Counterclockwise

by AdrianJNovelle

Three Hundred, Seventeen

1,849,568

Her daughter was not well.

No disease spread through her system, for she had simply grown old, into her nineties.

And now Twilight Sparkle will see a parent's greatest fear: the death of their own children.

Anacornia lay in her bed, her face almost as wrinkly and her skin almost as pale as Twilight's was when she was visited by that ugly unicorn. She was definitely dying of old age. For months now she had been complaining about her arthritis. She coughed often. And she found breathing difficult. She started to experience night terrors, and would stop breathing briefly in the middle of the night. Her mother took action from the first volley, and now Anacornia sleeps with a mask over her muzzle to keep herself breathing through the night. She still wore it right now on her deathbed. Her heart and her lungs were starting to fail her.

It was only a matter of time now.

"Mother..." Anacornia spoke weakly.

"Yes, my baby?" her mother asked, tears in her eyes.

She coughed. "I think...it's my time..."

"I know, Baby, I know...I just..." she sniffled. It was hard for her to talk through all the tears she was shedding. "This is not an easy thing for me to accept..."

"Then don't accept it," Anacornia gave a slight smile through the oxygen mask. "Just acknowledge it." She coughed. "Sure, there's nothing you can do. It's not your fault. It's not anyone's fault...You don't have to accept that this is the last you'll ever see of your baby girl...don't have this be what you remember of me...don't have the scene of me coughing and wheezing into a mask be what you remember of me..." she coughed.

"You sound just like your father."

Anacornia's smile returned. "Dad was a good colt...he always knew just what to say..."

Twilight hugged her daughter.

"Please...don't do that...Mom...you're...crushing...my lungs..."

Twilight let go. "I'm sorry, Sweetie."

"It's okay...you know..." she coughed in order to refuel her lungs with air. "Of all the ways I can die...this is one of the best...because the last thing I get to see is my own mom...most children don't get to see that..."

Twilight started weeping helplessly.

"But I'll tell you one thing...if I die in your arms...while you're trying to hug me...I couldn't ask for a better way to go..."

Twilight leaned over Anacornia's bed again and gently hugged her. "I love you so, so much, Anacornia."

Anacornia gave her last smile to her mother's crying face as she embraced in the hug. "I love you too...Mom..."

To this day, no one is sure whether it was the hug or simply the clock of fate which ended Anacornia's life. But, everypony does know that if it was the hug, that was a much more preferable way for her to go down than that stupid clock.

Twilight retracted the hug and realized her little girl had finally moved on.

"Goodbye, Anacornia," she weeped, collapsing at the foot of her daughter's bed, her head flat against the sheets as she cried. Through her tears, she uttered the words, "I'll never forget you."

Comments

[MelissiaRivers]

*has not yet read the story yet* If this is in Canterlot you could make the title Canterclockwise

[AdrianJNovelle]

2219762

[MelissiaRivers]

*doesnt know how to reply to comments either* Just finished reading... can't believe I finished this in 2 hours subtract dinner time I never really on many stories but that ending just made me want to cuddle my mom, who is by the way sleeping right next to me. Have some yays

And to all the haters: YOU'RE GOING TO LOVE IT!!!!!!!
'Nuff said

[AdrianJNovelle]

2220909 Thanks, but it's not the end, though. In fact, that's not even the saddest part. Trust me, I've cried myself to sleep writing the ending.

Oh, and, just a tip: there's a little button for replying to comments that appears if you hover over it.

[MelissiaRivers]

I'm on my ipad so I can't hover over the message

Did I hear a seqYAYuel?

P.S. Count the yays and multiply by infinity. That's your score. Have a trollestia

[MelissiaRivers]

Y MY YAYS NO APPEAR?

multiplied by infinity = ...you get the idea

[MelissiaRivers]

Y MY YAYS NO APPEAR?

multiplied by infinity = ...you get the idea