Street Dreams

The day my father buried his son, the hillside where I was being laid to rest was blanketed in a layer of fog. Applejack stood side by side with Adagio and across from them, on the other side of my casket stood my father. The three surviving people who were closest to me stood in an uncomfortable silence around my grave, along with a few other people I had known, including Applejack’s family and friends. Adagio’s sisters were nowhere to be found.

Applejack and Adagio sobbed silently under their black veils, Applejack had the comfort of her Granny Smith, Adagio had Sunset Shimmer to comfort her. My father stood to my left on his own. His eyes were glued to my casket, with the same stoic expression he wore when I was standing beside him as we buried my mother more than a year before.

When it was time for me to be buried and my resting place to be covered, Applejack and Adagio stayed to watch. My father picked up a shovel and participated in my burial. When my grave was filled, Adagio stood over the bare patch of dirt I was resting under, only for a moment, then left to find Sunset. Applejack knelt down in front of my headstone and traced my name in the letters carved into the stone and stayed for a while. My dad meanwhile, had turned to the grave next to mine and lived out the day he and his son buried his wife in his mind again.

My dad picked up the mangled wreck that used to be my car from the city impound, and towed it to the local scrapyard. He watched as my car was crushed and reduced to the size of a garbage can. He returned home and parked his car in the garage where I had finished restoring it just before my accident. After having a meager dinner he went to my room, which he had cleaned out and filled with mementos of mine and my mom’s lives. Most nights since I passed, he would sit in my room looking at pictures of us, assorted parts from my car, even a few of my speeding tickets which he had framed. He would remind himself how much we loved him. It would reassure him enough to get him a good night’s sleep and carry him on through the next day until he could retire to my room again. As his life marched on, he stayed in our house, but he visited my room less and less frequently. Eventually, he didn’t need to be reminded how much we loved him anymore.

Sunset Shimmer stopped in front of the Dazzling’s house and turned to her passenger Adagio, whose cheeks were still stained from the tears she had shed at my burial. Adagio wrapped her arms around Sunset in a thankful embrace. When Adagio disappeared into her house, she didn’t see Sunset Shimmer again until lunch the next school day. Her guilt ridden mind had found repentance in Sunset and all her friends, including Applejack. Eventually, Adagio persuaded Sonata to forgo her cruelty for friendship. It wasn’t easy, but together, they even convinced Aria to come around.

Applejack returned home to her farm after my funeral. She was in tears the whole day, when her resolve faltered, she turned to her family to restore her strength, just as she always had and always would. Although she didn’t entirely blame Adagio, Applejack forgave her quickly with the help of the strength she drew from her loved ones. She even forgave Adagio for sabotaging our relationship in the first place. Over time, Applejack and Adagio had come to be good friends.

Every once in a while, Applejack, Adagio, and my father would meet each other at my grave. When they did, they would stand over me in reverent silence, remembering how my life affected each of theirs. As they left to return to their lives, they would never cry for me, but smile because they had known me.

Twilight Sparkle kept her hood tight over her face to conceal her identity as she lurked the halls of Canterlot High, desperate to unlock it's secrets. As she roamed the campus, the pictures displayed all over the school could not escape her attention. The next time Twilight found herself in the main foyer, she approached a framed picture of a boy with snow white skin, a black and white baseball cap, and a camo t shirt. She ran her fingers over the dates on the frame and calculated they were approximately seventeen or eighteen years apart, the second date was even quite recent. For the moment Twilight had traded her scientific curiosity for more personal curiosity, she recognized me in these photos. Twilight tried to reason what the dates could mean and why his picture was all over this school. Her first thought was far too morbid thus she dismissed it. She asked the first student to pass by what it all meant but he only validated her first thought by telling her what happened to me. Twilight turned back to the picture, her jaw slack in disbelief, her eyes watering.