Please
With a light touch of magic, she turned the page, the yellowed parchment almost brittle even in her gentle grasp. It was one book of a stack, a deep pile she had been meaning to traverse for a long while, but had nearly forgotten as the years had gone by. The books were old, very old, thin covers still well kept despite their age, little in the way of dog ears or other blemishes to be found. She took in the pages by the soft glow of sunset, golden and warm, dust motes changing motion with her breaths, each one bringing her nose the smell of time and knowledge, a great balance for the wine she sipped.
It was almost refreshing, reading like this again. She hadn't had time for a long while, far too long. Oh, there was always something to read in her line of work, but it was different entirely to be able to sit down and read for ones pleasure as opposed to work or research. To just read a tale of fancy was a rare respite.
Another page turned as she looked over the top of the book. The normally tidy room was filled with boxes she had finally taken out of storage; Most filled to the brim with books or scrolls, the one that was open at the lead of this parade having contained the small pile before her. The worn packaging still contained enough other material that it was almost ready to split in two. Her eyes returned to the page, the soft glow of the setting sun making sure the words were visible even as another page was turned.
She paused, breath catching in her throat. A photo was jammed between the pages, a makeshift bookmark. Unlike the the book it had been trapped inside, the photo had been folded often, one corner lost over the ages and massive crease marks running over the image of six mares, pink, cyan, orange, yellow, white and purple, happily posing together. Despite the wear, one could still make out the smiles on their faces, a moment of joy caught in time. Carefully, holding her breath as if it may destroy the object, she peeled the photo from the book, holding it in the suns light.
With great care she set it on the table before placing a proper bookmark into the paperback, pausing to take another sip of wine as she turned her attention upon the box again. Each and every object in it was slowly taken out, bathed in the suns light before finding its way onto the table. First where scrolls, carefully rolled and sealed, with any luck safe from the ravages of time. Then came a letter, folded carefully and addressed to her. Shaking, she put it aside and delved into the box once more.
A large photo album basked in the sunlight. Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes as she slowly looked through the collection of memories, the six mares appearing through out with friends and family - pony or otherwise - in every setting one could imagine. On occasion two larger ponies would appear, one the purest white and the other navy blue, though they were sporadic in their appearances at best. At times she wondered where they where, what could have possibly been so important that they had not shared time with the others in the photos. Where had they been as life had played out and been captured in these tiny windows to the past?
Her thoughts went to each picture, each one a story, sometimes joyful and simple, a moment of triumph, or a moment tempered with lies, a tinge of sadness. Sometimes there was no definition which was which. She didn't mind, she told herself, eyes misting up again as she remembered each and every event, either first hoof or from retellings. She didn't mind because everything had turned out in the end. Everything had gone just as planned, every single box on the list checked.
Reaching the end of that, the letter beckoning to her, elegant and precise script seeming to flow under the setting suns glow as she opened it. The script spoke of life, and the end, and the middle, and of joys and regret. She read the name, signed at the end, eyes now freely flowing as she banished her belief from before, wondering where she had been, thinking of everything she could have done different. A million and one what ifs plagued her, all the pieces there as she stared at the signed name before slowly folding the letter back, eyes returning to the photo album.
Now the ponies in the book where legends, something that was mentioned in schools, and even regarded as fairy tales by those skeptical enough. Shaking a touch, she made to drink, only to find her glass had been emptied. She nearly laughed, only half managing as she sobbed instead, hooves gently touching the photos as if she could reach back through time and be there with those wonderful ponies. If she could go back and spend more time with them all. Like a million and one times before, she wondered how different everything may have been if she had just been there more often, if she had spent more time with them all instead of only striving to do what she assured herself had to be done.
As she sobbed, all the pain of what might have been running through her, she almost missed the careful hoofsteps that wove through the maze of boxes, the gentle sound of metal shod hooves on stone telling a tale of a graceful pony. Something soft and feathery covered her shoulders as she lay sprawled out over the table, a position she didn’t recall slumping to, hooves running over photos of friends she hadn't seen in so many years.
Celestia looked up at her little sister with water damaged, bloodshot eyes, an unspoken question with the weight of a long life - longer than most could realize - passing between them. Silently, wordlessly, Luna shook her head, pulling her big sister close, taking her turn with the role of strength as she carefully took those photos from her hooves.
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Nicely done
2010518 Thanks.
I teared up a bit
But its adorable, good job
It's very nicely done and sad. You didn't weigh it down with lots of descriptions or dialogue, and I think that's for the best—it works nicely as a short story.
2010630 I've always found that when someone writes a story inspired by a song, they tend to work in the lyrics into dialogue - So I challenged myself to have none. Glad that it worked to your liking.
2010571 Awww, I didn't mean for it to be quite that sad.
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Well played.....well played....
Nice Snow Patrol reference
2010751 haha, thank you.
2010810 Ah-hah, mission accomplished.
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2010919 Wow. Them's some heavy hittin' feels.
2010928
If feels weren't invisible then they would be like this:
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That's a fridge/car.
I'm gonna go get a neck brace now.
2010936 Ow. o_o Woah, I didn't... Sorry. :C
Holy commas Batman.
"With great care she set it on the table before placing a proper bookmark into the paperback before taking another sip of wine before turning her attention to the box again." <----That needs them. Bad. That one sentence drove me up the wall.
I mean, throughout the rest of the fic, you're pretty good with your commas, but that sentence is just bad.
Beyond that though, this was a nice fic to read, good feels, not too long and not too short, and just the right amount of sadness. A moustache and a like for you.
2010961 Holy crap, how did I miss that, asrgasdgbluhbluhbluh!!
Thank you, gotta fix that now, arg.
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2011001 That is possibly the most tear-jerking image I have yet to see.
2011007
Lol
really good I needed a sadfic right now
2010968
My inner grammar/punctuation/spelling Nazi thanks you.
I'm not sure how it turned out to be Luna... For most of the story, I thought it was Twi...
2011226 you Mean Celestia, right? I made sure I never mentioned who it was until the end and constantly added in little hints about "The suns light" whenever something was inspected - Celestia's magic. I was determined to have something stand out just a bit, and a small twist like that really just... worked. As for why it seemed like Twi, it's implied that it's all her stuff, and Celestia is finally getting to stop and look over it all, long after she passed on...
I might have to read this just for the Snow Patrol reference.
2011772 If you do, I hope you enjoy it.
Well done, but considering your level of skill, it felt rushed. This is far too short!
2011867 but if I made it longer would it have the same impact, or would it have felt like so much padding?
2011226 ok know I thought the same thing
2011901
I think it depends. If you had done it from Celestia's view, perhaps, and had her hear two ponies talking about them as fairytales, then have her going to find them, breaking down... I don't know. It just feels like it needs more.
I was browsing this site on my iPad earlier today, when I accidentally tapped on this story. Having now just read it, I'm quite glad to have had that accident happen.
Anyhow, you've truly written a great story complete with some heavy feels. Excellent piece all in all.
2012622 Ahaha, thank you!
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Eh... Well, you've got a good grasp on style, though it's "First were" not "where", and "sun's", not "suns".
It's a very mood-reliant piece. It meanders a lot, as it should based on the subject matter, but I felt that the reveal at the end wasn't enough to warrant the degree of meandering which went on.
2051014 Hey, learning experience, right?
Thanks for the comment.
I have read this story 10 times, and i cried every time.
This is amazingly written. FARORITED!