Closure

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.