A Dash of Apple Sauce: Epilogue

>Year 56 in Equestria

>You slowly open your eyes to find yourself in what appeared to be a hospital room. Rainbow Dash is sitting in a chair opposite you, lightly snoring.

“Dashie…”

>She blearily opens an eye. “What… oh, Anon!”

>She comes over and hugs you tightly, crying into your shoulder.

“Calm down Dashie, why are you crying? Why am I in the hospital?” you say weakly.

>She locks gazes with you, tears streaming down her face. “Y-you don’t remember? You were in th-the kitchen and then you c-collapsed and I was so s-scared and they brought you h-here and you wouldn’t w-wake up and-“

“Shh, it’s alright Dashie. I’m ok now.” You hug her tightly as she continues to sob, while running a weathered hand through her now greying mane.

“Everything is going to be okay…” you assure her.

>”Um, Mr Anonymous?” asks a voice timidly. You look round and see a young unicorn nurse standing in the doorway of your room.

“Yeah?”

>”Hi, I’m Nurse Charity.” She offers a strained smile which does little to settle your nerves.

>She comes into the room and takes Rainbow Dash’s seat, while Dash sits on your bed, waiting nervously.

“Nurse Charity, what exactly happened to me?”

>She looks past you, out through the window through which the midday sun was shining.

>This isn’t good.

>After a few seconds, she returns her gaze to you. “Mister Anon, I’m afraid… I’m afraid you’ve suffered a heart attack.”

>Rainbow Dash immediately breaks down crying again, and you hold her tightly by your side.

>”Y-you can fix him right? You can just use magic to fix his heart… right?” Rainbow Dash looks up at Charity, her watery eyes pleading pathetically.

>”We… we casted a spell that regulated his heart as normal.”

>Rainbow Dash smiles, a small fire of hope having been rekindled by the nurse’s words.

>”But there’s a problem…”

>Just as quickly as it rose, Dash’s hope is crushed.

>Nurse Charity pauses before continuing. “The spell… it can’t work forever. If left unchecked, the spell will wear your heart out by itself very quickly. Our only hope at this stage would be a heart transplant…”

“And of course, I’m the only human.” you finish, a hollow feeling growing inside you.

>She nods gravely. “I’m sorry Mr Anon.”

“Don’t be, you did the best you could…”

>”Wait, so you can’t help him?” Dash asks pleadingly.

>”I am sorry Ms Dash, but there’s nothing more we can do.”

>Rainbow Dash starts crying again, silent tears streaming down her face. You gently stroke her.

“C’mon Dashie, don’t be like that…”

>She doesn’t respond.

“How long…”

>”A couple of hours from now.” Charity responds, evidently trying to control her tears. Poor mare must be a newly trained nurse.

>You think for a moment, mulling over the situation.

“Do I have to stay here?”

>Charity blinks in surprise. “We’ll, normally we wouldn’t allow patients to leave but… you’ll be leaving us soon anyway… I suppose it wouldn’t be right to keep you here. Will you be returning home?”

“No, there’s somewhere I’d much rather like to be. Thank you for giving me a chance to say goodbye.”

>She blinks in surprise again. Yup, she’s definitely new.

>”You’re welcome Anonymous... Do you need help leaving?”

“No, if this is my last journey then I can do it myself.”

>Your arthritis racked legs screaming bloody murder, you haul yourself out of the hospital bed, wincing as you put weight on your ankles.

“Dashie, I know this is hard for you, but can you please come with me? I don’t want to do this alone.”

>She looks up at you, her gushing eyes suddenly defiant. “Y-you think I’d l-leave you when it m-mattered the most? Of course I’ll c-come with you.”

“Thank you Dashie.” You plant a kiss on her forehead before beginning your slow walk.

>”I’m sorry there wasn’t more we could do.” Charity called behind you.

“It’s alright. You tried your best, so don’t beat yourself up over this, kiddo.”

>She nods, a single tear falling down her cheek, and you make your way out of the hospital, headed towards your special place.

 

>You gasp in pain as you lower yourself to the ground, leaning your back against the tree which was ever so familiar to you.

“Still beautiful after al this time…” you mutter, looking out around the park, and towards the horizon.

>”Yeah, it is.”

“I wasn’t talking about the view.” You quip, before planting a kiss on Rainbow Dash cheek, before she leans a head on your shoulder, as you wrap your arms around her.

>For a while the only sound is the two of you breathing as you enjoy each other’s company, possibly for the last time.

>”So why here?” Rainbow Dash asks, sadness etched into her face.

“This has always been our place. Remember all those times we lay here together?”

>”I remember… but why not have the others here? They’re your friends as well.”

“I know that. I’d rather spend my last moments as I spent most of life. In the sole company of my special somep0ny.”

>Rainbow Dash smiles weakly, before nuzzling your neck. The two to you remain silent for a long time, gently embraced.

>After what you guessed to be a couple of hours of lying there, you begin to feel sweat running down your face as you struggled to breath.

“Hey Dashie? Remember all those years ago when you had your first Wonderbolts show?”

>”The days of being a Wonderbolt are long gone… yeah, I remember. “

“This was the first place where I said I loved you…”

>She nods silently, tears forming at the corner of her eyes.

“I guess it’s only fitting… that this is the last place where I said I loved you…”

>Tears are now flowing freely as she realises the spell is wearing off.

“Never forget Dashie… I love you. I always loved you.” Your vision begins to blur and darken, and you hold Dashie closer.

>”Please Anon, it can’t end like this… I need you…” she begs, tears of desperation and sadness streaking down her cheeks.

“Everyone has to go at some stage… why are you crying?”

>”B-because I love y-you… I’ll m-miss you…”

“Don’t cry because it’s over Dashie… smile because it happened. Thank whatever improbable event brought me to Equestria… and gave us the chance to be together.”

>She looks you in the eye as the spell fully wears off. “Goodbye Anon.” she says, choking back tears.

“Goodbye… Dashie…” you chuckle, before you close your eyes for the last time, letting out one final gasp. The last thing you feel before the void reclaims you, is the tender touch of Rainbow Dash’s lips on yours…

 

>3 days later

 

>You walked slowly towards P0nyville’s old church, garbed in a back dress and veil. You and Anon had talked long ago about funeral arrangements, and what was to happen in the case of either of your deaths… but you had never thought you’d actually have to put it into use… No-one wants to think about death. Not that you could get away from it now…

>You felt more alone than you ever had before as you entered the church, accompanied by Celestia, Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Larry, and a number of the townsfolk.

>Anon had been popular: his standing as a mythical creature in the flesh had endeared that at the start, but most people came to like him simply because of who he was.

>You took a seat at the front of the church, surrounded by your friends, as Celestia took to the front, standing beside Anon’s coffin. When everyp0ny had taken a seat, she began to speak, her voice full of sorrow.

>”It is with great sadness that we are gathered here to today, to mourn the passing of Anonymous the human…”

>Your thoughts trailed off as you remembered all the happy times you and Anon spent together. You tried to cheer yourself up with them, but it only compounded your grief.

>”Your turn to speak, Rainbow Dash.”

“Huh?”

>Larry points towards the front. “Are you going to say anything?”

“Sorry, I was just thinking…” You make your way to the front, staring down at Anon’s still body as you spoke.

“Anon… Anon made me feel like no-one else could. He was always there for me, always there to pick me up when I felt down, always there to comfort me…

>You choke back a sob and continue on.

“I loved him, and he loved me back. I never felt as happy when we were together… he may not have been a p0ny, but he made me happier than any other p0ny could have. I’m going to miss him… we’re all going to miss him.”

>You turn to the open coffin, and plant a final kiss on Anon’s cold forehead, as he laid there, arms crossed across his chest, before returning to your seat as Twilight pats you on the back.

>Larry stands up and makes his way to the front, smiling sadly down at Anon.

>”I knew you would get out of paying me those 50 bits, ya bastard.” He chuckles, as do some of the p0nies in the crowd. This wasn’t Larry being disrespectful: Larry and Anon had always been bros, and this was just Larry coping.

>”Anon’s always been a good friend. Ever since he first stumbled out of my bar, drunk as drunk could be, I knew he would become a valued customer… I mean, a close friend.”

>More chuckles.

>”But jokes aside, Anon was a good guy. Love flowed out outta that guy like whiskey flows out of a leaky barrel. I don’t think he had a mean bone in his body. Doesn’t matter what you did to the guy, he’d just bounce right back and give you a hug.”

>You and Applejack share a momentary glance.

>Larry smiles. ”Yeah… that sounds like Anon alright.”

>He suddenly begins to cry and turns to the coffin. “You better wait for me on the other side, y’hear me? I don’t want you having all the fun while I’m stuck over here.” He wipes his tears away, and returns to his seat, Rarity kissing him lightly on the cheek. You never quite understood why Rarity, a classy mare of distinction, fell for a regular guy who smelled like alcohol and cursed like there was no tomorrow… opposites attract, you guess.

>Over the course of the next while, many different p0nies come up and speak about Anon. Eventually, the last person with anything to say sits down, and Celestia levitates the lid onto the coffin, closing it, before lifting the coffin up.

>You stand up as well and make your outside behind Celestia, as you approach Anon’s grave.

>Celestia’s horn glows in intensity and Anon’s coffin is lowered into the hole, and the dirt rushes in to fill the space. In mere seconds, the ground is smooth and flat again.

>The crowd of mourners stands there for a while, before Celestia turns to leave.

>”I must go now, Loyalty. I am honoured to be the one to see Anon off into the next life, but my royal duties bind me.”

“Thank you Celestia, and goodbye. It means a lot to me…”

>”Do not hesitate to speak to me if you are upset.”

“You offered that to Anon as well… he never did take you up on that offer.”

>Celestia smiles sadly. “No, that he did not. That does not mean you should refuse the offer as well.”

“I’ll be okay Celestia.”

>She nods and leaves, as do a number of p0nies, and eventually, you are left alone by Anon’s grave. Well, alone except for…

>”Y’allright Sugarcube?”

>You turn to face Applejack as she approaches, the Stetson hat she had worn for so long, now faded and threatening to come apart at any time. A suitable imagery for life itself…

“No Applejack, I’m not. I can’t… without Anonymous I’m lost.”

>You stare down at the headstone. It read, “Here lies Anonymous, sole human and beloved husband to Rainbow Dash, bearer of the Element of Loyalty. He will be sorely missed.”

>”Don’t forget about us, honey. We’ll get ya through this.”

>Applejack hugs you and cries with you, as you cry over Anon’s grave.

>After a few minutes of joint sobbing, you both break off the hug.

>”Imagine how annoyed Anon would get watchin’ us.” Applejack chuckled through her sobbing.

“He’d probably rise from the grave just to tell us to quieten down.” You giggle, still sniffling.

>You look Applejack in the eye, before turning from the grave.

“I should be going now… but I don’t want to be alone.”

>”Ah understand.”

>As the two of you walk together, headed towards the house that now belonged to you only, you felt a strange sense of calmness. You would miss Anon, definitely. This was going to be tough on you. And yet you felt at peace. Why?

>Because you knew that when your time came, Anon would be there with open arms, ready to embrace you once more…