Miles Away

Chapter 26

The week that followed was the hardest week I had ever been through. The first day was me trying my best to walk out of the hospital without meeting the crowd that had gathered from the front of the hospital. It wasn’t hard to sneak by, but it was my legs that couldn’t move more than five steps before stumbling down as I would cry. Being the amazing griffin that she is, Ruby had helped me up when I felt broken, almost to a point where she was carrying me. Thankfully we had gotten home without any trouble. However I had felt completely numb to just about everything at that point.

The very next day, I laid in bed in complete silence, not wanting to get up to eat or do anything. Celestia bless Ruby again for all she did. She had tried to comfort me by asking me if I was okay and tried to comfort me, but I had no strength left in me to speak. Not yet. Despite me ignoring Ruby’s attempts to comfort me, she would always come back to check on me and comfort me as much as she could. Later in the evening, she had even come into bed with me to fall asleep with me, just to make sure that I was still trying to hold my head above water.

The very next day, a letter had come in our mailbox from the mayor of New Saddle that a funeral was going to be held for Peach in a few days and that they had asked me to be a pallbearer for her because I was the closest to family that she had. This was enough to finally drive a reaction out of me for the first time in two days. I cried for a little bit being told the news from Ruby. I had finally spoken saying how I didn’t know if I could do this.

While I was being told off by Ruby trying to get me to snap out of what I was going through, I remembered about that promise I made to Peach before she had died. The one where I promised to stay strong, no matter what it was I was going through. With my conscious thinking of that moment, I had finally managed to agree and finally accept what was going to happen at the funeral.

The next two were me mentally preparing for the funeral, this time I began speaking a lot more with Ruby and had finally eaten something from the past two days. I never realized how precious food was when I had eaten it. Ruby had made note of how I slorked the whole sandwich down. Most of all, she was happy that I was actually trying to pick myself up back together.

The very next day we had went out for the first time to buy a suit and dress for the funeral. By this point, all of New Saddle was feeling the sadness when they found out that their local legend had passed away. We were walking by the place where it would be the most crowded, but all the ponies were gone as the atmosphere of the place was gloomy. Almost around every street corner was a small memorial that ponies would gather with pictures of Peach on the side. It was really heartbreaking to see that not only was it painful on me when Peach died, but also the rest of the town itself.

Graffiti was something that was extremely illegal here in New Saddle, as there would be cops on every corner willing to stand watch on unsuspecting walls to stop the graffiti artists. Now, it seemed that all the graffiti artists were given passes, as all the graffiti on walls that would be watched were painted to match the silhouette of Peach with the words,” Never forget about you sugar”. Cops were tipping their hats seeing this display of memorium.

The suit I had gotten for the funeral was a black suit with a black shirt underneath the jacket. It fit nice and snug with my body. The dress we found for Ruby looked beautiful on her. The sad part was that the dress was specifically meant to be worn at funerals. Sadly all the other dresses they had in different styles to be worn at other events were sold out from the day before.

Then came the day that everypony was not looking forward to go to: The funeral of Peach Cobbler. The city hall made sure that this funeral was the best at honoring all the hard work she did at the bakery. They were able to find some of the old pictures of Peach, thankfully not the one with her husband, Corn Flake in the locket she had. The coffin was closed, but I had heard the rumors that she wished to be buried with the locket around her neck.

The services began not long after the last couple of ponies showed up. It looked like everypony in town was here to pay their respects for Peach. Everyone who worked at the bakery was there with true sadness in their hearts. I was able to see Caramel and Autumn again when they were sitting near the back of the service.

The mayor of New Saddle had come out on the stage next to Peach in the coffin to say a speech about how she knew Peach. The mayor and Peach were close friends in high school and at one point were both in love with Corn Flake. The mayor had said that she would have been with Corn Flake had it not been for how kind Peach was when she had found out about her feelings for him. Even the mayor that was not so kindly viewed by the public could shed light on the memory of Peach.

Ruby and I had to sit in the front row for me to see the cue for the pallbearers to come up and get the coffin. They had asked me to go up and say a few words, but I didn't think I would've have had enough time to prepare something to read for them. Looking back on it, I probably would have mentioned about how hard she worked not only as a baker and citizen of New Saddle, but also as a pony who took care of me when I was all alone. I would have also talked about how much she would push for me to come out of my shell and how much it has helped me to become the pony I was today.

After the last pony gave a few final words about Peach, soft violin music began playing, being our cue to walk up on stage to grab the coffin to walk it down the aisle. Me and a group of other stallions I haven't met all got up on stage to grab the coffin. I had taken the front left side of the coffin as ordered by the mayor because of tradition being that the closest family to the deceased would be the one on the front left.

As we began walking down the aisle, Ruby had given me a look that asked if I was okay. With the grieving look on my face, I gave her a nod that everything was going to be okay. The further we got down the aisle, the more the ponies began to recognize me. From what I could tell, they all appeared to think that I was her adopted son. They were partially right, the only thing was that I was actually her son to the very end.

We took Peach in her coffin across the street to the cemetery where her husband was buried. This was a request that I could very well assume based on how close she said she was to Corn.

The service had moved to the tombstone for Peach. Her tombstone had an inscription of the best picture of Peach that really showed her in her element. With a whisk in her hoof and a bowl in the other, she was in her cobbler making element. In this moment, she could be seen as the hard working mare she was.

On her tombstone read her famous line,"See you soon Sugar!", the line she would always say to somepony leaving the bakery after buying something. The font used for the quote really fit her character. Not too over the top yet still adored by the beholder.

We had set Peach down on the mechanism that lowers coffins into the grave before stepping away to reunite with the ones we were with before. Finally, another stallion in an all black robe holding a book had come out to say blessings to Peach and to all of us who were grieving. He used an analogy that really spoke to me, mostly because of the story he told. He described life as a tree that grows. While it grows, it starts small, but grows and blooms in its own shape and form. Along the way it gets a few dents and notches in the trunk, but it still grows. When the tree finally grows into its full size, the tree begins to die. As sad as it sounds, the tree dying is not so bad. Once the tree finally dies, a new life begins right where it died and starts anew. It's really a touching story for talking about life and death.

He gave one last blessing before asking all of us to bow our heads as Peach would be lowered into her grave. Not a single pony I saw refused to do so, as many were doing just that. I had been strong with trying to hold my tears, but it was seeing her coffin going down that really break loose my tears. Even the town itself couldn't hold back it's sadness, as the grey clouds had appeared to grieve along with us in the rain it dropped. I never understood why rain would always be at a funeral until this one particular funeral where all of New Saddle grieved for Peach.

When her casket had reached the bottom, ponies who worked at the cemetery began to cover the grave hastily with the dirt pile on the side. Even they couldn't believe that they were going to be the ones who would dig her grave.

Once they finally covered her grave, the ponies behind me and Ruby began to move to the next place of gathering. Ruby had urged me that it was time to go, but I insisted on staying by Peach's grave a little longer. Ruby understood, and went to the hall where a small lunch was provided for attendance at the funeral.

Right there alone in the rain next to her grave, I began to sort of pray to her. I let her know that whatever happens in the future, I would stay strong with everything. I made sure to promise her that I would marry Ruby soon, when the time would be right in the near future. I finally ended my prayers by saying goodbye to Peach one last time.

"Wherever you are, please hear what I had said.", I said after finishing.

"It's a shame really.", a voice from behind me said.

I turned around to see some red pegasus with a black mane and blue eyes in a button up shirt and glasses holding a umbrella.

"Seeing a mare go like that. It's truly sad.", he said walking next to me.

"Yeah, it's sad.", I said to this mystery pegasus.

"Did you know her well?", he asked me pulling out a cigarette.

"Yeah, she was my mother for the longest time.", I explained to him.

"Oh, I'm sorry for your loss. I know exactly what you are going through.", he said lighting his cigarette and offering me one.

I kindly shook my head no to his offer.

"Well, not exactly what you're going through. See, for me it was my father who had passed. He was a nice guy, definitely what you would call a father's kind of father. ", he explained.

I looked further at Peach's grave, looking at the picture of her on the tombstone.

"Yeah, but it certainly was hard for me to adjust to the new situation, especially with my ma running the home by herself. But I learned a saying that really helped me through it.", he said puffing a little bit of the cigarette.

"What was the saying?", I asked curiously.

"'When we are met with a tidal wave, we shouldn't abandon ship. Instead, get back up when it knocks you down. We will beat along the tide and carry on for the next tidal wave in a voyage that tries to knock us down.', it was a saying that my uncle would tell me when I was younger. See he was a fisher stallion", he explained to me.

The more I thought about that saying, the more I grew to love exactly what it meant. It was a way of saying that we should continue to be okay with everything that had happened. Instead we should carry on and grow stronger in case we encounter another tragedy in our way.

"It's a good saying. I think I could take it to heart.", I said to the mysterious stranger.

"I'm glad. I enriched another pony who was in the same situation I was in.", he said putting out his cigarette and turning around to walk away.

Before I let him leave, I needed to know who he was.

"Wait! Who are you?", I asked him.

He stopped and faced me.

"Most ponies call me Dee, I have another name, but no pony ever uses it. Too boring. ", Dee said with a small smile before walking away," it was nice talking to you Velvet".

"Wait how do you know my-", I asked before he walked off.

I never saw that pegasus again, it was so incredibly weird. I felt like it was an older version of myself talking to me about moving on, only it wasn't. But that saying along with the tree analogy stuck with me for a while. They helped me get through the rest of the week that would follow.

Just three days after the funeral, everything seemed to go right back to the rhythm it has always been. Ponies were going back to work, the businesses were booming. Everything was going normal, except for me and Ruby.

We were sitting at home still trying to adjust to the change that met us with the death of Peach. We were both still saddened, but we certainly weren't broken. Their was certainly a lot of worry in the town because of the bakery after Peach's death. They were questioning a lot of ponies who worked there and wanted to know what would happen. I know this because they had come to our door wanting answers. We told them that we had no idea what was happening. It was the truth, but sometimes the truth is too much that they refuse to believe it.

I was sitting at the kitchen table with the drawing of an oak tree I started on a while ago. The drawing now had a nameless pony in front of the tree resting by it. Kind of a symbolism I conveyed to Ruby shortly after adding it. Now I was just adding small details to the drawing.

As I was working on the drawing, I heard a knock at the door.

"I'll get it, if it's those damn reporters again I might lose it on them.", Ruby said going to the door.

I looked back behind me to try and see who it was, just to make sure that if Ruby was serious about the claim. I heard the door open, thankfully it wasn't a flurry of questions, but instead a soft masculine voice. There was a question he asked, thankfully it wasn't one that would set Ruby off.

"Um yeah, he is right here. Come on in.", she said moving aside.

From the hallway, I saw the stallion that I had completely forgotten about. The stallion was in the same suit he wore when I introduced Peach to Ruby, but she seemed to be working with him. With a tan body and a slicked back brown mane, he was carrying a briefcase that most likely contained business related stuff.

"Hello Velvet. My name is Bits. I'm the lawyer that worked for your late caretaker, Peach Cobbler. I've come to discuss some things with you. ", he said sitting across from me placing his briefcase on the table.

"If it's about the bakery, I don't know what is gonna come of it so don't bother asking. ", I said sternly.

"But you see that is why I've come. To tell you what happens to the bakery your caregiver owned.", he explained to me.

My ears perked up. Finally I got an answer that I could answer to the public so I could finally get peace and quiet with. Bits opened the briefcase and pulled out a letter in a white envelope.

"First, your caregiver specifically asked me to give this to you first. ", he said sliding the letter to me.

On the front of the envelope was my name in the unforgettable handwriting of Peach. Taking the letter with my magic, I opened it to pull out a letter that was written on the nicest looking paper known to me. The letter explained everything that was going to happen to me and the bakery.

Velvet,

If you are reading this right now, then it means that I have unfortunately passed away. This is nothing to be sad about my son, for this is when the next chapter of your life begins. For a while now, I knew that I could trust you to make the famous cobbler and keep it secret. That day you made it for me proved to me that I had nothing to worry about in my future with the bakery. I say this because I am passing along the family business to you.

You've shown me that you are capable of taking control based on those days where I would go to the doctor, where I had Glaze report to me about whether you were able to do just that. You're a natural leader. With the help of my lawyer, Bits Benton, I was able to pass your name as an immediate family member for the patent to be given to you if I were to have an untimely death.

With my death, I've also asked Bits to pass along all of my inheritance to you and whoever you choose to share it with, whether it be through marriage or if you choose to give back to New Saddle. Along with this, I've passed the deed to my home to you for you to remember me anytime you so desire.

I'm really optimistic about the future of you Velvet. I know very well that you will make all the right decisions for me when I'm gone. I count on you being the best pony in all of New Saddle as I once was. I know it will be you. I love you so much sugar.

Yours truly,

Peach Cobbler.

I closed the letter to put it back in the envelope it came in. I wanted to preserve that letter so I could read it if I ever wanted to reminisce on the memory of Peach.

"Now that you've got an understanding of what is going on, I've got a few things that you are going to need to sign.", Bits said taking out a few documents from his briefcase.

The documents he pulled out were very wordy, but they pretty much made it official that everything Peach said in that letter would come true. Without hesitation, I signed the bakery and money inheritance, but I had an idea for the house.

"Bits, when I sign the paper, does this mean I own the house?", I asked him.

"Of course. The property will be yours because it will be signed to your name.", he explained to me.

"And this means I could do whatever I wanted with it?", I asked.

"Um, yes that's what I just said.", he said.

With that in my mind, I signed the document. I had a plan for the house, I just needed time to actually get it going.

We finished up with our business with papers and I was officially a business owner.

"I'm glad to help you out Velvet. You won't regret this. ", Bits said holding out his hoof for a shake.

I took his hoof and obliged his shake. He then gave me a small, caring smile.

"She wouldn't have done this if she didn't trust you. With all she told me, you seemed like the perfect fit for this task." , he said to me.

"Well I'm happy to finally carry on her legacy. I won't let her down.", I said to him.

"If you ever need help with anything legal related, give me a visit. ", he said pulling a business card from the jacket of his suit.

"Yeah, I'll be in touch. ", I said taking his card.

He finished his salutations and left. Looks like all my bad vibes with him are gone.

"I can't believe it Velvet. You own the business!", Ruby said to me excited.

"Yeah, it is exciting. ", I said to her.

"What was the plan about the house you were thinking of?", she asked me.

"Its not something that I can say yet, I'm still undecided about it. However I decided on another big decision. Especially with the sum of money that I can share through charity and m-", I said stopping myself.

"And what?", she asked me.

"Nevermind that, you won't have to worry about it right now. Now is the time to celebrate. We need to gather up all the employees and tell them the news.", I said to Ruby.

"I'm already on it.", she said running out the door.

We held a dinner at a restaurant not far from home to tell the gang all the news. When everypony found out, all of them were so overjoyed that they could go back to the job that they loved. Sadly, somepony couldn't keep quiet after dinner and word got out about the bakery being back in business. This certainly got everypony excited, as there were bars not far from my home singing drinking songs hearing about it. It looked like everything was finally gonna come together.

Two days later, the day we were opening back up, I woke up to find myself alone in bed with an alarm clock screaming at me. Only this time, it was screaming,"Wake up Velvet!! Time to bring life back to the town you love".

Shutting off the alarm, I looked around to find Ruby, all I found was a note that read:

Sorry for leaving you alone. I couldn't sleep so I decided to go and see Amethyst and have tea with her. I'll meet you at work. I love you

-RH

"That girl.", I said to myself laughing.

I had gotten up to get ready to leave. I didn't exactly have enough time to make coffee today, especially when I was going to open the bakery. Grabbing my stuff. I left the home with no haste.

Everything seemed quiet down my street, too quiet. Walking further down the street, I saw what all the quiet was about. Ponies were in the shopping alley crowded as usual. It seemed particularly thicker this time around, like they must've been having a really big sale.

"Dammit. Always when I'm having a good morning. ", I said to myself about to turn to take the long way to avoid the crowd.

That's when I remembered what I promised to Peach. No matter what, whether its through fear or stress that I would stay strong. All of a sudden I got this feeling of determination within me that I never felt before, only this tien it wasn't going away.

Facing the crowd, I began to walk towards the crowd with no intention of stopping. Within a matter of seconds, I was inside the horde of ponies. That didn't bother me, nothing did while I was. There was one thing that grabbed my attention. A small filly had dropped her toy and couldn't reach it through the crowd. She had looked like she was about to cry. Turning around in the middle of the crowd, I grabbed the filly's toy with my magic and handed it to her. She was extremely grateful, so grateful in fact that she had hugged my left hoof. It felt good to know that I was helping a pony in need. Nonetheless, I had a place to go.

Making it through the crowd, I saw the bakery and walked over to the door with the keys with my magic. Opening the door, I felt proud to open the bakery. Walking in, I headed towards the back of the bakery. My first job as a bakery owner was here.

"Time to take over your job Peach.", I said for her to hear as I began to grab the right stuff to make a strawberry cobbler.

The process didn't take long, especially for the quantity of cobbler I was making. I made sure to definitely not lack in the quality of cobbler making. The last thing I would ever want to do making the cobbler is let down the ponies wanting to taste it and love it just as Peach made it.

As I was finishing up, I heard the front of the bakery open up. I tried my best to hide the work I was doing as quick as I could. Thankfully I hid it just in time to see the back open up. To my relief, it was Ruby.

"Good Morning darling.", she said walking over to me.

"Oh , good morning Ruby, I was scared you were somepony else.", I said walking over to kiss her.

"You okay?", Ruby asked me.

"Yeah, just uh….", I said nervously.

"Just what?", she asked cocking an eyebrow.

"Um, m-making the cobbler for today.", I said to her.

"Oh, well I will be in the front, I know that it is secret an all.", she said walking to the front.

"Th-thanks. Love you!", I said to her.

"I know."she said winking at me before walking to the front.

Sighing with relief, I finished with the cobbler for today. Not long after, I heard the front door open up. Thankfully, Ruby was able to keep them in the front until I finished with the cobbler.

After a little while, Ruby had come from the front.

"Hey Velvet, everybody is here. I think it's time to open up for the day.", Ruby said to me.

"Yeah, it's time", I said walking before stopping halfway and looked down.

"What's the matter?", she asked me.

"It's just, I want her to see me now. She would be so proud to see me take over.", I said with a hint of sadness.

"She's watching you somewhere, and I know that she is proud of you. You're going to be a great leader for all of us.", Ruby said putting a claw on my shoulder.

I looked back up at her and smiled.

"Now, you ready to open up? I would hate to keep them waiting. ", Ruby said holding the door for me.

I nodded and walked through the door. This time all eyes were on me. Every pony was eager to hear what I had to say for a morning meeting. Especially when the crowd outside was eager to come in for the first time.

"I know all we've been through this past week had been hard. And believe me I am a little scared to do this, but I made a promise to her that I would carry on her journey and God dammit I am not going to quit until the day I day to keep going. I can't do this without you, so are you ready to open up for the day?", I said to the bakery workers.

They gave me a standing ovation for the first meeting I had given to them.

"That's right. So let's make Peach Cobbler proud!", I exclaimed to them before pointing at Ruby to open up the doors to the bakery.

This was it, it was time to show them what I've got.

The day went on better than it usually did. The amount of ponies who showed up to the bakery were astounding. It was like a rockstar had brought along all their friends to bring business. It was so crazy that we ran out of cobbler before the first hour, which I was quick to reserve them a fresh batch.

Overall, the day was more than great, it was spectacular. Everypony who worked that day left with the biggest sense of pride. When I gave them their paychecks for the day, they were all thanking me for bringing them back to the bakery. I realized that now only had I gotten their jobs back, but I had also gotten their will to happiness back.

The rest of the crew had left as me and Ruby had a celebratory slice of strawberry cobbler. The first day as the pony in charge was a complete success.

"The first day of my Velvet as the leader is done!", Ruby said with joy.

"Yep, it's over and it was a huge success. ", I said taking a bite from the cobbler.

"You know, we could celebrate more of the day tonight when we get home. Especially if you are the leader.", She said seductively.

I chuckled at the proposition for the night.

"As much as I would love that, I'm feeling tired from the first day and would like to rest. But don't you worry, I'll take you up on that offer. ", I said winking at her.

"I love your goofy ass."she said, leaning in to kiss me.

We had finished up with the cobbler and locked up for the night. This was the first day in a long time when we were open for the full day. Being honest, it felt right this way. This was a day where everypony could get their chance to come back to the bakery. And it looked like almost everypony came to see the newly run Cakes + Confections.

Not long after we walked from the bakery, we made it home. The day was over and now was a time to rest up for tomorrow. Not questioning what I decided, she had followed me to the bedroom to go to bed for the day.

"Goodnight Velvet. Sleep well.", she said to me.

"Goodnight Ruby, I love you. ", I said, planting a kiss to Ruby's face.

My eyes felt heavy and slowly closed themselves for the night as I gave a sigh of satisfaction for the great day.

I felt my eyes open later in the night, only this time, it was daytime and I was in the field and hill with the tree. Yep, I was back in my parents dream. Standing back up, I saw both my parents halfway up the hill. They both had a smile on their face that was proud. Walking over to them, I saw my mother's face and how she was holding back tears for me.

"Oh my dear son. I am so proud of you. We both are.", she said taking me in her hooves for a hug.

I held her right as I let a few tears of my own to finally getting the chance to talk to them again.

"You two have no idea how much I needed to see you. ", I said to them both.

"We know son, in fact we are here to show you something.

"What do you mean? Show me what?", I asked letting go of them both.

"We were worried you wouldn't be strong with what was coming your way and that you would turn out terrible. You proved us wrong. So wrong that we decided to show you something that we think you are ready for.", my mother said pointing up the hill.

I walked up the hill to see what she was pointing to. When I reached the top, all I saw was the tree up close.

"I don't understand mother, what did you want to-", I said turning around to see that they disappeared.

I felt a presence on the other side of the tree, I had thought that they were on the other side to point at what they were trying to show me. Walking around the large oak tree, I saw a large glow from below the hill. I thought it was the sun beginning to rise at first until the glow finally took shape. Not only was it a shape, but it was the shape of a pony. When the glow got to a more defined shape, it released a large blinding glow. I winced to save my eyes until I felt the glow died down.

My eyes focused on the now energy emitting pony that was down the hill. As the energy died down, the pony had turned around to face me. When I saw who it was, my heart sank as I gave a gasp of surprise to see who it was. She further left me speechless as she spoke first.

"Hello again, sugar", Peach said with the warmest smile on her face.