“Right this way.”
The nurse led Trey, Chocolate, and Anacrusis through the hospital, passing through a set of double doors to the death zone.
“If you need me, I’ll be around.” she said, bowing her head. “I’m sorry.”
Chocolate Cherry looked at Trey, who urged her to go ahead. She stepped inside, carefully, examining the room. She’d only been to a hospital once before, where she saw her mother pass away. She’d harbored a bitter resentment and fear towards them ever since.
As she neared the bed her father was in, her heartbeat sped up. She wasn’t sure what to expect...or what she wanted to expect.
“Cherry?” a small, weak voice said. The grey, limp body of her father partially opened his eyes at her.
“Hey...Dad.” she said, shyly, out of arm range. She knew better than to stay in a certain radius of her dad.
“Hey, son.” he said, smiling. “How was the fair?”
“What?”
“He’s confused.” said Trey. Chocolate Cherry turned around to face him, tears forming in her eyes.
“A sign of alcohol poisoning is confusion. He probably won’t remember much.”
Chocolate Cherry bowed her head, a small splash of a tear hitting the ground.
“Oh, who’s your friend?” he asked, looking up at Trey.
“He’s...”
“I’m Trey. And you are?” he asked, nodding.
“I’m a comedian! Want to hear a joke?”
Chocolate Cherry’s tears started to dry up a bit as this unexpected, lighthearted banter from her father caught her offguard.
“Sure.” she said, starting to smile.
Trey bent down low, whispering in her ear, “Expect mood swings.”
Chocolate Cherry gave him a weird look, not understanding.
“So donkey and a mule walk into a bar...and there’s this painting on the wall...so the duck asks ‘Got any grapes?’ and the bartender says ‘Why the long face?’” he finished, cracking up into laughter. Trey clopped his hooves on the ground, showing support while Anacrusis and Chocolate Cherry raised an eyebrow, dumbfounded.
Chocolate’s dad looked over at them, seeing only Trey laughing (Albeit a clearly forced laugh) and started crying.
“You didn’t think it was funny...” he said, starting to break down into tears.
“No, it was, Dad!”
“GET OUT OF HERE!” he shouted at them.
Chocolate froze, unsure of if he would suddenly take back what he said in another mood swing. Trey patted her back, trotting out of the room. Just before he closed the door behind them, he heard him vomit, coughing.
“He didn’t remember me...”
“Chocolate...he probably doesn’t remember anything...I think he just remembers who you are...that’s it. Don’t take it personally...I’m sure he still loves you.”
“He never loved me.”
“I wouldn’t say that. I’m sure he loves you. The alcohol just covered that up.”
“Nopony ever loved me.” she said, bowing her head.
“I love you...” said Anacrusis, hugging her. Chocolate hugged him back, crying.
“And just know that our entire family loves you, too, Chocolate. Come on. He’s probably over it. At least you can say goodbye. Trust me on this one.”
“O...ok.” she managed to say, as they trotted back into the room.
“Oh, hey, son! I’m happy to see you came back!”
***
“...so the camel says to the elephant, ‘What hat?’”
The three burst out laughing, even though it made absolutely no sense. When he got volatile again, Trey took the time to let her know that even though he may not have given her much, even though he treated her badly, that everpony deserved to at least be happy before they died. Chocolate understood, taking his wisdom in, using it to the best of her ability.
“That joke made no sense!” Chocolate’s dad said, laughing even harder. “But you still laughed! I love you guys!”
Chocolate froze, a small smile coming across her face. She hadn’t heard her dad say that in years. And even though it was just him on his deathbed, loopy from whatever it was, just hearing him say that...made her years of torture bearable. Chocolate started tearing up again, out of happiness or sadness, she didn’t know.
“And she’s tearing up from laughing so hard! I love it! You’re a pretty awesome pony, you know that?”
Chocolate looked up at her dad, smiling. Uncontrollably and impulsively, she stood up on her legs, trying to hug him on the bed. He smiled, and hugged her back.
“I love you, Dad...”
“D’aw! I wish I was your dad. I would LOVE to have you for a son!” he said. She smiled at him, watching his eyelids start to flutter. They rolled into the back of his head and his body started shaking uncontrollably.
“NURSE!” shouted Trey, galloping into the hall. A team of nurses soon galloped in, restraining him. Chocolate, Trey, and Anacrusis waited out in the hall while a loud ruckus ensued inside.
“I can’t find a pulse!”
“We’re losing him!”
“Clear!”
Anacrusis and Chocolate sat on the floor, as Chocolate hugged him tightly. Trey stood outside the door, listening in, a large, depressing mood coming over him. He already had a funeral to go to tomorrow...this looked like another one. This was the worst weekend ever.
“Why don’t you two go to the waiting room?” he said to them. Chocolate, eyes red with tears, galloped down the hall, as Anacrusis chased after her. Trey watched them, tears forming in his eyes. He may not have remembered anything about his life, but telling Chocolate he’d love to have her as a son, even though she was a filly, must have presented some conflicting emotions. That was probably the nicest thing he’d said to Chocolate in years. Yet...he still didn’t remember who she was...
“Sir?”
Trey snapped out of it, looking at the nurse beside him.
***
“Where’s Chocolate?” asked Trey.
“She’s outside...she didn’t want to cry in here.” said Anacrusis.
“I need to break the news to her. She’ll want you to be there as well.”
Anacrusis nodded and led his dad to where Chocolate was, huddled against a corner on the outside of the hospital, head down low, trying to stifle her tears. She looked up at Trey when she saw his hooves. He didn’t even need to speak...the look on his face told her everything. Anacrusis went beside her, leaning against her, letting her know that he was there for her. He laid his head on her neck, nuzzling her in affection. Chocolate bawled.
“Just come home when you’re ready.” said Trey. “I’m so sorry, Chocolate.”
She raised her head slightly, trying to decide whether she wanted to look at him or not.
“Thank you...” she managed to squeak, before bursting into tears once again. Trey turned around and trotted back to the cottage, making a quick stop at an acquaintance’s house.
***
Derpy cried loudly as they lowered the casket 6 feet down. The casket was covered in flowers donated generously by Lilly and the other flower ponies. In fact, the entire funeral was covered by the Ponyville community. Fluttershy sat beside Derpy, holding her hoof, while Trey sat beside Fluttershy, trying to stifle back his own tears.
“Dinky was a great filly.” said Cheerilee. “She will be missed by all. I don’t know why she was taken to heaven when she was, but...I can only believe that she’s in a better place now.” she finished, slowly trotting away from the hole. They began pouring dirt over it, and Derpy lost herself, nearly burrowing her head into the dirt, sobbing away, making mud below her face.
“Derpy...” began Fluttershy.
Derpy didn’t look, not hearing her over her own grief.
“Derpy, if there’s anything we can do to help...don’t hesitate to let us know.”
Derpy nodded her head slowly.
“Come on...let’s get you home.” said Trey, extending his hoof to help her up.
***
Trey, Fluttershy, and the kids sat with Chocolate Cherry at her father’s funeral. They were the only ponies that showed up, save for Bishop, the church leader, and the ponies lowering the casket. Trey and Fluttershy essentially had to fund most of it themselves. Trey didn’t know enough about her father to have a solid opinion on him, but whether he liked him or not, he still knew that everypony deserved a proper burial.
“Mr. Trey?”
Trey looked down to see Chocolate staring up at him with her light brown eyes, red from crying.
“Yes, Cherry?”
“Does this mean...you’re my daddy now?”
Trey froze for a sec, unsure how to respond. Everypony else in the family looked over at him. Anacrusis and Flutterwing loved her. Of course they wanted her to be their sister. However, Trey and Fluttershy simply couldn’t afford another child. His mind raged on with how to respond...and what to do...
“We’ll see.” he said, winking at her, patting her on the back.
***
“Who is it?” asked Cherry, as she, Trey, and Anacrusis trotted through Ponyville. It had been a week since the funeral, and Cherry was trying to adjust to life with Anacrusis and his family. Trey carried a batch of chocolate muffins, with a cherry on top.
“My dad said it’s a secret.”
“But...why the muffins?”
“You’ll see.” said Trey.
Trey stopped at a house near the middle of Ponyville, fairly close to Sugarcube Corner. He knocked on the door, waiting.
“Here.” he said, giving Chocolate the muffins. “You’ll need these.”
“Why?”
No sooner than she asked her question the door opened, revealing Derpy, looking at Trey and Chocolate at the same time.
“Oh...is this her?” she asked, doing her best to smile.
“I guess these are for you.” said Chocolate, handing her the muffins, smiling. Derpy wiped a tear from her eye and jumped forward, hugging Cherry tight.
“Does this mean I won’t see you again?” she asked, looking over at Trey.
“Visit any time. Both of you.” he said. She let go of Derpy and hugged Anacrusis, giving him a kiss on the lips, a thank you for all the support he’d given her recently. She let go and hugged Trey, as he patted her back. She then let go, smiling at the both of them, before grabbing the muffins off the ground, heading into the house with Derpy.
“We should get to know each other. You seem nice.” said Derpy. Trey saw Chocolate hug her as he watched the door close behind the two.
Too much sad and d'aww all at once...
BWAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!
images.wikia.com/mlp/images/3/39/Pinkie_Pie_crying_S2E13.png
S-so saaaaad! WAAAAAAAAHH-haaah-haaah! God, why?!
This is pretty sad...
.......WHY DINKY.... I honestly felt sad when the father said I love you but to that he wanted a son.... I felt for Chocolate as she watched her father lose every bit of sanity and memory... That must be thee hardest thing to witness knowing that someone who loved you your entire life was holding onto their last breath and last memory of something they wanted....
I'm also a bit happy for Cherry at the end, Derpy adopted her right?
320002
Of course. Derpy needed a daughter, And Chocolate needed a family. They sort of helped each other out.
320022 I have been following your story ever since FlutterHeart and you have been doing an excellent job all the way bro! Bro hoof*
Also, not complaining but that may have been a bit too fast for Derpy to get over her daughter
Nevertheless, I love this story and wait for your next update
320029 Perhaps. But it's all still one happy ending.
320042 True! Can't complain with that logic! Also, I've been meaning to follow ya for thee longest while, I was just busy with my fic and I can post your story as you asked on your blog
Part of me is thinking your fucked up for replacing dinky, but then again dinky would have wanted it this way
google.com/imgres?hl=en&sa=X&biw=1280&bih=735&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=hrUrj3SnXVOFzM:&imgrefurl=http://atomicgreymon.deviantart.com/art/Depressed-Pinkie-Pie-207046192%3Foffset%3D20&docid=u5J4IzFSTJ6_fM&imgurl=http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2011/121/f/9/depressed_pinkie_pie_by_atomicgreymon-d3f9pv4.png&w=1280&h=926&ei=UMRfT5zBIcKKsgLgnqmjCA&zoom=1
Manly tears were shed....
320131 *You're.
Besides, I'm already fucked up. I don't think a little tidbit of a story will change that
320384 Why thank you my good sir you are also
Thank you...
FOR MAKING THY HAVE TO CLEAN THY CARPET FOR ALL THE MANLETH TEARS I HOUGHT SHEDDED!
Sad... So sad...
So you really took him away...and my personal hope was, he would recover and regret how he treated his daughter and would become a better dad than before.
But so, Derpy now has somebody to come trough her own daughters death.
But in the other way, Chocolate is now a complete orphan...even if Derpy adoptes her. It´s surely hard to see his own parents pass away at her age.
All in all, a half-happy end...
And the story goes on...
this is the saddest chapter of this fanfic, still the story though
My.. wow... I have a wierd disabilty, that not many people know about, and I found out recently. But I can never cry. Only when seriously pissed off.
But this... this... This left my heart like this marriagelifeministries.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/broken_glass_s.jpg
And this it made up for it with that ending, leaving my heart like this. media.punchingkitty.com/wordpress/2010/12/grinch_heart.jpeg
I am tracking this. Thumbs up by the way. This is a very beautiful story, and from what I gather, also part of your life. You lucky, lucky man.
~Parajack
325840 You've read Flutterheart, of course, though, right?
325845 No, I caught this as I was searching through these fics. Though now I want to. Goodbye Sleep, I knew ye well
~Parajack
325865 Yeah, this is actually the sequel to Flutterheart...and Flutterheart's my most famous one, so...check it out.
Four chapters behind...here we go!
The diary entries are nice as usual. Of course Anacrusis is beyond adorable in his younger years (potential for plenty of embarrassing stories for his parents to tell) and I enjoy seeing Trey enjoy his role as a father and family man. My more jaded side does find it all to be a little bit too perfect at times, but reality blows, so keep on making the family sweet and beautiful, gives some hope to the world. It was nice to see a bit of interaction between Fluttershy and Anacrusis in the diaries, for a while it seemed as though Trey was hogging Anacrusis's foalhood. I appreciated the part with Anacrusis trying to groom Fluttershy, it shows a more subtle aspect of Anacrusis's early development of mimicking his parents behavior...plus it was pretty darn cute.
You wrapped up the erotophobia issue, thank you. Wasn't quite expecting the issue to be resolved so quickly and easily, but it works. Trey loves Fluttershy, and in the end that's all that matters. Works for me.
Chocolate Cherry...very interesting choice of direction to take the story. You like the extremes, don't you? Either really happy or really sad. Anywho...I thought the way you played it out in the story was very well done. It seems very typical for a story of abuse to play out with the protagonist going and beating the living snot out of the abuser, taking the kid in, and it all works out despite the clear loose ends (I'll admit, in this case I probably would have been okay with laxative brownies...I know, double standard) In reality, it is never that simple and I think you handled Trey's character in a very realistic way. In such a situation, there is never an easy answer, and while it might not portray Trey as “Mr. I Have All the Answers”, his confusion, conflict, concern, and frustration about the situation was very appropriate.
First kiss...and everyone goes “Dawwwww”. They seem a bit young for passionate kissing, but it's cute. Also yes, us men tend to be oblivious to the obvious, very nice touch there. If only his father knew.
Dinky....cancer....really? I mean, I get that you were setting up the plot for Chocolate and Derpy, but man.....cancer. Talk about depressing. Kinda like a sucker punch to the gut for the reader.
The father's death...it was interesting to say the least. I'm not sure if it was suppose to be a resolution between Chocolate and her father, just plain sad and depression, or if it was just suppose to be a confusing mess. I'm personally leaning on the side of sad and depressing (though I'm guessing you're aiming for a middle ground of confusion) I mean, he did show some affection to his daughter for the first time in years, but the way it was done...it just came off as sad to see. His last moments with the only family he had left, and he couldn't even make the best of it...and for Chocolate to have to see her father go like that...yeah...(well, I did ask for conflict and struggle) I find myself doubtful that the father's expression of love to Chocolate was legitimate, it just seemed to not work. If there was any resolution between Cherry and her father, I found it to be more sad than anything else.
I'm quite glad you choose not to have Trey and Flutterheart adopt Chocolate. While they are basically a second family to her, I feel it would have too easily messed with the Chocolate/Anacrusis plot, would have made things weird.
On the other hand, while Derpy adopting Chocolate does work, and I think it was effective, I'm going to agree with some other people on this one that it happened way too fast. I think it could have easily been much more drawn out. I find it a but unbelievable that Derpy would be so to terms with Dinky's passing within a week that she would be ready to take in another daughter. I don't know, it just seemed to pass off Dinky as a plot device to set up Chocolate and Derpy adoption plot.
Anyways, great work as always, keep it up.
~Nocturne
So donkey and a mule walk into a bar...and there’s this painting on the wall...so the duck asks ‘Got any grapes?
so the duck asks ‘Got any grapes?'
'GOT ANY GRAPES?' FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-
It's a reference to this, if you didn't know.
337584 Of course that was in reference.
336671 Always look forward to reading your reviews, man. Glad that it was mostly up to your standard.