The Joy of Remembrance
The Joy of Remembrance
By Wanderer D
With a grand slam, the chords of the electric guitar gave the last, epic end to their masterpiece. Floating down from the magical high of ponying up from music and energy, Sunset allowed herself to take a deep breath.
Twilight posed. "And that's a wrap! Well done, girls!"
"Well, that's was certainly amazin'," Applejack said, breathing hard, a happy, satisfied smile on her face. "Ah reckon that we'll be winnin' any number of competitions with that one."
"Woo!" Pinkie shouted, with a double stroke roll to emphasize her excitement. "That was awesome!"
"Indeed," Rarity said, approaching with Fluttershy. "I think we have exceeded our initial expectations quite thoroughly."
"Yay!"
"So what's the plan now?" Pinkie asked. "It's Friday the 13th! Let's go watch movies and spend the night at my place! I just baked three cakes this morning, and I've got the night free!"
"I'm sorry girls, but I can't tonight," Sunset said. "I'm going back to Equestria for the weekend."
"What?!"
Sunset had to take a step back and raise her hands when the others rounded on her. "Hey, hey, calm down!"
"Why didn't you tell us?!" Twilight asked.
"I just… you know, forgot to mention it? It's alright girls, I'm just visiting my family."
"You mean the family you otherwise never visit?" Applejack asked, crossing her arms.
"That's the one!" Sunset said. "It's the anniversary of my dad's passing an—"
"Oh my gosh!" Twilight said, putting her hand on top of her mouth.
"Darling, you should have said something!" Rarity gasped. "We wouldn't have done this today if we had known!"
"Girls…"
"I feel so awful, making you do this on such a day!" Fluttershy said, "I'm, so, so sorry."
"Dude, that sucks, you should have said something!"
"Girls!" Applejack interrupted. "Ah think you should all calm down."
"But it's such an emotional time!" Rarity said, turning to face Applejack.
"It's okay!" Sunset raised her voice, quieting the room down. They all turned to face her and she put her hands behind her, smiling a bit as she rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet. "It's okay. I appreciate you're worried about how I feel, but… I don't feel bad."
"But—"
"Anyway, I really need to go, I'll catch you later?" Sunset said, making her way towards the door.
"Sure…" Rarity said, the group looking in concern at the door. She turned to look at the others. "We should go with her."
"No, we shouldn't," Applejack said, eyes narrowing as she crossed her arms. "Sunset made it pretty clear she didn't want a crowd."
"But just leaving her like that?" Twilight said, her voice quiet. "It feels like we're abandoning her when she needs us."
"But does she?" Applejack asked, looking around. "Look, y'all, Ah think she's grateful that we offered, but take it from me, when you want to be alone for something like this, you need to be left alone." She glanced at the door. "Sunset knows we're here for her, and that's all she really needs us to offer."
The moon had been on its Waxing Crescent phase back then. Now, tonight it was Waxing Gibbous. "Yet another example of life continuing," Sunset said to herself with a small smile as she made her way towards the statue. The smile faded slightly when she noticed Applejack leaning against the side, waiting for her. "Hey, AJ," she said warily.
"Hey yerself," Applejack replied, tilting her hat. "Don't worry, Ah ain't here to tell you to take me with you," she quickly added when she noticed Sunset was about to say something. "Ah'm just here to see you off, and to tell you that Ah understand. Talked to the others as well. Ah'll come here on Sunday night about the same time to give you a ride home if you'd like."
Sunset sighed, feeling the rising tension fade away. "Thanks AJ, I really appreciate that."
"No problem. Ah've been there too, you know." Applejack stretched. "Alright then, see you soon, sugarcube."
Sunset watched her walk over to the truck, where Big Mac waited, before she felt a sudden tightness in her throat. "H-hey, AJ?"
Applejack turned around and blinked. "Yeah?"
"Do you… want to come with me?"
Princess Twilight sparkle paced in front of the mirror, watching the magic swirl within until with a bit of a more flashy twist, two ponies emerge from it before it closed down and depowerd. She stepped back in surprise as Sunset and a cutie-mark-less Applejack stood up.
"Uh, hi girls, I was only expecting Sunset today," Twilight said, reaching down to help them steady themselves on four hooves.
"Yeah, I asked her to come with," Sunset said, "hope you don't mind?"
"Howdy, Twilight!"
Twilight smiled. "Of course I don't mind, I'm glad you brought somepony with you. It's a long ride over to Las Pegasus. I would go with you but with the impending official announcement for me taking over for Celestia and Luna… well. I'm a bit behind with other things," she said, her smile turning into a half-grimace when she motioned with her hoof at a large stack of papers.
"No worries, Twilight," Sunset said, moving forward to give her friend and mentor a hug. "I'll—we'll be fine."
"I'm glad to hear that," Twilight said, "now, come on, I'll show you to your rooms."
"Twilight!" Spike's voice echoed in the castle.
The three ponies stopped as the young dragon flew in and landed, panting in front of them. He looked up. "He's back!" he said warily, then his face brightened. "Oh. Hey Sunset. Applejack."
"Hey Spike," Sunset said, giving him and Twilight a concerned look. "Who's back?"
"Honey Stead," Twilight said, frowning. "He's been trying to interview me an—"
"And you should let me!" a portly stallion with honey-gold mane and a white coat said, making his way into the castle's library. "Only I can understand now the pain you are going through, Princess Twilight."
"Pain?!" Sunset asked, eyes widening. "What pain? Are you okay?"
Twilight rolled her eyes. "Honey Stead here wrote "the Pain of Eternity", Sunset."
Sunset frowned, while Applejack simply tilted her head in confusion. "The Pain of Eternity… never heard of it."
"Humph! You must be a casual acquaintance of the princess then," Honey Stead said, snorting in contempt. "Anypony close to royalty knows my book."
"Yeah," Spike piped in. "It's about how Princess Celestia is in constant suffering with the weight of immortality on her shoulders."
"Oooh!" Sunset faced Honey Stead. "I'm sorry, I don't read pony fanfiction."
Twilight snorted and Spike had to turn away, trying to control the sudden attack of giggles.
"Excuse you!" Honey Stead almost snarled. "It is biographical!"
"Y-yeah," Spike coughed, "He even talks about how Celestia only drinks bitter tea in the mornings to r-remind herself of her own failures."
Sunset frowned. "Since when?"
"For years!" Honey Stead stated, "ever since she first watched others grow old while she remained young!"
Sunset gave him an unamused look. "I don't know who you are, but before Twilight Sparkle here, I was Princess Celestia's student. I literally grew up under her wing and I can tell you right here, right now, that Celestia likes sweet tea all day, and drinks coffee like a mare possessed in the mornings."
Undeterred, Honey Stead smirked. "Clearly as somepony who has never lost someone, you cannot understand her as I do."
Spike's eyes went wide and Twilight gasped.
Sunset closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. Magical energy sparked dangerously in the air and the temperature dropped several degrees before she took a deep breath and simply walked past Honey Stead deeper into the castle. "I know where my room is, Twilight."
"You have overstayed your welcome," Twilight Sparkle said coldly, turning to Honey Stead. "Leave. Now."
"But my interview! I need to know your pain so I can share it with others! I'm the only one that can under—"
"There is no pain, you...! You—!" Twilight's horn flashed and the stallion was gone.
"Uh. Ah know this is a different world, Twilight, but Ah don't think it's okay to disintegrate someone, regardless of how rude they are."
Twilight blinked and turned to face Applejack. "I didn't disintegrate Honey Stead! I teleported him to the lake."
"I'll go lock the doors. And windows." Spike scurried away.
"So Ah sense that there's more to this?" Applejack asked as Twilight motioned for her to follow.
"Let's just say that that pony's writing caused a lot of pain and worry. I had the unfortunate experience of finding his book shortly after becoming a princess. It doesn't help that he did interview Celestia at some point, but rather than report accurately what she said, he wrote down what he insisted she should be feeling."
"How can someone be so self-centered as to think they are the only ones that can decide how you should feel about anythin'?"
"I don't know, Applejack," Twilight said, stopping at a door. "It took somepony much wiser than I am today to calm me down that one time, and she said that only a pony who fears death more than they celebrate life would write something like "The Pain of Eternity"."
Applejack sighed. "Ah can see that. But y'have to wonder, what happened to Honey Stead for him to have such a bleak outlook?"
Twilight pushed the door open, revealing a nice, cozy-looking room behind it. "I don't know, Applejack. But now is time to sleep, if you're going with Sunset, you need to rest. It'll be a long ride on the train tomorrow."
Nodding, the human-turned-pony stepped in. "Thank you kindly, Princess."
"Anytime, Applejack," Twilight said, giving her a hug. "Good night."
"How're you holding up, sugarcube?"
"I'm alright," Sunset replied as they walked down the road from Twilight Sparkle's castle. "Spike's pancakes can cure almost anything weighing on my soul."
"They were pretty good," Applejack said, "Ah just think they could have used more candied apples on the side."
"That was all Spike," Sunset laughed. "Princess Celestia likes them with bananas."
"Travesty. Ah'll have to feed Principal Celestia some proper apple pancakes to cure her misconceptions! Ah might not be able to reach the Princess, so her other self has to pay for her sins."
The pair laughed as they made their way into the train station. They walked up the steps to the ticket booth and Sunset purchased two seats that came with the warning that the train was pretty packed today.
They didn't have to wait long before the train stopped and a multitude of ponies started boarding.
"This way!" Sunset said, trotting over to a door which had less ponies packing in. She led Applejack into the car and looked around the full seats until her eyes brightened. "There!"
The pair made their way to a booth where a pony was sitting, reading the newspaper. Across from him, however two seats remained open, and the pair slid in. "Lucky! I didn't think we'd find a seat together with how packed it was," Sunset confessed, smiling.
Applejack nodded. "Ah guess we are," she said noticing on the corner of her eye that the pony across from them was giving them a look, but she concentrated on Sunset. "So where are we headed?"
"Upper Celestial Cemetery," Sunset said, "It's a couple of hours away."
The pony across from them apparently decided that their discussion was none of their business as the newspaper went up again, Applejack noticed as she sank back in her seat. "So how long has it been?"
"Since I last was there?" Sunset asked softly. "Almost a decade now. I was still Celestia's student when my father passed away."
"How did it happen?" Applejack asked gently. "And feel free to tell me to stop askin' questions," she added. "Ah'm just—"
"Don't worry," Sunset interrupted. "I understand. She looked out the window as the train started moving again. "He was sick. I was in Canterlot, miles away. By the time I heard about it, he was already mostly gone."
"Ah'm sorry, it must've been hard."
Sunset was quiet. "A little."
Applejack blinked. "What do you mean?"
"I mean that… by the time I heard about it, I had been living away from home for years. When I went back, the pony in the bed was my dad, somepony I remembered, loved and admired, somepony I could only tell between tears how much I loved and how much I had learned from him."
Applejack nodded.
"I thought I'd be miserable for months, even years—"
"But you thought the pain would go away and it didn't," a familiar voice interrupted. "They were gone, and you were here. I understand."
Sunset's eyes went wide and she looked up. Honey Stead sat across from them, an understanding grimace of a smile on his face.
"The hay are you doin' on this train?!" Applejack growled. "Are you following us?"
"No," he replied. "I'm also going to the cemetery. My parents are buried there too."
There was an awkward silence.
"And that is why," he said after a moment, "I understand what you're going through." His eyes teared up. "I remember when I lost my mother, and I was left alone with my father. It's been almost thirty years and thinking of her, of how she's not here tears at me. It's—"
"Not my experience," Sunset said firmly. "If you'll excuse me, I have no intention of arguing with you about it. Come on AJ, we'll find another place to sit."
Applejack gave them both a worried look, but nodded, following Sunset into another cart. Thankfully Honey Stead decided to stay in place. They ambled down the train, unable to find a place to sit until they reached the cafeteria. With nothing else to do, Sunset purchased a couple of drinks and they sat down on one of the tables and talked about home, the other girls, Applejack's last date with Rarity, Flash's fanboy phase and other things until, after a little bit of silence, Sunset spoke up.
"Hey, Applejack, when you think about your parents, what do you remember?"
Applejack took a sharp breath, but let it out slow and tipped her hat forward. "Ah was fairly young when they… passed away. It was an accident. y'know?"
Sunset nodded.
"Yeah, Ah guess I've mentioned that before. Ah dunno, Sunset. Ah remember wakin' up with my Pa to help with the trees. Ma ringing the bell so we could head back and have breakfast. Ah remember her feedin' Apple Bloom, and m'Pa hoofwrestlin' Big Mac."
"Do you…"
"Miss em?" Applejack finished the question. "Yeah. Yeah, Ah do. But Ah don't get too sad about it, you know? Ma and Pa left us a huge legacy, and Ah know Ah've shown y'all their tree." She took a sip of her juice. "It's still… hard, knowin' they're not here. Wishin' they could see how Apple Bloom has grown up. Meet Big Mac's girl. Meet Rarity and the rest of my friends. But Ah know, that wherever they are, they're lookin' down on us and smilin', 'cause they know we're doin' our best." She looked up. "How about you?"
Sunset nodded. "It's why I feel so… insulted by Honey Stead's insistence on telling me what I should feel. I miss my dad. But I don't let it cripple me or drive me to tears, because that's not what he would have wanted. He taught me what he could and made sure I could make it to Canterlot to study at Celestia's school. I owe him so much! But my mind is not filled with his last moments. When he comes to mind, it's not in his death bed. Like you, it's the moments when we're together having fun that come to mind."
"Ah understand, but, y'know that's not the case for everyone. That pony back there—"
"Yeah," Sunset interrupted. "I get it. We're all different and his experience was maybe traumatic… I can't understand what he's feeling either."
Applejack nodded.
"I'm glad you realize that," Honey Stead said, approaching them. "I've lived through this, and I can tell you that the pain never goes away. Which is why Celestia and Princess Twilight are both wr—"
"I understand that you have a set of circumstances," Sunset interrupted. "But that doesn't give me the right to tell you that you're wrong to be sad." She poked him on the chest. "Just like it doesn't give you the right to put words in their mouths, or tell me or anyone else how I should feel."
"Seriously though," Applejack spoke up. "Why are you following us?"
"We just happen to be moving in the same direction, that's all."
Sunset and Applejack looked at each other. "Right."
Before he could answer, the train slowed to a stop and the doors opened. The trio looked at each other.
"Fine." Sunset sighed. "You can walk with us. But no more talking about this or your book."
Honey Stead bit his lip, but nodded. The three stepped out and made their way through the small city, towards the cemetery. It was a short walk, and soon enough they could see the gates. Honey Stead stopped dead in his tracks. "Well. There it is."
"Yeah, come on," Sunset said stepping forth, but Honey Stead's hoof stopped her.
"Wait," he said, suddenly sounding less sure of himself. "Do we need to go in?"
"This is why we came all the way here, right?" Sunset asked.
"Come on, sugarcube," Applejack said gently. "They're waitin' for us."
Sunset and Applejack started walking reaching the entrance and looking back at him expectantly, but Honey Stead stayed behind. "N-no! It's not right! There's so much pain! Why go in there a-and feel it more!"
"Ah don't know about you, Honey Stead," Applejack said gently, "but when my Ma and Pa died, Ah was sufferin'. Ah was blamin' my sister, my brother, hay, anyone that would try and comfort me. But then Ah learned more about them. Ah remembered who they were for me. And Ah realized… I would miss them, but Ah would always have them with me. Right now you can go in and talk to them. Get this pain out of your heart. It might not make it all go away, but it will help a little."
Honey Stead took a step back. "When somepony dies, all they are ceases to be. They are no longer here, providing comfort. All they leave behind is emptiness and despair with their absence! I can't just… go in and—"
"Then why did you come?" Sunset demanded, turning to face him fully. "Why follow us? Why walk all the way here?"
"To prove you wrong!" Honey Stead snapped. "To prove that you'll despair when you see the tombstone! To prove that I'm right and that the void they leave behind can never allow you rest or space for more! Because when they die they take a chunk of you with them!"
"I don't believe that," Sunset said. "I believe the opposite. I think that when a pony dies, their memories and their feelings remain in me. That my father's wishes for my health and happiness are like a blanket on my soul. That when they leave, they inhabit my spirit with their lessons and their laughter."
"It's not true!"
"Then come!" Applejack said, stepping to the side so the entrance to the cemetery was in plain view, unobstructed. "You're not alone, sugarcube. Find out for yourself."
"You are just repeating nonsense," Honey Stead insisted, taking a step back. "You want to do this, fine! But don't come begging to me when you can't handle the pain on your own!"
"Sugarcube… it's fine."
Shaking his head, Honey Stead ran away.
Sunset stood in front of the tombstone. She gently used her magic to clean away the dust and then levitated some flowers to lay them at its base.
"How do you feel?" Applejack asked.
"Honey Stead—"
Applejack groaned.
"No. No… for all his… peculiarities, he made me realize something important."
"Really?" Applejack scratched her head. "What is that?"
"How lucky we are, you and I."
"Huh. How do you figure that, right now?"
Sunset sighed and sat down in front of her father's tombstone. "It's true that we lost someone very important to us. In your case more than one, but we're able to look at the good, rather than holding on to the bad… and we still are empathic enough to realize that not everyone can deal with things in the same way, that our experience is not directly proportional to someone else's.
"We were loved, provided to in as many ways as our parents could. And we were lucky to have them in our lives. When I make decisions, now that I'm not… blinded by hate, I can see his influence, even when I left so young. When I accomplish something and I wish he were there to what I've done, I think of it as knowing that he would have been proud of me, and that is why I would have liked him to see it, not because he's not able to anymore.
"Honey Stead has done the opposite—all he thinks about is how his parents aren't there to see him. Because he is desperate for them. He is unable to even see that others can move on. It's no wonder he would write a book like "The Pain of Eternity", when all he sees is a bleak absence of love."
Applejack whistled. "That's some revelation, Sunset," she said, taking a seat next to her. "And Ah agree." She looked at the tombstone with a slight smile. "Ah think your dad would be proud of you being better than you were. That you've made friends, and moved forward. That his legacy lives on in your words and actions." She threw a foreleg around Sunset's shoulder, pulling her in for a hug. "Ah know Ah am."
Sunset chuckled. "Maybe I should write a book too."
"Heh. What would you call it?"
Two Thousand Years Later…
"Mom! Mooom!"
The door to Twilight's study busted open and a young unicorn filly ran inside. Her green coat was barely visible under the winter coat she was wearing, and her saddlebags were covered in snow, a clear indication she had been running around outside in the city. Why, Twilight couldn't even see the cutie mark under all that.
"Apple Parfait," Twilight said, smiling, "shouldn't you have gotten out of your winter coat and put away your saddlebags? You're making a mess!"
"I'll clean it up, I promise! I found something!"
"Oh? And what is it you found?"
"Another book!"
Twilight blinked. "Oh my. Tell me you didn't dig it out of the snow."
"Of course not," Apple Parfait scoffed, "it'd be destroyed. I went to the library!"
"Right," Twilight said watching curiously as her daughter levitated a book out of her saddlebag. She laughed when she saw the cover. "My goodness, why did you pick this one up?"
"Well, I wanted to see if there were any copies of the Pain of Eternity in the library, and I found one! But then, this one was right next to it!" Apple Parfait said. "And it says it was written just a few years after Pain."
Twilight chuckled. "Why, yes it was. It was written by a very special pony, too."
"Flanksy?"
"That is just a pen name," Twilight said, grinning.
"So, can we read it?"
"I have a better idea, why don't you tell your auntie to read it to you?" Twilight said, poking her daughter in the chest with a hoof. "Trust me. It'll be worth it."
Apple Parfait blinked, but then smiled and nodded, galloping out of the room with the book held in her telekinetic grip. "Auntie Sunset! Auntie Sunset! Mom says you should read me this book!"
Twilight could hear Sunset's voice from deeper in the castle. "Oh? What's the title?"
"It's called: The Joy of Remembrance!"
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Dot's a strange name...
You are only as alone as you believe yourself to be. I know I am not alone, and so I never shall be.
Story image is a frame of the flooded train track in the final act of "Spirited Away".
9830712 One of the best movies out there.
I thought Honey was a stallion?
Wait, so Twilight's daughter went to a library...that's not in her castle?
And oh good, Sunset is still around, I assumed she'd died too.
Anyway, having recently lost both my grandmother and grandfather, thanks for this.
9830721 Thanks for reading, and sorry for your loss. I'm glad this story struck the right chord for you as well.
Re: error I got mixed up a bit there with all the characters and didn't fix that during an edit.
9830727
To be honest, when it happened, I...didn't cry. I felt a little sad, and empathetic towards my folks, but that's it. My grandmother had been suffering from Alzheimer's for ages and the last time I saw her I didn't recognize her. My grandfather's been dying for years and he gave off the impression he just wanted to check out already. It came as a relief, really. We all knew it was coming. I went to their funerals, said the right things at the shivas, and...went on with my life.
Will Honey ever be able to move on with his?
9830718 There are many small details I noticed throughout the film which escape most viewers.
For instance, did you realize that at least 3 weeks went by in the human world during the 3 days Chihiro and her family were in the Spirit World? There is the fact that their car was full of dust and surrounded by a high growth of weeds which hadn't been there when they parked... but even more than that are the phases of the moon. Pay attention to the phase from the first night to the last... it goes through 3/4 of a cycle, from a crescent to waning gibbous.
Then there is the train which is stated, "It used to go in both directions, but these days, it's a one-way ride." Keep in mind that the station they passed through connected the human and spirit realms and you'll get the idea: it carried the souls of the dead into the spirit realm to their 'final destination". As to the rest of the statement, in Japanese lore there were times in the year when the spirits of ancestors would return and commune with the living. But that no longer occurs, if one is to take stock in the legends. Therefore, the movie slips in that little bit of cultural mythos with the explanation that the train carrying the spirits no longer makes any return trips.
It's that sort of subtle attention to detail and subconscious-level world construction that makes it feel so alive. We see that magical, impossible fantasy realm as stuffed full of detail and alive as our world, and internally we come to want to believe in it because it satisfies the innate sense of 'completeness' of any location in reality. In contrast, there are the stark, displeasing worlds of the bad CGI movies and the 'uncanny valley', where our brain picks out details which contradict innate standards of 'natural' and 'unnatural'.
It takes a true artist to understand that balance and deliver the amazingly realistic unreality of "Spirited Away".
As Mr. Plinkett would say, "You may not have noticed it, but your brain did."
9830740 I don't know. I would hope so, but some people just let that fester and their lives are affected negatively all through... even though Honey is a bit of a simplified character, sudden death of a family member (especially at a young age) is a very traumatizing event that has been known to be the underlying cause of several issues later in life, like paranoia, panic attacks, emotional disconnection, etc. And there's nothing we can do for them, other than guide them to people that specialize in that kind of thing... but in the end, it's up to each individual to be able to face those demons. Some can, and some can't.
I was going to accuse you of blatant memery, but then I remembered that that's canon.
Unless the Apppejacks traded places before they got on the train, you have a bit if an issue with certain appendages when wrestling.
Aside from that, fantastic look at the nature of bereavement and a wonderful jab at the entire concept of the immortality blues. Those who still live ultimately decide how they treat those who pass on, and both Sunset and Applejack have found healthy ways to do so. Brilliant work. Thank you for it.
9830755
When first he appeared, I thought him obnoxious and annoying. And he still is. He's also kind of tragic.
9830802
Accuse canon of blatant memery, then.
9830740
One of the best expressions I’ve seen of the difference between losing a parent and losing a grandparent appeared in Lois McMaster Bujold’s Komarr:
This story sure was very good and sad at the same time
Oh man. This is an excellent swipe at writers who use angst as a substitute for real emotion.
Excellent, excellent bit of writing, Wanderer. I'm trying to lean more towards Sunset's view, having just lost my grandmother. And a great way to end it, too.
Wanderer D thank you.
I still miss my dad sometimes even after all the years he’s been gone. But spot on - I will always have the memories of the wonderful times we had together and the love he shared with us. Thank you for this beautiful reminder.
This is a great sequel to your previous work. There is definitely a labour of love done here.
While it does explain the same moral of the previous story. You somehow bring another perspective using Sunset and AJ.
Then there's the expanded lore showcasing who wrote Pain of Eternity. And also the lesson of not forcing your opinions upon others.
Also, funny way of retreading the same ending of your previous fic.
This was very sweet, very introspective of how different people deal with grief in different ways (healthy or not). I was surprised that Honey Stead followed them to the cemetary, but it did leave an impact- Sunset was right, they were lucky for what they had, memories and lessons and a history with those who have passed.
The epilogue surprised me, but dang it was cute and very touching!
Powerful story.
Although I feel bad for Honey Stead. He comes across as being one bad day away from becoming a Batman villain.
9874847
Didn't he already have that one bad day, though? Except instead of using his pain to become a badass hero or a terrifying villain, he...wrote an angsty fanfic.
9874847
If he was going that route, I think he would have by now. I guess one good thing did come from that travesty of a book. He found a better way than turning evil to vent his angst on Equestria.
10124951
9875846
True, true.
Honestly, to me Honey Stead is a very pathetic, pitiable character. He chose to hold onto his pain, to remember their last moments and keep emptying out the broken part of his soul.
When I lost my parents, I was in a dark place for a while. I remember the day of the stroke that put my Dad in the hospital for six months, and I remember seeing him in bed, barely coherent. I remember my mother, and the pain she suffered in life.
But more often, I remember the good.
I remember the silly voices my father used to do to entertain/annoy me.
I remember my mother's smile, and the joy she felt when she found peace of mind in the wicca faith.
I remember my father's encyclopedic knowledge of Miss America pageants.
I remember my mother's determination never to break, no matter how much she hurt.
I remember both of them going to war with a school when I was suspended for fighting back against someone who was bullying me.
This is a wonderful story. And it will always have a place among my top favorites.
Because we should always embrace the Joy of Remembrance. This story is a perfect reminder.
God bless, Wanderer.
This is one of the best stories about mourning on the sight. Thank you for sharing.