The Island

Chapters

The Arrival
Remembrance
The Truth
The Funeral

The Arrival

The Island

It was a beautiful summer morning, the kind of morning where everypony wanted to be outside enjoying it. This particular morning seemed to be even more beautiful than normal. The clouds were extra fluffy, Celestia’s sun shone extraordinarily bright, and a gentle breeze blew through the park where you were relaxing under a tree. You could hear the faint sound of fillies laughing in the distance, further adding to the serenity of the day. “Man,” you thought to yourself, “there’s only one thing missing to make this absolutely perfect. If only she was he- Oh! Here she comes now.”

An unbelievably gorgeous mare was flying towards you. Her yellow mane continued to flow behind her as she landed next to you thanks to the peaceful breeze, which only added to her beauty. You couldn’t help but notice that only one eye was focused on you while she smiled, the other eye lazily drifting off to the side. You didn’t mind though, because you knew that despite what other ponies said about her looks, you loved her all the same, and while she may not be the most graceful pony, you found her clumsiness adorable.

“So how was your day, Love?” You finally ask after you finish admiring her.

“It was wonderful, Dear.” She responded with a happy smile. “Everything went smoothly and I even managed to pick up some muffins on my way here,” she says, pointing at a brown bag as her smile gets even bigger. Suddenly snuggling up close to you, she says, “But before we get to the muffins, I’d rather taste you.”

She pushes you to the ground and stares at you lovingly. As she slowly starts to bring her lips to yours, you think to yourself, “This day is definitely perfect.” As soon as you finish this thought, your lips meet and the only thoughts you have are of her. Her taste, her smell, her feel, everything about her. You feel her breathe mix with yours, filling your lungs. As you try to breathe the air she just gave you, you violently start to cough, and your world is shattered before your eyes.

You wake up coughing, trying to dispel the liquid in your lungs, almost banging your head against somepony else. As you roll over to finish coughing, you feel a hoof gently stroke your back and a concerned voice reaches your ears. “Are you okay? How does your head feel? Are you in pain?” The voice rapidly asks one question after another, barely giving you the chance to answer, which you currently couldn’t do anyway.

As the last of the violent coughs ends you realize two things. One, it’s very early in the morning. Two, there’s a beautiful blue-gray pegasus with a yellow mane and tail sitting next to you. Her eyes are filled with tears, and although one eye is looking at you worriedly, the other is busy examining something off to the side. You feel like you should recognize her, but your head feels like it’s trapped in a vice and you can’t think straight. You stare at her face, waiting for something to click although it never does. You suddenly realize you’ve been staring at her for quite some time and decide to break the silence. “Why are you crying? Are you hurt?”

“Am I hurt?!” She yells back at you, although you can’t understand why she’s angry. She glares at you hard enough to cause you to flinch as she continues to shout, “Your head is bleeding, you almost drowned, you were unconscious for several minutes and you ask me if I’m hurt?” As she finishes yelling at you, both of her eyes manage to focus on you.

You’re surprised to hear her get so angry over this, considering you’re pretty sure you don’t know her, and the only thing you do is answer with a weak, “I’m…sorry?”

She suddenly throws her forelegs around your neck as she apologizes. “Don’t be sorry, Dear.” Dear? She talks as if we’re pretty close, but I don’t remember her at all. As you think this, she continues talking. “You’ve always cared about others before yourself, so I shouldn’t be too surprised you asked me that.”

Your mind starts to go crazy, increasing the vice-like pain in your head. You slowly push the mare away from you and she gives you an almost hurt expression, but it passes quickly and you’re not sure if you truly saw it. You decide to ask the question that has been nagging at the back of your mind, “Who are you?” This time, the pain in her face is quite visible, with her mouth agape with shock, although you still don’t see it as your brain goes into overdrive. “Actually, who am I? How did we get here? Where is here? Why-” You suddenly get cut off as she places a hoof to your mouth, tears visibly streaming down her face.

“Please don’t say anything else.” She pleads with you, trying to hold back her sobs.

“But I don’t remember anythi-”

Once again she cuts you off. “Please. Just…don’t.” You can clearly see how pained she is and realize that if you really are as close as you think, this must be torturous for her. You sit there quietly as she gets control of herself. Eventually she looks up at you with bloodshot eyes and says, “I’ll answer all of your questions, but first we have to take care of your head injury. It may not be bleeding badly, but we still need to wrap it.”

You reach up and feel the back of your head. Sure enough, your hoof comes away bloody. “Okay,” you say, “Do you have anything to use, or do we have to makeshift it?”

“Yes, I have something. At least, I think I do,” she says as she stands up, her voice still shaking slightly. “Some supplies washed up along with our life boat.” She flies off before you get a chance to ask anything. While she’s gone, you finally look around to get your bearings. You’re on a beach, between the shore line and the tree line. Looking towards the ocean, you are shocked to see so much water. In fact, the only thing you see is water. Considering you can't see any other signs of land, you assume you’re on an island in the middle of the ocean. Sighing to yourself, you look towards to tree line. You notice the forest seems to naturally rise with a gentle incline, and that it already seems to be alive with life. You realize that this island is actually quite beautiful, but the thought is quickly overshadowed by the hopelessness you now feel.

Well, you think to yourself, at least I’m not alone. Even if I don’t remember her. You look over to where the un-named mare flew off and see that she’s flying back towards you with a white box in her hooves. “I found an emergency-medical kit on the beach. It should have everything we need,” she announces as she lands next to you. She opens the box and pulls out gauze and begins to slowly wrap your head, tying it tight to prevent future bleeding. After she finishes the job, she sits on her haunches and stares at you with one eye, the other one having returned to its usual position. She continues to stare for several minutes as you try to think of how to ask your questions without upsetting her.

As it turns out, you don’t need to, because she starts to talk very quickly. “First off, my name is Ditzy Doo. You and I are,” she pauses, before continuing, “very close friends.” That last part sounds a little funny to you, but with no memory to back it up, you can’t really argue. “Ever since we met at school as foals, we’ve been best friends.” She sighs, maybe remembering your early years together? “I’m sure you’ve guessed by now, but we’re stranded on an island. We ended up here because we both had some vacation time saved up from our jobs and decided we needed a break. I rented a small boat for the two of us to enjoy. Everything was going well for the first few hours. We were the only two passengers and the captain was a very old and very nice stallion who practically lived on the ocean. Only hours after we left port, however, we struck something in the water and our boat started to sink. The captain told us to get into lifeboat and save ourselves. He planned on staying behind with his one true love until the very end." She tears up at this point but it passes very quickly. "You and I got into the life boat and bailed. As we approached the island, the ocean slowly started leading us towards those rocks.” She points a hoof towards the sea, where you could just make out vague shapes that look like the teeth of a dragon. “When we crashed into them, we both went under, but you...you hit your head on the rocks first and were knocked out. It took me a while to find you, and when I finally did, you weren't moving. I was so scared, I thought that I lost you. That you were...dead." You hear her sniffle and look up at her.

You notice that she is trying her hardest not to cry again. Unlike last time however, you are aware of her grief and move closer to console her. Without hesitating, you reach out a hoof to gently stroke her mane, a motion that feels natural to you. After a little break she continues, "I brought you to the beach as fast a I could and tried giving you CPR. Thank Celestia I took a class on it."

At this point, she loses all control over her tears and they pour down. Whether from grief of what could have happened, or joy that she saved you, you're not sure. All you know it that your heart hurts seeing her like this, even if you don't know why. She buries her face into your shoulder as you continue to comfort her. “You don’t have to finish if you don’t want to. I can pretty much piece together what happened after that.” She replies with a soft ‘thank you’ and doesn’t say anything for a while; she just relaxes her body to your gentle stroking.

With Ditzy finally calmed down, and a basic understanding of your situation, you try to piece things together:

One - I obviously have some form of amnesia. Hopefully not permanent

Two - We're trapped on an island with no obvious way off. We could wait for help or try to get off ourselves. Have to discuss with Ditzy later.

Three - Ditzy and I are very close friends. That's not hard to believe, considering how much it hurts seeing her upset and how distraught she was over my near death experience. However, I think that there may be more to this. Something deeper between us. If only I could remember.

Finishing the end of your list, you notice that Ditzy has dozed off and is leaning against you heavily. Realizing how tired the whole ordeal was, you decide to follow Ditzy's lead and take a nap. Shifting your weight so that you can both sleep comfortably, you gently fall asleep next to her. Unbeknownst to you, Ditzy mumbles three words in her sleep.

"I'm so sorry."

Remembrance

The breeze carries the faint scent of the Everfree Forest as it blows through your open window. You were so excited for the day to begin that you woke up just as Celestia’s sun started to peak over the horizon, bathing everything in fiery orange glow. It took you several weeks to mentally prepare yourself for what you were planning on doing today, and you still weren’t fully prepared. If everything went according to plan, you would be the happiest stallion in all of Ponyville, all of Equestria even! If it went wrong, however, you would lose everything you care about.

“You shouldn’t be this nervous,” you think to yourself. “Just act natural and you won’t have a problem.” You sigh deeply, trying to figure out why you’re so nervous. “You’ve had breakfast with her dozens of times. The only difference is that you’ll be asking to have dinner with her as well. That’s not a weird thing for friends to do every so often.”

“But what if she denies me? What if she realizes my true intentions and just wants to stay friends?” You sigh even deeper than before as you start to argue with yourself. “I don’t want to ruin our friendship.”

“You’ll never know unless you try.”

“I know that, but what would I do if-” Your thoughts are interrupted by a knock on the door. Quickly glancing outside, you realize that the sun has moved a great deal away from the horizon. In fact, you only have a few minutes until you’re supposed to head over to Sugarcube Corner for breakfast. Putting your mental debate on hold, you quickly rush to the door as another round of knocking resonates throughout your house. “Yeah, yeah, I’m comin’. Don’t get your tail in a knot.” You open your door and are greeted with a friendly smile.

“You ready to get some muffins before we head off to work?” Her smile grows even bigger as the thought of eating her favorite food enters her mind.

“If only I could find a way to make her smile like that,” you think to yourself. “A smile that could rival the brightness of Celestia’s sun. A smile that turns her already beautiful eyes into pools of liquid gold. A smile that-” You slam the brakes on your rushing thoughts, realizing that you were staring at her for quite a while, something you’ve been doing more and more lately. “Of course Ditzy, but first I had a question I wanted to ask you.”

“Oh? And what would that be?” She asks you with a knowing smile, almost as if she was expecting you to ask the question that would either lead to the luminance of your world, or its destruction.

You close your door and lock it, taking extra time to calm your rapidly increasing heart rate. You turn around and lock eyes with her good one, the other eye lazily looking around. “I was wondering if-”

Your question is abruptly cut off by Ditzy, who quickly takes to the sky as she speaks, “I’m so sorry.” She suddenly flies away as the earth starts to shake, opening a crack in the ground that swallows your entire essence, plunging your mind into complete darkness.

“Hey! Wake up!” You feel somepony shaking you, along with a sadness stricken voice screaming to get your attention. “For the love of Celestia, please wake up!” Shaking off the last bit of your grogginess, you sit up trying to figure out what’s going on. Your head still feels like it’s in a vice, which only gets doubled when a blue-gray blur tackles you back to the ground, slamming your head against the earth as you fall. “Ohmigosh I was so worried!” Her face clearly expresses her fear, wet tears flowing like rivers down her face. Once again, your heart erupts into pain at the sight of her crying. She starts to speak again, chocking up at certain points. “I…I don’t remember falling asleep and when I woke up you were just lying on the ground and… and I thought the worst. I…I…I…”

She stops trying to explain herself as she wraps her forelegs around your neck as tightly as she can, crying into your mane. You don’t try to say anything to her, allowing her to release all of her tears. You can still feel your dream floating at the fringes of your mind, slowly disappearing like the rest of your memory. You’re sure it was important somehow, but you can’t recall any information about it. As you wait for her to calm down, you notice that it’s a little past mid-day, the sun only just beginning its descent towards the horizon.

Ditzy eventually stops crying and separates from you, sitting on her haunches. “I’m sorry I overreacted. I was so worried that I’d lost you again.” She looks at you with blood-shot eyes that cause her beautiful eyes to look duller than usual. Beautiful eyes? Where the hay did that thought come from? Eventually you realize she’s speaking again and rush to push the thought from your mind.“I know that head injuries may look fine on the outside, but there’s still a danger of swelling on the inside causing damage or……death.”

She starts to tear up again, so you place a reassuring hoof on her shoulder. “It’s okay Ditzy. We’re not in the best situation right now and I’m not doing much to help. It's understandable that you'd be upset right now.” You sigh deeply before you continue. “Maybe if I had my memory I wouldn’t be so useless. I could actually-”

“Now you hold on a minute,” she suddenly interrupts while glaring at you with the same intensity as when you first woke up, “It’s not your fault you lost your memory. Besides, you’re not useless,” her face turns a very dark shade of red as she blushes, “You’ve done a very good job comforting me when I…start to…umm…freak out.” The last part was barely whispered, her embarrassment getting the better of her. “Besides, it’s my fault that the boat began to sink.”

“Wait a minute,” you raise your voice as you talk, causing her ears to drop down. “How the hay is the boat sinking, or anything that happened to us your fault?” If you didn’t get to blame yourself, then you won’t allow her to either.

She doesn’t say anything at first, and you start to think that you’ve upset her by raising your voice. Before you get a change to apologize, she starts to talk. “Bad things have a…habit…of happening around me. Either from my eye causing me to be a klutz, or from a run of bad luck that follows me like a curse, something always goes wrong when I’m around. You would know if you had all of your memory.” She looks down dejectedly as she finishes talking.

You stare at her, shocked that she could possibly think everything is her fault. “Well then, you know what I think?” She looks up at you momentarily before letting her eyes drop back to the ground.

You put a hoof under her chin, forcing her to look into your eyes. “I don’t believe in bad luck or curses, and if I don’t believe in it, it can’t affect me,” you say firmly, before continuing. “So I don’t think that caused the ship to sink.” You give her your best smile, willing her to receive your feelings that it’s not her fault. “Also, who cares if you’re a klutz? Your eyes are what make you who you are, they’re your special quality, and I happen to love your eyes.” You blush slightly as you finish. Why am I blushing, You think to yourself, it’s normal for friends to complement each other, right?

You suddenly notice that Ditzy is blushing quite heavily as well, and you’re worried that you’ve embarrassed her. Just as you're about to apologize for the second time that day, you realize she’s trying hard to hold in her laughter. When she gets a good look at your confused expression, she can no longer hold it and begins to laugh. You suddenly realize that since you woke up without your memory, you’ve never heard her laugh. It’s so calm and peaceful that it instantly calms your heart and seems to almost pull a memory forth.

“I’m sorry,” she finally says once the laughter has all but stopped, “I didn’t mean to laugh, it’s just that your choice of words is quite uncanny.”

“What do you mean ‘uncanny’?”

“You remember how I said we’d been friends since school right?” You can only nod, not knowing where she’s going with this story. “Well, it’s just that you used a similar choice of words when you first met me then.” She smiles fondly as she recalls the memory.

You respond with a simple, “Is that so…” Now you’re positive that a memory is about to form, it just needs a little more coaxing. “Ditzy, could you tell me how we met?”

“Of course I could, but may I ask why?”

“I just want to hear the story is all.” You decide to not mention that your memory may be returning. That way, she doesn’t get her hopes up only to have them come crashing down if it doesn’t return.

“Okay.” She shifts her position so that she’s lying down in a more comfortable position. Taking the hint that this will be a long story, you do the same. “Well, it was the first day of school, and I was excited to make new friends. This was before I realized that my lazy eye would make my school life pretty hard. My mother never explained it to me, so when the other fillies started to make fun of my looks, I was traumatized. They said things that still haunt me to this day.” She starts to tear up and you prepare to comfort her. The tears quickly pass and she continues the story.

“I was so upset that I ran into the school and straight into our class, which happened to be-”

“Mrs. Sunshine’s?” You say the name before you even think, not entirely sure where you pulled it from.

“Y-Yes, actually.” She gives you a questioning look but continues the story. “She quickly realized that I was upset and asked me what’s wrong. After she heard everything, she decided to put me in the desk closest to her, just in case anything happened. Something sure did happen, just not in class.” She pauses to stare at you for a second. The next part of the story obviously involves you.

“We were just about to start class and Mrs. Sunshine was taking roll. Everyone was there except for a certain colt,” Once again, she pauses to stare at you. You barely notice because you’re so focused on a surfacing memory that’s right on the edge of remembrance. “Everything was fine in class, so I thought that maybe, just maybe, school would be okay. As the minuted passed, I slowly started to enjoy school. Class was fun, Mrs. Sunshine was really nice, and I wasn’t having trouble with the lessons. That all faded when we went to lunch.” Your head starts to pound as the memory of that day is slowly forced back into your brain.

We all went outside, and I was ready to enjoy the lunch my mother made. I tried to sit with some other ponies from our class, but they all walked away from me. I tried again and again and it always happened. Eventually I settled on eating alone, my stomach was rumbling and lunch was almost over. That’s when you showed up.” Once again, she stares at you. This time, however, she’s wearing a smile as she recalls your first meeting. You can barely hear her at this point, the pain in your head almost overshadowing everything else.

“Out of nowhere, you show up. One minute I was alone, and the next you’re standing there. After all the other ponies made fun of me, I was afraid of you. But you just sat there and stared at me. I was about to ask you to leave when another colt showed up. He took my lunch from me and started eating it. Right in from of me.” Suddenly, the pain slowly starts to disappear, and you remember the whole day. Your head still hurts too much to speak, so you let her continue the story.

“After everything I went through that day, I just sat there. Too afraid, too tired, and too upset to really do anything. That’s when you stepped in for me. You yelled at him to give me my lunch back. When he question asked why he should, you whispered something to him and he ran away. Sadly, he never gave me my lunch back.” She pauses as she thinks. “You know, you never did tell me what you told him.”

You remembered. You remembered! You had made up some bluff about being related to the mayor and that you’d get his family kicked out of Ponyville. Ditzy continues the story, unaware that you remember that day. “I started to cry. I hadn’t cried all day, no matter how much I hurt. I was called names I never heard of, and was shocked when I found out what they meant. But I never cried.” She was really crying now, not even bothering to wipe the tears away with her hooves. They were tears of joy, and she proudly let them slide down her face.
“And then you, the little colt who missed half of school because he slept in,” she giggles as she says this, which also brings a smile to your face, “stood up for me, somepony you didn’t even know. When I asked you why you did it, you told me-”

“I didn’t like to see pretty girls upset.” You smile sheepishly as she stares at you in awe. You continue the story before she says anything. “After that, I asked you why you were so upset. You told me everything that happened and how the others made fun of your eye and I responded with, ‘Your eyes may look goofy, but they’re your eyes. And I think they’re pretty.’ I then gave you the muffin I was going to eat for lunch because you didn’t get yours. We’ve been best friends ever since.

As you finish the story, Ditzy tackles you in a flying hug which causes both of you to roll over in the sand. By the time you finish rolling, she’s sitting on top of you, looking down at you with a huge grin, “When did you start to remember? Actually, how much do you remember?”

“I remembered because of your laugh!” You laugh like a mad pony, not caring if you sound crazy. "As soon as that memory came back, all the others one's just followed. Thanks to your beautiful laugh." She looks away embarrassed and you take the opportunity to switch positions, with you on top of her. You lean down until your nose touches hers. “And I remember everything, Love.” At the sound of your pet name for her, she suddenly gasps. You take this opportunity to place your lips on hers, quickly sneaking your tongue in to meet with hers, just like you’ve done multiple times before. It only takes a moment before she starts to push back against you with enough force to reverse your positions again. Normally you’d put up more restraint, but after everything she went through in the past few hours, you happily allow her to take the lead.

She looks at you with a silent plea of thanks, knowing that you could take control if you wanted to, but were willing allowing her to stay on top. She closes her eyes and resumes the heated session. As she greedily attacks your lips, you move your hooves across her back, slowly massaging her body. Every muscle is tense, thanks to recent events. You continue working each muscle until it’s completely relaxed, making sure to avoid the area around her wings. You’ll save that for last. At some point, Ditzy gave up on attacking lips. Instead, she entrusts her body to you, slowly losing strength in her legs until she’s completely on top of you.

With her body completely drained, you lean down and whisper in her ear. “Are you ready for the best part?” She’s too weak to even answer, so you plant a quick kiss on her lips before massaging around the base of her wings. Her legs instantly try to stiffen, but she’s so relaxed that nothing happens. Instead, she’s trapped on top of you as you slowly increase the pressure in your hooves.

Her moans steadily increase until they’re screams of pleasure. Good thing we’re on an island, you think. We’d wake up the whole town otherwise. Setting your mind back to the current task, you press down with enough force to push her over the edge, her entire body shivering in pleasure.While she comes back down from the intense pleasure, you gently stroke her mane, causing her to relax even further. After a while, as she basks in the afterglow, she slowly wraps you in her wings before peppering your face with kisses. She rests her head on your chest and starts to fall asleep. Wrapped in the warmth of her wings, you follow her example. Right before you fall sleep, you hear her say something.

“What was that, Love?

“I said,” she sighs before continuing. “I’m so sorry.”

You look down at her face and see tears in her eyes.

The Truth

I’m so sorry.

Those three little words are more than enough to completely shut your brain down. No matter how hard you try, you can’t recall any reason for her to feel sorry. Does this mean that my memories haven’t completely returned? Or is it something far worse, something that she’s planning on doing later?

You’re not sure with thought terrifies you more.

Still wrapped in her embrace, you call out to her softly, trying to stop your voice from shaking and failing miserably at it, “Ditzy, look at me.” She completely ignores your words, keeping her eyes closed to avoid yours. “Why are you sorry? You have nothing to apologize for.” You lean forward and kiss her forehead, hoping that she’ll finally open her eye. Instead, your kiss causes her to immediately stiffen up and push away from you, causing her to sit a few feet away from you now. The pain in your face is clearly visible, mimicking a similar expression that she wore only hours ago.

“I…I’m sorry,” her face and shoulder drop as she focuses on the ground and apologizes yet again. “Could you please leave me alone for a little bit? I…I need to think some things through. I’ll call for you when…when I’m ready.”

You nod as you stand up, only to realize she’s still watching the ground. You trot past her without saying anything, not trusting your voice to hide your pain, only slowing down slightly to place a reassuring hoof on her shoulder as you pass her and head into the forest.

Once she thinks you’re out of ear shot, Ditzy finally lets her tears rush down her face as she loudly sobs into her hooves, trying her best to muffle her sobs. While her tears fall freely, she starts questioning her actions. Why did I drag this out for so long? I should have told him as soon as I found out last week and avoided all this hassle.

Ditzy lets out a pitiful sigh. “Hassle doesn’t even begin to describe this situation,” she says to the ground.

Eventually her tears slow down, allowing her to finally think about what to do next. I’ve known that I’d have to tell him eventually, I was just hoping it would be under better circumstances. Ditzy spends several minutes thinking about the best way to deliver the information. Eventually coming to the conclusion that it would just be best to get it over with, she calls out for you.

It’s time to tell him everything.

A few feet away from Ditzy you pace around impatiently. You can clearly hear all of her sobs, despite your distance from her. It takes every ounce of willpower you have to crush the impulse to charge through the woods and squeeze Ditzy into your warm embrace. She said she’d call for you when she’s ready. If you go flying to her before she’s ready, she might do more than push you away. Looking towards Celestia’s sun to distract your mind, you see something that shocks you.

The sun, which had only just begun its descent when you looked at it earlier, hasn’t moved an inch. You’re sure that between waking up, Ditzy’s story about meeting you, and your, “passionate” session, Luna’s moon should be high in the sky. While trying to piece this puzzle together, you hear a faint voice calling your name. Putting the issue of the sun aside, you head back over to Ditzy.

It’s time to hear everything.

As you exit the forest, you notice that Ditzy’s eyes are completely red and that her mane is completely disheveled. Your body naturally rushes to comfort her, but the look she gives you makes you stop. It’s not a look of hate, which you were expecting, but more a look of dread, which isn’t much better. Sitting opposite of her so that you’re facing each other, ask her a simple question get her talking. “Are you okay?”

“I’m far from okay.” She sighs deeply before talking. “Before I explain why, ‘I’m so sorry,’ I want you to promise not to say anything until I finish. Okay?” You nod weakly, suddenly very worried about what she’s going to say. “Okay. I…I want to apologize for lying to you when you first woke up. I told you we were ‘close friends’ when we’re obviously so much more.” You suddenly blush as you remember the events that took place earlier, which cases Ditzy to blush as well before she continues speaking.

“I also want to apologize for lying about this trip. I was planning on telling you everything once we arrived at our destination. When we crashed and I realized you didn't remember anything, I decided to lie to you.” Her eyes water up, somehow producing more tears. “I lied to you because it was easier then telling you the truth. I was hoping that once we got off this island, you’d…you’d forget about me and I would never have to tell you the truth.” Her tears slowly start to fall again, surprising both of you. After all those sobs you heard, you were sure she cried herself dry. “Even if you didn’t forget, I could just avoid you until it finally happened. By then, it would be too late.”

“Ditzy, what exactly is the truth?” You can’t help yourself and break your promise and interrupt her, your mind running wild with possibilities that fill you with dread.

She either doesn’t hear you, or chooses to ignore you and keeps talking. “I’m not proud about what I’ve done, and after I’ve already lied to you it wouldn’t surprise me if you don’t believe me now.” Her tears are now running down her face in full force, driving a knife through your heart. “But you have to know that I only lied to make it easier on you.”

This stops your wild thoughts cold in their tracks as anger replaces dread. “How could forgetting about you ever be easier on me? I love you, Ditzy!” You feel your anger reach its boiling point, barely trying to control it. “Forgetting about you would probably kill me! Even if I don’t remember, my heart would. I’d always feel the pain of losing something dear to me. Besides, what would happen when I finally did remember? If forgetting you didn’t kill me, being ignored definitely would.” Your voice slowly becomes quieter, your anger finally dissipating. Realization slaps you in the face as Ditzy looks up at you, somehow managing to cry even more. “Ditzy, I’m so sorry I blew up like that. I-” You stop talking as you realize that she’s smiling.

With tears streaming down her face and a huge smile on her lips, she says something that shocks you. “Don’t apologize. I agree with everything you said. It was foolish of me to think you’d ever forget about me forever. After all, my laugh is what triggered your memories to return.” Your blush returns as you realize just how embarrassing that sounds. “And just so you know, I love you just a much. When I pulled you onto the beach and thought you were dead, I was devastated. That should have convinced me to tell you the truth, to prepare you for when it happens. I almost did too.”

As much as you want to know what this “it” is she keeps mentioning, you can only ask one question. “What changed your mind?”

At this point, her tears have finally dried up. Whether she finally calmed down, or just ran out of tears to produce, you’re not sure. “Once I realized that your memory was gone, I realized I could spare you that pain. Instead of losing your special somepony, you’d only lose a close friend.”

You finally grasp what she’s talking about, and now it’s your turn to release tears. “Don’t tell me.” You know it in your heart that it’s true, but you don’t fully believe it until the love of your life says it for herself.

“I went to the hospital last week to get my eye checked out, just like I do every few months. The doctor noticed something weird and had me scanned just in case. I don’t remember exactly what the cause is, but there is one thing I do remember:

I don’t have long to live. I’ll be dead within a month.”

Even after preparing yourself for the words to come, the shock to your system is so strong that you have remind yourself to breathe. It takes only a few minutes to regain control of your body, but it feels like an eternity. She’s……dying? No. She won’t die. I REFUSE to let that happen, even if I have to go after the Deathpony himself. “Isn’t there some kind of surgery that can save you?”

“There is something they can do, but it has a very, very low chance of working. Not to mention it’s so expensive that even if it succeeded, I’d never be able to pay off the debt. And if it failed, I could never forgive myself for leaving Dinky with the burden of paying it off.” At the thought of leaving her only daughter behind, Ditzy breaks down once again.

You reach across the distance that separates the two of you and embrace her with all of your strength, tears streaming down your face to match the ones running down Ditzy’s. You hold each other for what feels like forever, until both of you are completely empty of tears. Please Princess Celestia, you think to yourself, looking towards the unmoving sun. If there’s anything you can do to help, do it now. If you need something in return, I’ll gladly give it to you; even if you require my life to spare hers.

“I will require no such thing, young earth pony.” You both jump at the unexpected voice, which seems to come from everywhere at once. You feel a sudden drop in pressure, causing your ears to pop, as the space in front of you begins to shimmer. Where there was once only empty space, the Princess of the sun stands before you. Quickly releasing each other, you both bow before one of your benevolent rulers.

“Princess Celestia!” Ditzy suddenly exclaims, “What’re you doing here?”

“I’m here at the request of your young friend, Miss Doo, to get you off of this forsaken island. Are both of you ready?” Both of you stare at the princess, dumbfounded at your amazing streak of luck. Taking your silence as a yes, Princess Celestia spreads her wings and begins to teleportation spell. “Brace yourself young ones, you’ll be safe soon.” As she finishes the spell, everything goes black and you feel yourself being pulled ripped apart atom by atom.

The spell only took a second, but it was the longest second of your life. As you gain your bearings and make sure Ditzy is okay, you hear a voice ring out from behind you. “Miss Doo, the OR is prepped for your surgery.” You both turn around quickly, and are surprised to see a nurse standing behind you. It takes you a moment to realize that while you’re off of the island, you’re not quite in the place you expected; the Ponyville Hospital. “Miss Doo, are you okay?”

Realizing that the nurse is talking to her, Ditzy finally answers her. “Uuummm…..this may sound weird, but what’re you talking about?”

The nurse barely blinks before answering. “It’s time for your surgery.”

“I don’t have the kind of money to pay for that. Besides, I never set up an appointment.”

“Nonsense,” the nurse says with a friendly smile. “Everything is already paid for, and we clearly have a record of you setting up the appointment for today.”

Ditzy looks at you dumbfounded, before a silent agreement passes before you. Princess Celestia not only took both of you off the island, she also took care of Ditzy’s surgery, but why? You can see that Ditzy is hesitating before going through with the surgery. You look her in the eyes and give her two words of advice.

“Do it.” You don’t know why you say it, but something tells you that it’s the right choice.

“But what if it doesn’t help? If it goes wrong, I won’t get to say goodbye to you, or my little Muffin. I can’t just do this without talking with her about this.” You see her contemplating the different outcomes. Somehow, you know that she’s supposed to do this.

Giving her a quick kiss, you look her in the eyes. “You’ll make it through this. I know it.”

Staring at you in surprise, she nods her head in agreement. The nurse, who was patiently watching the entire exchange, awaits her response. “I’m ready nurse.” Smiling, the nurse walks off, taking Ditzy with her. Right before the door closes, you see her mouth three words.

“I love you.”

Two hours later

You nervously pace around the waiting room. You were nervous right as they took Ditzy into the room. Now, you were beyond nervous. You’ve already been to the restroom twice, getting so nauseated that you vomit any food you had in your stomach. As you remember the not so fun memory, you feel a familiar presence behind you. Turning around, you see an alicorn you expected would stop by eventually. “Good evening Princess,” you say as you bow.

Not even bother with formalities, the princess jumps straight to the point. “How is she?”

“I have no idea. It’s been two hours and they won’t tell me anything.” The pain in your heart seeps into your voice, causing the alicorn to ask you a question you didn’t expect.

“Do you truly love her?”

“Of course I do,” you say, not even hesitating to answer, “More than anything else in the world.” The princess doesn’t say anything, so you take the opportunity to ask the one question that’s been nipping at the back at your mind. “If you don’t mind me asking, why did you do all this? Not that I’m complaining.”

“I heard your heart,” she says with a warm smile, “or actually, I heard your hearts. Yours and Miss Doos, that is. I knew you both truly cared for each other from the bottom of your heart. The only reason I asked now was to make sure I wasn’t mistaken.”

You ask the other question that’s been bothering you, more out of curiosity than anything else. Also, because talking with the princess is a better way to waste time then with your head in the toilet bowl. “Why didn’t you lower the sun at the usual time?”

“You noticed that?” The princess blushes, a sight you never expected to see. “Well, mostly because I was busy trying to organize the whole situation without using my royal perks. Didn’t want anypony to wonder why the princess was so involved with a couple in love.” She ends the sentence with a wink, another thing you never expected to see. “As for the other reason, let’s just leave that a mystery, shall we?”

Before you can answer, you hear a door open. The princess suddenly vanishes as you turn to see who it is. As it turns out, it’s the head surgeon who was operating on Ditzy.

And he has tears in his eyes as he approaches you.

The Funeral

The funeral had been planned for this afternoon.

It took two months to complete the required paperwork. Two months of pure hell as you planned everything by yourself, made even worse without her here to help you. The only pony you felt comfortable talking to was Dinky, who somehow managed to keep a smile on her face at all times.

Probably more for my sake then for hers, you think to yourself.

The two of you had become increasingly closer after her mother’s surgery caused her to be put into your care, even to the point where she started referring to you as “Daddy”. You figured it was a basic foalhood need to be comforted, which only increased as the hole left by her mother’s absence grew bigger. Your thoughts are interrupted as you hear a small voice behind you. “It’s almost time to go Daddy.”

“Alright Dinks, thanks for reminding me.” Looking towards the little filly, who reminds you so much of your precious pony, you realize that she isn’t even trying to put on her usual smile. Of course she isn’t, today’s the big day after all. Not even bothering to ask if she’s okay, you simply hold your forelegs open for her. She doesn’t hesitate as she quickly jumps into your embrace, trying her best to hide from the world. You allow her a few minutes of comfort before you speak. “Dinks, I know you don’t want to, but we have to go now.”

“I know,” she says with her face buried in your shoulder. “I just wish Mommy was here with us.” You tear up at the impossibility of her statement.

“Me too Dinks, but you know that Mommy can’t be here with us.” The words leave an acrid taste in your mouth after you speak them, knowing that they must sound even worse to Dinky. You feel her nod her head against you before she breaks away from you and heads to the door. Following after her, you stop as you stare at a picture of your beloved. Memories begin to flow through your brain, which you rush to stop. Remembering her now would only hurt more, you think as you stare at Dinky patiently waiting by the door, and I can’t make Dinky hurt anymore. Finally putting an end to the onslaught of thoughts, you leave the house with Dinky in tow, making your way to the funeral home.

“We are gathered here today in remembrance of a pony known to all of us here today.” The stallion in charge of the ceremony begins his speech, which you quickly tune out. You’ve read and re-read it so many times looking for errors, that you know it by heart. No longer focusing on the stallion’s words, you allow your mind to wander. I can’t believe she’s really dead. I knew it would happen eventually, but I didn’t think it would happen so soon. I mean, who would expect her to die from- “And now, I would like to call on a very special pony to talk on behalf of the deceased,” your thought are interrupted as the stallion says something unexpected, “somepony who knew her better than anypony else in this room.” He motions for you to come forward and take his place in front of the crowd. This isn’t supposed to happen! I don’t know what to say! I…I… Your mind goes into overdrive as you try to figure out what to do, until you feel a gentle hoof press against yours.

You look down and see Dinky smiling up at you, brighter than ever before. “Go on Daddy. I know you can do it.” Shocked that the little filly is somehow calmer then you in this situation, you can only stare back at her. You lean down and place a quick kiss on her forehead, whispering a small ‘thank you’ as you take your place in front of the other ponies. You’re not sure what to say, and your eyes begin to tear up. Through watery eyes, you think you see a familiar yellow-maned pegasus in the back of the crowd. You’re not sure since your vision is so blurry, but the sight fills you with confidence and you begin to speak.

“My mother was a...a wonderful pony who always looked out for those who are unable to help themselves. It is both a great tragedy and a great blessing that she died saving somepony’s life…” You continue to give your speech, tears running down your face as you remember the smiling face of your mother. She was the only parent you had after your father died a few years after you were born, saving a young pegasus who was trapped in a burning building. You continue your speech before finally giving your last words, “If the pony my mother saved in is this room, I want you to know something. I don’t feel any anger towards you, and I know that she doesn’t either.”

Feeling both physically and mentally drained, you take your seat next to Dinky, who has tears in her eyes. “You did wonderful Daddy. Just like I thought you would.” She hugs you tight as the stallion retakes his place and concludes the ceremony. He tells everypony to move outside, where your mother will be buried next you your father, allowing them to sleep next to each other in an eternal bliss.

Long after everypony has left, you continue to stare at the two tombstones until Celeastia’s sun is kissing the horizon. Dinky’s curled up beside you sleeping, exhausted after the long ceremony.

“Taken from this world while saving the life of another, you will never be forgotten.”

The words stare back at you from your father’s tombstone, which is far older than your mothers. It still looks well cared for, thanks to your constant visiting. Switching your gaze over to your mother’s tombstone, you realize the writing on hers matches your father’s word for word. While you sit there reveling in memories of your parents, you don’t even hear another pony approach you until their voice shocks you out back to the present. “I never knew that I was dating the son of two heroes.”

I know that voice, you think to yourself, but I shouldn’t be hearing it for another month. She should still be on vacation, recovering from her surgery. Whirling around, you only have time to see her beautiful, wall-eyed expression before she passionately latches onto your lips, muffling any questions you were about to ask. After being separated for so long, it doesn’t take you long to get caught up in the moment, meeting her tongue with yours. After several minutes, you both break the kiss as the need for oxygen overrides your will to continue the heated kiss. Several questions run through your head, but Ditzy obviously realize this and shakes her head before telling you, “I’ll explain later, just let me see my little Muffin.”

Nodding in understanding, you lean down to wake the still sleeping unicorn. “Wake up Dinks,” you say as gently as possible, “I have a surprise for you.”

“Five more minutes Daddy. Then I’ll get up.”

Laughing at her innocent response, Ditzy looks up at you. “When did you start calling her Dinks?” She pauses before another question appears in her mind. “And when did she start calling you Daddy?” Before you answer, Dinky suddenly wakes up as she recognizes her mother’s voice.

“MOMMY!” Using all the strength her little body can muster, she leaps into Ditzy’s awaiting hug, tackling her to the ground. As they cry tears of joy, Ditzy envelops both of them in her wings, holding her daughter as close to her body as possible. “I’ve missed you so much Mommy.”

“I know Muffin, and I’m sorry I had to leave for a while. But now I’m back, and I’ll never leave you again.” They continue to cry together, slowly calming down. Relaxing further into her mother’s hug, you recognize the slow methodic breathing that tells you she fell asleep.

Watching this peaceful display, you decide to ask the question that’s been on your mind since you saw her. “So why are you back so early? Not that I’m complaining of course.

Before she answers, Ditzy repositions so that she’s in a more comfortable position. “I couldn’t wait any longer. It’s been three months after all, and I missed you and Dinky too much to wait another month. Also, a certain princess we happen to know sent me a letter, telling me that you needed me.” She looks at you with her good eye, letting the unanswered question hang in the air.

You blush deeply as you realize what the letter meant. You move closer to her and Dinky before you continue talking. “I think I might know what the princess was getting at. But first, I have to apologize for not telling about the funeral. The incident happened about a month after you left. I was so distraught with grief; I immediately started to write you a letter telling you all about it. If it wasn’t for little Dinks here, you would have known right away.”

At the mention of her name, Dinky stirs slightly before settling down. After making sure her daughter is comfortable, she looks back to you, waiting for you to finish your story.

“After a month of living together, she finally got use to being around me and we actively talked. On the day it happened, she realized what I was doing and convinced me not to send the letter, saying something along the lines of, ‘More stress will only cause her to be gone longer.’ It wasn’t too long after that until she started calling me Daddy and I called her Dinks. From then on she did everything she could to keep me cheerful and distract me from planning the funeral. Honestly, I’d have gone crazy if she wasn’t there for me.”

“And the letter from the princess? What was that about?”

“I’m not positive, but I think I know what she means.” You recall the moment when you had to talk at the ceremony. “I wasn’t expecting to talk about my mother today, so I was more than a little shocked when it happened. I thought I saw you in the back of the crowd and it gave the courage to speak.” You end the story with a quick kiss, causing Ditzy to blush an adorable shade of red.

After a while, you realize that you’re slowly starting to fall asleep while sitting next to Ditzy. You look over and realize Ditzy has already fallen asleep, completely curled around Dinky like a blanket. “Come on, Love,” you announce with some regret, not wanting to ruin this perfect moment. Giving her a quick kiss to wake her up, you reposition Dinky onto your back while she stretches. “Let’s head back home.” Smiling at each other, you walk off towards the sunset together. For the first time in three months, you get to sleep in the same bed as the pony of your dreams; the wall-eyed, clumsy as buck, mail mare that everypony knows, but few understand.

And you couldn’t be happier.