Miles Away

Chapter 25

January 23rd, 2019 will forever be a day that lives in infamy here in New Saddle. A day that would change the whole atmosphere of New Saddle forever. Rather than go right away into what happened, I would like to take you to the very beginning of the day.

Me and Ruby had been slacking on us setting our alarms for work for the past month. With enough talk, we both agreed to set an alarm for the abrupt time of 5:30, enough time to get up and have a cup of coffee or tea in the morning before going to work. It sounds stupid early for work, but I was used to it. Ruby on the other hoof was not. So many times this month I would have to be the one to shut off the alarm, which strategically placed as far away from the bed as possible to have at least one of us actually get up.

This alarm today was no different, as it cried out like a war scream bring on the batellion of the evil snap, a super griffin so powerful that he could kill anyone with a snap. All except Quantum Stallion. (There I go again with my nerd talk. Been awhile hasn’t it?)

I had gotten up from the bed and used my magic to pull down the alarm to shut it off with my hoof. Once the screeching alarm was shut off, I was met with another noise I’m used to hearing in the morning.

“Mmmmm.”, Ruby groaned from the bed.

“I know it’s early, but we both agreed on this for work.”, I said softly.

“I know, but what if we didn’t?”, she said rolling over onto her belly.

“Well then we wouldn’t want Peach to think that we are slacking are we?”, I asked her as I sat next to her on the bed.

“Sadly, no.”, Ruby said bringing her face up with mine while stretching.

I used my magic to move some feathers that were covering Ruby’s face. When I did this, I noticed how much the scar had healed on her face. It was almost like it never happened. The beauty in her eyes were now what had my attention.

“What?”, Ruby asked noticing how I was looking at her.

“Even when you look tired and groggy you still look beautiful.”, I said with a cheesy smile.

“Is this your way of trying to make me happy in the morning? Because if it is, it worked, just a little.”, She said leaning in for a good morning kiss.

“I don’t know, I would say it worked just a little with that kiss.”, I said raising an eyebrow.

“Oh hush.”, she said rolling her eyes.

We both had gotten up from the bed and walked into the kitchen. Not to brag or anything, but I think I would make for a great barista with the coffee and tea I learned to make from Amethyst. All our visits with Amethysts always had one of us learn something. Like for example, Ruby had found out she had a little brother when she met Storm. The look on her face will always be a funny memory in my mind.

“So, what will m’lady have to quench thy thirst this morning?”, I said with a goofy voice.

“You know what the queen wants bard.”, Ruby said playing along with the silly voice.

“One royal tea coming right up.”, I said saluting like I was some kind of wonderbolt.

Ever since Amethyst taught me how to make that famous tea of her’s, I have always been able to get Ruby up in the morning just for that alone. One morning, she was so far deep in sleep that I had to wake her up with the smell of fresh brewed tea in the kitchen. I swear, you could hear the tire screeching when the smell spread from the kitchen to the bedroom.

This morning I made enough for two ponies to drink. Typically you would see me doing coffee, but I learned to alternate between the two in the mornings. This was because I was having a rather difficult time deciding whether I wanted to have tea with Ruby or be different and drink coffee. My two day system had been working this long. There was no way for that to ever change.

When the kettle had let me know that our water was ready, I grabbed two mugs and poured in boiling water over the homemade chai that Amethyst had given to me. Once I finished the stirring of the two mugs of tea. I used my magic to hand it over one of the teas to Ruby.

I sat down next to her with my tea in my magic as we both sipped our tea. The silence that followed left me with a little anxiety, as though I thought I did something wrong this morning.

“I have to be honest, this right here is one of the things that make me look forward to waking up in the morning.”, Ruby said holding up her mug.

I chuckled at a thought in my head.

“Glad to see that I am two of the things that get you up in the morning.”, I said holding my mug up as well.

We both laughed as we touched our mugs together and drank our tea. We both had our morning chat that we usually do, weirdly it would be about what we would dream about the night before. Today it was Ruby who was talking about how she was in a dream where we were both on a beach watching the sunset together by a beautiful beach house. She said that I was being my regular playful self with her and the dream ended with her lying on top of me as she drifted asleep as the sun would set. It was kind of strange, but I’m most certainly not one to talk since I have my parents talk to me in my dream as though they were still here.

We finished both of our teas, where I had taken both our mugs into the sink to wash them. Once I finished one mug, I looked over to Ruby.

“So, are you just about ready to go?”, I asked her.

“Almost, I just need to go back in the room to grab my bag from the room.”, She said getting up.

“You better not be going back there to sleep again.”, I said raising an eyebrow again.

“Oh trust me I’m not, not after seeing your persistent butt try to get me out.”, she said winking at me as she walked into the room.

I rolled my eyes and continued washing the mug as I looked out the window. The sun was beginning to rise into the cloudy horizon. Thankfully it wasn’t the ugly grey clouds that indicate that rain is brewing, but rather the welcoming white clouds that blocked the extreme heat of New Saddle.

From behind, I felt Ruby rub on the side of my romp, which gave me a slight chill in my spine.

“You too busy staring at the sun there champ?”, Ruby said snarkingly.

Champ was a name Ruby would call me if I did something that was quite the opposite of what I had told her. Think of it like her way of telling me that,”Look who's waiting on who now.”

“Oh yeah, sorry. Got a little distracted.”, I said shutting of the water and grabbing my bag from the side of the fridge.

Once I saved the dishes, I followed Ruby out the door to walk to work with her.. The sky was starting to light up the town with the bright morning orange I’ve grown used to. Ponies were beginning to come out to leave for work as well. For us, the orange light was our cue to leave to go to work for the day. As it has always been this way for years. Thankfully, we were just in time to not run into a crowd. I don’t need another repeat of what happened at the Daffodil Club.

When we had arrived at the bakery, the door was shut. I figured right away that the door must be unlocked. When I went over to open the door, the door didn’t budge.

“Damn, locked again.”, I said turning to face Ruby.

‘Is there not a back door?”, She asked me.

“No, the only way in or out is through the one in the front.”, I explained to Ruby.

“Well that seems a bit unsafe doesn’t it?”, she inquired.

“You know now that you point it out it is. Oh well, guess we’ll have to wait for Peach to get here and unlock the door.”, I said as I grabbed two chair’s for me and Ruby to sit in.

“Kinda wish I brought extra tea.”, Ruby said as she sat down across from me.

“You’re not alone, I could’ve worked on a drawing I started on a little while ago.”, I said putting my chin on my hooves.

We sat there for a little while watching ponies pass by to go about their usual work day. Ruby and I would chat for a little bit, but then go back to the bored silence in waiting for Peach.

Later on, we saw an older looking pony in the distance. Both me and Ruby perked up to see if it was really Peach. As both our eyes focused on the moving pony, we were disappointed to find out that it was instead the older pony who works in the bakery named Glazed. She had been coming from the direction that Peach usually takes when coming to the bakery.

“Hey Glazed. Did you happen to pass by Peach on the way here?”, I asked her when she walked up.

“No, I was kind of hoping she was already here. Is it locked?”, she asked.

“Yeah, we’ve been here waiting for her to come by and unlock it for us.”, Ruby said to her.

And there we sat, patiently waiting for Peach to arrive. The more we waited, the more ponies who worked came by to wait with us. It started as a few ponies, but soon turned into the whole staff waiting outside of the bakery. It wasn’t until we saw that some of the first usual customers came to see that we still weren’t open.

“This is odd. Even for Peach.”, A few ponies clamored.

“Something must be wrong.”, Ruby said to me.

“Yeah, I think we need to go and see if Peach is okay.”, I said to her.

While everypony was dealing with the conundrum of the bakery not being open, Ruby and I snuck off to go to check on Peach at her house. This was really concerning. Peach would never keep the bakery closed unannounced. She would have to have told us the day before whether she would. This was very unusual for her.

When we made it to Peach’s house, there was a sudden tingle in my spine. Like it had a bad feeling about it. I approached her door and gave a knock. No pony answered. I knocked one more time before I noticed that her door was unlocked. As I pushed on the door, Ruby grabbed my hoof.

“Velvet, we can’t just go in her house!”, Ruby said to me.

“She might be in trouble, she has given me no choice.”, I said pushing the door open.

As the door slowly perked open, I got more chills down my spine more than anything I had ever experienced. Ruby and I slowly walked in to Peach’s house. Turning the corner, we saw Peach sitting there at her kitchen table. She looked totally fine and was even enjoying what looked like a glass of water. She turned around and noticed me.

“Velvet? Shouldn’t you be at home sleeping at this hour. I haven’t even gotten ready for today.”, Peach said with a soft confused voice.

“Peach. It’s 7:30, what are you doing here this late?”, I asked her.

“Is it that late? I couldn’t see it on my clock. All the hands are gone.”, Peach said pointing at her clock.

Me and Ruby had looked at each other confused. The clock was working fine, the time was ticking and everything.

“Peach, the clock is working just fine. You are late for work.”, I said pointing out the clock.

She set down her glass.

“Oh my, I need to go get ready. I’ll be just a min….”, She said standing up.

But then, she stumbled over and collapsed.

“Peach!!”, I screamed out trying to catch her with my magic.

“Oh my god, what is happening!?”, Ruby screamed out.

“I don’t know! Peach! Peach, come one wake up!”, I screamed to her holding her in my hooves.

“We got to take her to a hospital!”, Ruby said running over to me.

“Yeah! Help me grab her legs! We got to take her to the hospital just a few blocks away from here!”, I exclaimed as Ruby came to help me.

We had carried Peach out the door, thankfully she was still breathing softly. With the way we were carrying her, there was no way we would make it to the hospital quickly.

“Ruby, fly her to the hospital right by the backside of the bakery!”, I ordered Ruby.

“What about you?!”, she asked me taking Peach.

“You’re much faster than me. I need you to fly there and make sure they take her. I’ll meet up with you there. Now go!”, I screamed out to Ruby.

Without questioning anything else, Ruby took all of Peach in her arms and flew as fast as she could into the distance. With the worry in my stomach to what’s happening, I took off running back towards the bakery to take the shortcut to the hospital. I ran like I had a death wish.

I was running so fast that I couldn’t even feel myself breathing as I did. Like I was a robot who had one goal in mind: Run to your destination as fast as you fucking can. I’m pretty sure I knocked somepony over as I ran, but I didn’t care. They didn’t worry me as much as Peach was.

As I approached the bakery, an extremely large crowd had developed in front of the bakery.

“Not now. Of all times, not now!”, I said to myself.

I was not too keen about slowing down, but at the same time I didn’t want to run into my fears.

“MOVE! MOVE OUT OF THE WAY!! I NEED TO GET TO THE HOSPITAL!”, I screamed from the top of my lungs as I ran closer.

Like I was parting a sea. Ponies had turned around and quickly moved to the side screaming like a missile was running towards them. I barely made it through without touching a pony. From behind me, I heard a crowd of ponies recognize it’s me and proceeded to follow me with confusion. I made a sharp turn to the alleyway that led to the hospital nearby. With it insight, I knew I made it.

Making it out of the alleyway, I darted straight for the desk of the hospital. The pony running it had to jump back as I tried to slow down. Finally catching friction too late, I slid and slammed into the side of the desk. Not deterred in the slightest, I got back up to ask where they were keeping Peach.

“I need...the room...to Peach...Cobbler.”, I said raspy to the pony at the desk.

“Um, sir do you need some wat-”, she said before I interrupted her.

“I don’t need any fucking water! I need a room to my mother. So where the fuck is Peach Cobbler?!”, I demanded from the nurse who was looking scared.

“Velvet!”, I heard from the hallway to the right of the lobby.

Ruby had a look on her face seeing me react like that. To which I had turned around to face the waiting room, who had all the pony’s eyes locked on me as if I committed a heinous crime. I finally let my breath catch up to me as I turned to face the door where the crowd from the bakery had congregated from. They were just as confused as I was.

“I’m….. sorry. I’ll just go.”, I said embarrassed to the nurse.

She nodded as she nervously pointed to where Ruby was. I walked over with a fast step. I anxiously walked next to Ruby.

“Do they have her?”, I asked trembling.

“Yes. The doctors are working on her now.”, Ruby said with a serious tone.

“How long were you waiting for me?”, I asked her.

“A little while. Enough to be sat down outside of the room she is in.”, Ruby told me.

“How long did the doctors say they will need?”, I asked anxiously.

Ruby gave a sigh.

“They didn’t say. All we can do now is wait.”, she said softly.

I rubbed my eyes with my hooves with anxiety. I wanted to know what was wrong with the pony I considered to be my mom for the most part. All I was told was that I needed to wait until they knew what the problem was. It was back again: the scariest feeling in the world, not knowing or being able to do something.

I did exactly the only thing I could do, sit outside the room Peach was being held until I got answers. Not budging for anything. I wasn’t going until I knew what was going on with Peach. I stayed there for about six hours, not wanting to get up. I was so dedicated that when Ruby offered to go to the cafeteria for a little lunch, I declined. I love Ruby and would always be by her side, but not at a time like this when I was worried out of my mind. Thankfully, she understood what I was going through. She brought me a sandwich that they were serving in the cafeteria for em to eat, but being honest, I couldn’t eat all of it.

After hours of waiting, the door finally opened with a series of nurses walking out, followed by a doctor with glasses shutting the door behind him. I excitedly rose up from my chair wanting to know what the situation is.

“Is she going to be okay? Please tell me she is gonna be okay doc!”, I asked anxiously to the doctor.

He took off his glasses and sighed.

“As you know, Ms.Cobbler is old. As with most ponies when they get old, their immune system begins to break down and so does their nerves. Many try to alleviate this with medication, but in cases like Ms. Cobbler’s, it does not work out for them.”, The doctor explained to me.

“That didn’t answer my question. Is she okay?”, I asked hysterically.

“She is comfortable, for the moment.”, He said to me.

“For the moment? What do you mean for the moment?! What is going to happen to her?!”, I asked frantically.

He gave another sigh.

“As I was saying earlier, for cases like Ms. Cobbler, the medication comes too little too late for them. With the symptoms I described, it soon turned into sudden dementia. She does not have it right now, but usually what follows is…”, he said before stopping.

“What? What follows?”, I asked anxiously.

“I’m sure you have had this conversation about her one day, going away?”, he asked me.

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I refused to believe what he was saying.

“No. No, that’s not her. She can make it.”, I said trying to deny what was happening.

“Velvet. If there was something we could do we would’ve done it already.”, he said trying to comfort me.

“No, you need to go back in there and find something to do to help her.”, I said trying to hold back tears.

“Velvet, she is delicate. Any work we do could do more damage than good.”, he said trying to convince me.

“No! It’s bullshit! You are the doctor now g-get in t-there a-and-”,I said breaking down.

I heard Ruby stand up behind me to try and comfort me as she put a claw on my shoulder. The doctor had put on his glasses and put his hoof on my shoulder.

“I’m sorry, but there is nothing we can do. I don’t know how much time she has left Velvet. She is awake, the door is unlocked. If you want to talk with her one last time, now would probably be the time to do it. I’ll leave you two to talk with her.”, he said before walking away down the hall.

This was it. I was about to relive what had happened to my parents. Only this time, it was happening while I was nearby. This time, I was actually gonna be able to say goodbye for the first time.

“Velvet, I’m so sorry. I can’t believe this is happening to us, more importantly you.”, Ruby said sympathetically.

I said nothing and just looked down at my hooves.

“I can see that this is more important to you. I’ll let you go in there to….say goodbye.”, Ruby said to me.

I rose up slowly.

“No, I won’t go in there alone. I can’t. I don’t have the strength to. Can you please?”, I asked her softly trembling.

“Whatever you need me to do Velvet. Are you ready?”, she said, holding out her claw.

I nodded before slowly taking her claw with my hoof. Ruby led the way into the room by slowly opening the door to Peach’s room. There, I saw Peach in the one place I never wanted to imagine seeing her: in a hospital bed with tubes in her nose giving her oxygen. She had slowly rotated her head towards the door to see us both at the door.

“Oh, my Velvet and Ruby. I’m so happy to see you.”, she said softly with a smile.

All I could muster out was a soft gasp and a small smile while I was holding back tears. Even when she was weak and nearing the end, she still was her truly happy self; Always willing to make you feel okay.

“H-Hi Peach.”, I said softly with my legs shaking.

“Please, come closer. I want to see you two more clearly.”, Peach said as she raised a hoof.

I looked at Ruby and nodded as we stepped closer to Peach. I could never forget that glow in Peach’s eyes, further saying that she had that happy feeling despite feeling her time coming to a close.

“Oh look. My Velvet and Ruby together. I never once said before that you two are really a beautiful couple. I almost see the same magic you two have like I did way back when.”, Peach said to us both.

All I could do was nod and smile, still fighting the urge to break down right then and there.

“I hope to have that magic. I have been told many times by Velvet that I am the one who gives light to his day.”, Ruby tried to say to distract Peach from me.

“Has he now? That’s the sweet side of him that I love. You are certainly the right match for him. All those hours I spent working with you, I’ve really grown to like you sugar.”, Peach said putting her hoof on Ruby’s claw.

By this point, Ruby was starting to show signs that she couldn’t hold it in anymore. As she let lose a couple of tears and sniffles upon hearing that from Peach.

“Is that sadness I see in you Ruby?”, she asked softly.

Even Ruby couldn’t lie anymore, as she nodded letting more tears flow. Peach took one look back at me, then back to Ruby.

“It’s gonna be okay sugar. I promise, but can you do me a favor Ruby?”, she asked politely.

“Anything for you.”, she said trembling.

“Would you mind leaving me and Velvet alone here with me? I want to talk to him personally.”, Peach had asked.

Ruby nodded as she looked over at me. I gave her a nod of approval as she walked right out the door, leaving me with Peach in the hospital bed.

“Velvet. You can’t hide that look from me. I know that look of sadness all too well. Especially with you sugar.”, She said softly.

My fake smiles turned into what they really were, a sad tremble of the lips that couldn’t control itself. The tears began to stream down my face as I let out my soft sobs of sorrow.

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry for not visiting you all those times off of work before. I should’ve been there with you to really appreciate all you’ve done for me.”, I wept to Peach.

“Shhh sh shhh. Don’t cry. You’ve visited me plenty of enough times.”, she said putting her hoof on my shoulder.

“No, before I met Ruby. I would waste all my time on a stupid video game instead of visiting the pony I care about. All those hours I could’ve-”, I said before breaking down into sobs.

“Shhh, sugar listen to me. You don’t need to apologize for all of that. That stuff is in the past. Plus if you hadn’t been there, you wouldn’t have found a beautiful girl like Ruby.”, she said to try and comfort me.

I had calmed down a little, while still having tears flow down my face. I swallowed my sadness before speaking again.

“She’s the most beautiful one that has ever entered into my life.”, I said with a soft voice.

“She is, and I would hope that you will marry her soon.”, she said with a smile.

Once again, Peach, a pony who is faced with the end, is still able to make me feel like everything is gonna be okay. I gave a sniffle and nodded.

“You bet Peach. As soon as the time comes I’m gonna marry her.”, I said with a smile while still crying.

There was silence between us before Peach had finally spoken up, now at a more talking tone rather than the soft labored tone she had been giving.

“Velvet, I know exactly what you’re going through right now. You had to go through it earlier when you were younger, but now has come the time for you to go through it again.”, she said with a serious tone.

“Peach, I-”, I said before she interrupted.

“No Velvet listen to me. What you’re going through is natural to life itself. All things must come to an end, including life. Think of it like a hard day’s work. After working your hardest to make it the best possible day, you come home and decide to rest. It’s my time to rest, and your turn to carry on.”, Peach said putting her hoof on mine.

“B-B-But, I don’t want you to go! Not yet, I want you to see more. I want you to come to me and Ruby’s wedding when I plan it with her. I want you to come to our dinners, I want so much. I-I….I don’t want you to go!”, I said with a trembling voice.

“I don’t want to go either. I want to see all those beautiful things with you and Ruby. But unfortunately, time has decided that now was the right time for me to rest. I’ve grown old, and I can’t change that.”, Peach said to me.

I took her hoof with both of my hooves and rested my head below.

“Velvet, before I rest, I need you to promise me one thing. One thing that will make up for all you’ve felt that you’ve done wrong to me.”, She said pulling me back up to look at her.

“Anything. Whatever you need me to do, I’ll do it. No matter what it is.”, I said with tears streaming down.

She took her hoof and wrapped it around my hooves like a grip.

“Promise me, that no matter what may happen in your life, whether you go through another situation like this or if you end up feeling scared of your fears, that you will be strong. You are old enough to do that, because I promised myself that for your parents' sake thatI would prepare you for something like this when you would grow up. Ultimately, I have made up that promise. I know I have. Because I see it in you right now. In your sadness and in your tears, you’ve got that strength. You just need to find it through all of it. So promise me that you will be strong.”, Peach said looking me directly in the eyes.

I would never forget her saying that. That she had not only promised that she would take care of me, but that she would prepare me to handle this on my own. She was right with every single word in that statement.

“I swear to you…..I swear to you, that I’ll be strong for you, mom, and dad.”, I said with a small smile.

Peach looked at me and gave me a nod that let me know that she trusted me to keep and never break that promise.

“Thank you Velvet. I love you so much.”, Peach said with a wince and a tear in her eye.

I leaned in to let her kiss me on the forehead one last time to save her strength. She had been working hard for so many years, I might as well give this one to her.

“I love you too……..sugar.”, I said with a shaky breath as more tears streamed down my face.

With all the strength she had, Peach let loose a few tears of joy and nothing more. She slowly closed her eyes for the long rest that awaited her. Her eyes had finally shut as she let out her last breath. When she did, her hoof in my hooves went limp. I laid my head on the side of the bed and wept for the remainder of the time I spent in there. Peach had done it. She had finally got her rest she wanted.