The Absent Somepony

  Absent Finesse. I once asked my father why mom named me that, and he told me her mother and her mother’s mother had the name “Absent” and so I did. Finesse, because I would be skilled in… something. But he always called me “his Nessie.” They weren’t sure what it was I’d be skilled in though, because both mom and dad were so different.

  Dad was a unicorn, and mom was an earth pony, and dad was sort of a jack of all trades. He was a general handyman, fixing little odds and ends all over ponyville. He was from Appaloosa, and often talked about how he missed the apple farms back home that he’d help work at in the fall.

  And mom… she really never made much of herself. Dad fell in love with her and married her soon after they graduated highschool, and so neither of them studied at a big university with a career in mind. I mean, now dad’s working towards becoming an engineer, but back then they really didn’t have a plan in mind for how their lives would unfold. But dad wanted kids. He knew that. And mom said she did too.

  And so, I happened. A healthy little filly foal. I was born at sunrise, in the summer. Dad says my eyes opened wide, and they looked up at him, and at mom, and he knew that I would be able to do anything I set my heart on in life. I had such potential. And he loved me so much. From the day he found out I was growing inside mom, he loved me. Seeing me for the first time is his favorite memory.

  Mom was always a little… cold though. She was kind of jealous of me, of the love dad had for me. She would sometimes do little mean things, like accidentally tripping me when I was starting to walk, or hiding my favorite toys and telling me how I could find them if I wasn’t so stupid, or criticizing the things I would draw or make. And she would always tell dad I made it up, or that it was an accident, or that I just had an active imagination. And dad was in love with her. He said it made him blind.

  Things got… worse. She did terrible things to me. She hurt me, because hurting me hurt dad. And every time, she said it was an accident. Or I had made it up. But scars don’t lie. And the truth eventually comes out. Confronted with it… She never loved him, she laughed. She never really wanted the responsibility of foals or a family, she said. And the love dad had for her died a lot. He started to be able to see.

  We left to Appaloosa, and it was hard to start over. But we were happy. I was dad’s whole world. And I knew he would keep me safe. And we made a home for ourselves, and I made friends, and I got good grades in school-

  And mom came to see dad. It had been a long time. She said she was ok now. That she had done a lot of thinking, she had seen a therapist, and she was so sorry. And dad loved her still. And so he sold our home, and moved back to Ponyville, and then my little sister was born. And we were still happy. For a while.

  But mom wasn’t better. And she started hurting me again. And now my baby sister. Still jealous. Still cruel. And dad found out again. And this time, she was in trouble. Dad said he had loved her so much, but she had finally managed to kill all the love he had left for her a little piece at a time until it was all gone... I learned what a divorce was, and what criminal charges were, and mom went someplace where she would never hurt us again.

  And we were happy. We didn’t move back to Appaloosa again for my sake, so I wouldn’t have to change schools again and have to say goodbye to my few new friends. Because dad loved me and my sister. And we were his world. He found work in town fixing things, and I grew up happy again.

  And I found out, I was smart! I got perfect grades, and I could do almost anything I wanted to, if I put myself to it. Finding what I wanted to do was hard though, and so I wasn’t too surprised when I got my cutie mark tinkering with something. I said it was as confused as to what I was good at as I was, because it was just a plain hammer crossed with an art paintbrush. I’m good at making things. My talent is sort of knowing what somepony needs before they even know it, and I know how to make it. So I helped dad with fixing things on odd jobs, and I grew up… and up and up! I ended up as tall as he was.

  By seventeen, I was a mare of a stallion’s height, with a cream coat and a dirty blonde mane that I kept long and free. About that time I found out I needed glasses like dad, which wasn’t so bad. I thought I looked good in them. I didn’t just help dad with his jobs, I was sent to do them on my own sometimes! We had a family business! And we were still happy.

  But as I got older, I started feeling… lonely I guess. Dad loved me and sis with all his heart, but something was missing. I wondered if I was taking him for granted, or if I was being selfish wanting more, but there was a place in my heart that was empty. And that feeling got stronger over time. And now I’m twenty-two. And this is where my story starts.

Song in my heart: Final Fantasy Main Theme