by them.

But there was the chance that I would've been able to finally see Sandra and Laura again. Something I really wanted to do since the day I accepted that they were gone. My thoughts drifted back to all the good times I had with them.

That day I married Sandra.

How I played a game of tag with Laura in the garden on that one, beautiful summer day. How she giggled and laughed as I ran after her. How she looked at me when I snatched her up in my arms.

The times I built deformed snowmen in the winter with Laura and Sandra. We were never able to build a proper snowman, we always somehow fucked it up. Don't ask me how.

Of that one, stormy day as Laura crawled up into mine and Sandra's bed midnight, snuggling up between me and my wife. She told us that she was frightened of thunderstorms and couldn't sleep.

The day of Laura's school enrolment. Her happy face as she learned that she was finally able to go to school, something she really wanted to.

Suddenly everything began to shift and spin violently. I felt like I was moving up, and yet, I wasn't.

I grew dizzy, and felt like throwing up. I forced my eyes shut.

And just as suddenly as it started, it stopped.

I heard chirping birds.

I felt a soft breeze, carrying a familiar odor, caressing my face.

I took a deep breath and opened my eyes to take a look around.

I wasn't standing in that empty room from before.

I stood upon a grassy hill, the grass gently caressing my feet. Directly to my left, a single, big tree sprouted out of the hill, casting a shadow over my figure and protecting my body from the bright sun. In the distance were rivers, more hills and the occasional forest.

In front of me was a big, crystal clear pond with three, beautifully colored koi in it. One was colored a normal brown, the next one a pretty orange and the last one a fascinating blue. They were swimming in circles, but the longer I looked at them, the more it started looking like they were performing a dance. A dance of happiness and indescribable love.

It was idyllic, to say the least.

I sat myself down in front of that pond, leaning my back against the tree. I was glad that I was finally able to move my body again.

I took deep, calm breaths as I watched the pond and its happy inhabitants, performing their calming dance.

It was silent for a while, the only sound being the chirping birds and the flowing water.

"Hey honey~" I heard a soft, melodic voice whisper into my ears. A voice I barely remembered.

My heart sped up.

"Sa-Sandra?" I asked, looking up into the deep blue sky. "Is...that you?"

Silence.

I shook my head and looked down to the pond again, telling myself that I was starting to become crazy.

"Hey dad!" Someone spoke up from right where I was looking.

I lifted my head a bit.

"This...This can't be real..." I mumbled disbelievingly, opening my eyes wide. I fixated my gaze onto the two figures I knew damn well. "Sandra? Laura?"

Both of them were hovering a few meters over the pond, their bodies glowing softly. Their bodies were clad in a white robe, and their hair was bound into a ponytail, but apart from that, nothing changed in their appearances. They still looked the same as the last time I saw them alive and well. I stood up as they hovered over to me, taking turns to look into their smiling faces.

I was petrified as they stood in front of me, their smiles never wavering. My brain told me that it wasn't real, but my heart told me that they were real. I wanted to scream in joy. To cry in joy.

But I was too astonished.

"You are..." I mumbled, my eyes never leaving them. "You are real."

"William."

"Dad."

"..."

I staggered over to them, my mind filled with so many emotions. Tears were escaping my eyes and rolling down my cheeks by the time I reached them, embracing both of them in a bear hug. They happily returned it.

"I-I thought I was never going to see you again..." I said between sobs, as I let go of them, looking them once over.

"But now you have." Sandra said, her tone just as happy as mine.

But then something hit me. Guilt.

Guilt clouded my mind the instant I was remembered of why I haven't seen them in so long.

"I'm sorry...I'm so, so sorry..." I said, letting my head fall down in shame.

"But for what, dad?" asked Laura, her tone curious.

"For letting you d-down..."

"William, look up to me." Sandra said, her voice gentle but firm at the same time.

I reluctantly looked up into her eyes.

"When did you let us down?" She questioned, raising an eyebrow. I was about to answer her, but the moment I opened my mouth, she opened her's again. "If you're talking about...that day, then you're wrong."

"But-"

"No buts, there was nothing you could've done." She said, cutting me of before I could even retort. "You were at home while it happened."

"And that's just it..." I sighed, tears of sadness rolling down my cheeks. I looked at the ground again. "I was at home while you and Laura...*gulp* D-Died..."

Saying this word, 'died', pained me. It stung like someone pierced my heart with a needle. It made me become aware of the fact that not only I lost someone loved, but Rainbow, Applejack, Twilight and Scootaloo were about to loose one too, if they haven't already lost me, considering that I was speaking to my dead wife and daughter at that moment.

"It feels like I could've done more..." I looked back up into her face.

"Honey, I'll say this only once: Don't be too hard on yourself. There's nothing you could've done.-" She started, looking at me rather angry, but her voice growing soft as she continued. "-And we do not hate you. I love you. Your daughter loves you. We will, forever."

"Right Laura?"

"Yes, mommy's right." Laura approved with an adorable smile, nodding her head in agreement, her ponytail moving in sync with her head.

"We wanted to tell you this a long time ago, but we were never able to. We also always kept an eye on you since the day we left. We saw how you were slowly succumbing to your grief and guilt. How you were mourning." Sandra told me, a faint smile on her face. "But you have to know that we were always there. We tried our best to help you."

I was left speechless. 'If they were watching me the whole time, does that mean...?'

"And yes, we did see you trying to take your own life." She somberly said, making me wonder if she was actually able to read my mind. "And let me tell you that we don't approve. Don't you dare try something like that ever again!"

All of a sudden, the gentle breeze picked up in speed, and the sky grew darker. The birds stopped chirping. I looked skywards, my hair being relentlessly assaulted by the soft gusts, only to see that the beautiful blue sky started fading away, being replaced by inky darkness.

"What's happening?" I asked, fear growing steadily.

"I'm afraid we don't have much more time, William. Your pony friends are helping you to come back." Sarah responded. It took a few minutes for me to register that she said 'pony friends'.

"Wait, you know about them?" I questioned her, looking her back into her face, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Mommy knows a lot!" Laura said proudly, making me and Sandra chuckle once.

"I also know about Scootaloo, your other daughter." She added with a happy smile. "She's so cute..."

"Yeah, she's really cool! And fuzzy!" Laura exclaimed, hopping up and down in excitement. She stopped hopping up and down and put on a dreamy smile. "I bet she'd make for a good teddy bear!"

The gust started becoming stronger, and the tree's branches above us were blown back and forth, a few leaves and smaller branches falling down onto the ground or into the pond. That made me realize, that I hadn't much time left to spend with Sandra and Laura.

"William, I want to tell you one last thing.-" Sandra began, pausing shortly to wait for me to look at her. She had a really serious expression on her face. "-Me and Laura want to you to be happy. We love you, but you've to move on. You do need to find another one who you can spend the rest of your life with, or you will, sooner or later, go back to mourning over your losses."

The forests, the rivers and everything else in the distance started fading away, being consumed by cold darkness.

Sandra and Laura stepped out of your way, so that I was able to see the pond again.

"Look at these fishes, do they have any traits that remind you of anyone?" Sandra asked, pointing at the pond, or more exactly, at the three fishes doing their soothing dance. I took a few steps forward to inspect them more closely, but even upon closer inspection, I couldn't make anything out that should remind me of someone.

"All three of them resemble one being. Beings who're going to help you in your later adventures. Beings who you will learn to love just like you love me and Laura." The water's surface was starting to get covered in leaves and smaller branches. I felt Sandra and Laura embracing my sides. I tried to return them the best I could as the gusts became stronger, strong enough that I was struggling to stand still.

I couldn't cry anymore. My tears were all spent. The only thing I could do was sob dryly.

"Goodbye, daddy. I'll miss you."

"*sob* Goodbye, I'll miss you too..." I whispered into her ear, before giving her a kiss on the forehead. Laura let go of, gave me one last wave and in a flash, she was gone.

Suddenly Sandra pulled me into one last kiss, filled with an immense amount of love and deep care. I returned the kiss with just as much.

"Goodbye, William. Take care of yourself, Scootaloo and the others." She said, breaking contact with my lips, tears now cascading down her cheeks and landing on the ground beneath us. She also stepped back and slowly faded away into nothingness. "Remember what I told you... I love you..."

"I love you too, honey." I whispered, waving at her.

Right after she disappeared, I was engulfed by darkness.

Just like before I couldn't see anything, but this time, instead of bright white lights, there was only darkness.

Darkness surrounding my whole body, making me unable to see.

Then I heard distant voices.

"-e waking up?"

"T-light, come...on..."

"Dad?"

The voices became clearer, as did my vision.

"C'mon sugarcube..." Southern accent, belonging to the only orange pony I knew. 'Applejack.'

"I-I think he's breathing again!" Raspy voice, belonging to a bold, cyan colored pegasus. 'Rainbow Dash.'

"Daddy?" Another raspy voice, but not as raspy as Rainbow's. 'My daughter, Scootaloo.'

"Is he back?" Last but not least; nerdy yet pleasant voice, belonging to a certain lavender-colored princess. 'Twilight.'

There was a really bright light in front of me, but it looked far away. Out of instinct, I ran into its direction. It came closer and closer with each step I took, not looking that far away anymore.

It felt like minutes before I reached it. I stood in front of it, slowly outstretching one arm to touch it and see what it'll do.

My hands connected with it, and I was almost immediately pulled into the light. I was hurled through a narrow, circular passage, and just as soon as it started, it ended.

---

I was lying on something soft and cozy. I snuggled a bit deeper into it, trying to get as much comfort out of it as I could.

The first thing I felt was pain, located in my shoulder and somewhere on my lower body.

The next thing I felt was something fuzzy tickling my chin. My mouth curved upwards into a little smile, knowing exactly who that could be.

"Heh, Scoots, stop it, you're tickling me..."

"DAD!" Scootaloo shouted in joy, embracing my neck with her little hoovies.

I opened my eyes and looked down at her, tears of joy escaping her tightly closed eyes. I returned the embrace as best as I could, despite the pain I was in. Though, surprisingly, the pain wasn't all that bad, considering that I got shot. Two times.

I kissed her on the forehead as she cried into my right shoulder.

"I-I-I though you were g-going...t-to die." She stammered between sobs, her iron grip on my neck increasing.

"But I'm here, ain't I?" I asked, moving a hand up to her mane to gently pet her there. "And I'm never going to leave you. Never."

Then something popped into my head.

"Where are the officers?"

"Twilight deleted their memories and teleported them and their strange metal thingy away." She said nonchalantly. I nodded in approval. 'Smart move, Twilight.'

Then my eyes went wide.

'Wait... If she's able to teleport a car and two guys away, and delete their memories...' I shuddered at the thought of what else she could probably do with so much magical power.

Both me and her were content with keeping quiet for a moment, silently enjoying each others company and cuddling a bit after such a stressful day.

Until this wonderful silence was interrupted by the other throwing up the door and barging into the room. Every one of them was sobbing (even if they didn't want to admit it) as they saw me lying there, alive and healthy. They jumped up on the bed to me, embracing me from all sides.

You could say that it was one, big, fuzzy, cuddle party.

"I want answers after we're done here, girls!" I giggled.

Author's Note:

Oi!

Like the last two times, the user GeorgeFleurParty was so kind to pre-read this chapter and gave a review. He also pointed a few spelling, grammatical and punctuation errors out! Thanks again dude!

Okay, I seriously have no goddamn clue how I wrote this in the span of roughly one day.

Like, holy shit.

Anyways, yeah, this chapter was probably one of the cheesiest one's I've written so far. But I don't care~.

---

Special thanks!

GeorgeFleurParty. There's no way that I can thank you enough for everything you're doing.
Thezion1111 for his encouraging words and support since the release of Chapter 1! Love you dude! no homo though
Frankie2 for his support since the release of Chapter 2 and for being such a nice guy! I really appreciate it!
OrcaBrony for his feedback&encouraging words!
lollol695 for considering this mess a good story, thanks dude!

Comments

[A random person]

Found a few mistakes
Right after she disappeared, i was engulfed by darkness.
Capital I
But I didn't saw the source of the bright lights.
*See

Great chapter

[Manitive]

7409032

Corrected.
Thanks for pointing them out!

[A random person]

7409046 no problem :D

[Hichigo]

Damn, it wasn't cheesy, it was god damn emotional, nearly shed a fucking tear Jesus christ dude.

[Manitive]

7409424

Huh, nearly?
Eh, nearly making someone shed a tear is enough for me, I guess.

For now, at least.

7409296

Yeah, I don't know how I pulled that one off. Seriously.

I mean, nearly 3k words in roughly 24 hours? That's insane, in my standards.

[Thezion1111]

Yes, this is brilliant for spending a week writing nevermind a day
and you've successfully sated my cliffhanger anger, well done

[OrcaBrony]

This chapter actually had me tearing up...... Great job! Keep up the good work!

[Manitive]

7409901
7409775

I'm glad you guys liked it!

[Hichigo]

7409444 Also I have been wondering if you were male or female?

[Manitive]

7410784

I'm male.

[Hichigo]

7411440 FUCK!

[Manitive]

7412403

Heh, sorry to disappoint.

[Hichigo]

7414607 I'm sad now....

[Frankie2]

It's nice Will got to see his wife and daughter one last time. That being said, explanations would be appreciated right about now.

You could say that it was one, big, fuzzy, cuddle party.

: DID SOMEONE SAY PARTY?!
: NOT NOW PINKIE!!!