Oh, how I miss you. I wish I could see you once more.
Kind Heart was standing weakly in a small meadow, all the while attempting vainly to control his tears as they streamed across his brown, stained muzzle and down to the earthen floor. In front of him, many feet under the small blades of grass and flowers, lay the one mare that had guided him throughout his life, the one pony who had comforted him with her beautiful voice when he was little, the one relative that had always been by his side until her death: down there lay her mother, Ms. Belle, or as she had always told everyone who met her, Sweetie Belle.
He would go visit her every day, always meaning to spend only a couple minutes but instead staying for hours on end as he remembered everything he could about his past, those moments when she was still with him, when her voice would soothe him into a state of rest, when everything was right in the world. Soon, it became clear that the stallion was losing the internal battle with his emotions, he sat down and began to cry freely as memories of her mother passed through his mind.
One memory in particular had stuck to him for all these years.
“Why are you crying, Kind Heart?”
“Nothing, Mom, I’m not crying,” quickly replied the small colt, failing to make eye contact with his questioner. “I’m fine, really.”
“Now, come on, Kind, you know I’m always here for you.”
Kind Heart sniffled, slowly turned to face his mother, and hugged her tightly, unwilling to let go. Ms. Belle had no objections to his action, herself placing her forehooves around the small colt, keeping him in the embrace until he had calmed down.
Ms. Belle asked her foal: “Was it those two bullies at school again?”
“It’s just that, well … there was this one filly, and those bullies were picking on her because she was smaller than the rest, and so I went over there and told the two to leave her alone. But then they started making fun of me for not having my cutie mark. They said that I was useless, that I had no talent, and they just kept bullying me until the end of class. But now that I think about it, it’s true: I don’t have a talent. I’m not good at sports, I can’t understand math or science, I can’t even work in the garden, and that’s something all earth ponies should be able to do!”
Tears again started to form in the colt’s eyes, and his mother picked him up and sat him down next to her.
“Now, why would you think that for a second? Didn’t you help that little filly at school today?”
“Yeah, but–
“And didn’t you also help out those two ponies on the side of the road to school when they needed somepony to carry their groceries?”
Kind Heart was now turning the gears in his mind, putting everything together as his mother continued.
“Just because you don’t have a cutie mark doesn’t mean that you are useless. Why, I met a stallion much older than you that didn’t have a cutie mark, and he didn’t have a problem with it. Why, when I was filly, I was feeling exactly the same way as you are now, and that stallion helped me understand that I was special. It didn’t matter that I was the last person to get a cutie mark in my class. He taught me that everypony is unique, and he even gave me a tip on how to live without any regrets. Do you want to hear it?”
By this time, Kind Heart was quite eager to listen to his mother’s advice, which was simple in and of itself:
“The stallion told me this: ‘Do what you like to do. It’s that simple. The trick is finding what you really like to do. Once you find that, cutie mark or not, you will be able to find true happiness.’”
Kind Heart struggled to understand, but his mother reassured him.
“Do not worry, my foal. You will find what you like to do in time. Now, who wants some of my homemade waffles?”
“I do! I do!”
It was a nice memory, thought it reminded him that he still did not have a cutie mark. That was the least of his problems, though, for the stallion longed to remember how his mother would always sing him to sleep, how her beautiful voice would entrance him and make him feel at ease. Alas, it had been many years since her death, and try as he might, he could never quite remember that sweet, enchanting sound. He would have remained in front of her grave for many more hours, trying to grasp at a memory that he denied to have forgotten, had not a certain mailpony suddenly appeared right before him.
“Hey, Kind Heart, is this a good time … Oh, I’m sorry, I’ll be right ba–”
“Oh, hey, Dinky. No, it’s okay, you can stay,” Kind replied, quickly wiping away his tears and looking at his friend and past babysitter. Dinky sat down right next to him, slowly developing tears as she remembered how nice his mom had been to her, how Ms. Belle had helped her through the passing of the gray unicorn’s mother.
“She was a great pony, wasn’t she, Kind?”
“Yeah. She was the best mother I could ever have.”
They both hugged each other tightly, rivers of salty water streaming down their faces and seeping into the earth. There they remained for what seemed like an eternity, and then Dinky took a more serious tone of voice.
“You know, with all due respect, Kind, you can’t let this sadness consume you. It’s not what your mother would have wanted. You haven’t even participated in this last Winter Wrap-Up, and where were you when we had that huge party to commemorate Princess Twilight’s birthday? You know she was a good friend to your mother.”
“Then how come SHE gets to live forever, while my mom had to die well before her time? How dare she call herself a friend of m–”
SLAP!
Kind was taken aback at the unexpected force that landed on his muzzle. Dinky was tearing up, clearly frazzled as well about her slapping her friend, but she stayed resolutely serious.
“How could you say something like that? What would your mother say about the way you’re behaving? The princess was by her side up until her death, and you’re telling me she doesn’t deserve to be her friend? Did you know how hard she was trying not to cry in front of everypony? She simply sat down and cried her eyes out that day, so don’t you tell me that she doesn’t deserve to be her friend!”
Silence arose between the two ponies, unbroken for more than a moment until Kind responded to Dinky’s words.
“I … I know, I’m sorry, I never should have said something like that. I know how much the princess has helped all of us, it’s just … it’s … I really miss my mother.”
“I know, Kind, we all do. Her voice could mesmerize us into dancing, and she would always help out anypony in need, much like you do.”
The unicorn had calmed down, the tension in the atmosphere dying down as well. Still, Dinky didn’t want to end the meeting on such a sad note, so she pulled out a small envelope with cheerful writing from her mailbag and handed it to the brown earth pony.
“For me?”
“Yeah, that’s actually why I was flying around looking for you. Anyway, I should probably get back to my job. Nice talking to you, gotta get going, bye!” If Kind had blinked, he would have missed Dinky taking off with lightning speed towards the other side of Ponyville.
“Remember, you can’t live your whole life feeling sad!” Dinky shouted as she galloped away, and Kind couldn’t shake the feeling that she knew something he didn’t.
For the time being, though, he pushed that thought off his mind and looked down at the paper in his hoof. Kind was flabbergasted. He had never received an envelope with as many colors, all chaotically yet beautifully arranged into intricate polygons and patterns. On the back was only a single sentence in flowery writing:
From the desk of the magnificent and chaotic draconequus.
“Discord?” Kind was even more astonished that Discord was the one who sent him the letter, which he pulled out of the envelope and read fully.
Hmm, so he needs help organizing his library. Well, if he went through the trouble of sending me this letter, I may as well go and help him out.
Kind look back at the tombstone and whispered softly, “Don’t worry, Mom, I’ll be right back.”
Oh, how I long to hear your voice just one more time.
I’ve almost had it with this!
It was worse than helping organize Twilight’s library. At least her system made some kind of sense, but Discord’s way of organizing his books and various artifacts seemed so haphazard that Kind Heart could never get hang of where to place the items. It didn’t help, either, that Discord would always berate him for every mistake, be it ever so tiny.
“No, no, no! The thingamabob goes on the right, on the red shelf, while the thingamajig goes on the lower left, on the green shelf next to that huge book explaining Pinkie Pie’s behavior.”
“Wait, you can’t put those two glowing orbs together! You could set off a nuclear explosion!”
“Wait, what’s a ‘nuclear explosion’?” Kind Heart had asked.
“None of your business, just separate them before you kill us all!”
It also didn’t help that as he shelved the trinkets and whatnots, he still felt a pit in his stomach, that unyielding sense of depression: his mom was gone. No matter how much time had passed since her death, he just couldn’t let go of that sadness.
Something on the bookshelf beside him had caught Kind’s eye: it looked like a microphone, similar to the one he gave his mother as a birthday present, knowing how much she liked singing. The memory of Sweetie using his gift and singing his favorite song suddenly overcame him, diverting his concentration almost fully, but try as he might, he could still not grasp at the melodious tones that emerged from his mother’s vocal chords. While stuck in this moment of remembrance, he didn’t realize that his flank had accidentally tipped over two flasks of multicolored, bubbling fluid. The liquids mixed together and then …
BOOM!
A small, pink mushroom cloud arose from the mixture, the mist settling in the air and expelling chocolate milk throughout the entire room.
“Oops, sorry!”
Yeah, Discord was quite mad about that incident, only making matters worse. Finally, though, the excruciating work was done, and not a moment later Celestia lowered the sun to make way for the night sky.
“There you go, Discord. Everything’s done. Now, I’ll just be on my way back.” Kind Heart, tired as he was, already missed his bed, his muscles going limp at the thought of the plush mattress and soft pillows. It didn’t help that he still could not shake the sadness from his soul.
“Here, let me help you.” Discord then shot a beam of magic at the pony.
“Wait, what are yo–” Kind stopped talking as he felt something strange expand through his body, a warm feeling, one of rejuvenation: it felt as if his muscles had just had an entire good night’s rest, and his strength was back up in a flash.
“Wow, thank you, Discord.”
“Oh, not a problem. You see, not many ponies would be willing to help me organize my collection of artifacts, especially with the way I act. I’m sorry for scolding and yelling at you like that; I guess it’s just in my nature. I know, how about I make it up to you? I’ll give you a wish, any wish that you have in mind, though of course one within my power to grant.”
Kind simply stared blankly at Discord.
Wait, is this for real? I thought he was a mean, chaotic being. After all, with the way he treated me when organizing his library … But still, he did restore my energy and apologize for the way he acted. Could this actually be happening?
His astonishment, however, soon dissolved, depression taking its place.
“I don’t suppose you can bring my mom back, can you?”
“No, I’m sorry, I can’t restore life onto the dead …”
Kind Heart began to sulk, knowing that he would never see his mother again.
“… but I can take you back in time to see her again. Would you like that? Of course, I’ll have to take care of a few paradoxical elements, as well as probably alerting a certain time lord and …”
Kind heard nothing more, ecstatic at the chance that he had been given at seeing the most important pony in his life alive again.
“PLEASE, can you do that? Can I see my mother again?” Tears of joy had begun to form as he saw how close he was to obtaining his dream.
“As you wish.” Discord snapped his fingers, and a huge blinding light enveloped them both while deafening static arose from a small orb in his paw. “Now, whatever you do, do not break my concentration, and try to keep as still as possible.”
“WHAT??? I CAN’T HEAR YOU!”
“I SAID … oh, never mind.” Discord had forgotten how noisy this spell could be; after all, the last time he used it was to figure out how take control of Equestria the first time. Of course, that also meant that he was a bit rusty.
Oh, this is going to be a bumpy ride.
…
…
BOOM!
…
…
“Whe- Where are we?” Kind Heart had somewhat recuperated from the discomforting sensation of being squeezed out of a tube, but his eyes had still not adjusted to the darkness. The full moon was out, shedding some light on the scenery, though it still took Kind Heart many minutes to completely regain his vision. He was standing in front of a small lake, the moon’s reflection helping to illuminate the trees all around the stallion.
“Where? Well, you can see where, but what you can’t see is when.” Discord suddenly appeared on Kind’s back, much smaller in size, no bigger than a flea.
“Wait, Discord! Where are you?” Kind looked up and down and all around, unable to spot the draconequus.
“I’m on your back. Don’t move around so fast!” The stallion stopped moving and tried to turn his head a full 180, straining to look at his back but failing to see the voice’s owner.
“I’m too small for you to see,” Discord continued. “Being this small allows me to pass through the fabric of time easier.”
“Okay, then. When are we?” Kind asked, finally giving up on trying to spot the draconequus.
“Well, you see, since you didn’t exactly say a time …” Discord hesitated as he continued. “I just let the spell choose a time for me, though, of course, in this time your mom is still alive.”
Suddenly, a small sniffle was heard from one side of the lake. After focusing his eyes in the direction of the unexpected sound, Kind Heart found himself looking at a small, white-coated filly with a purple-and-pink mane. His heart skipped a beat.
“Wait … Is … is that my mom?”
