PANEL 1 →



"How could you?" Orange Blossom snarled. Her husband stayed rooted on the dirt path, flinching at her tone but refusing to look away from her. "You knew what he did to me, how he hurt me, and you invited him into our home? You went behind my back to bring this… this… monster into my life again?"



Chic Orange's lip quivered. "Darling, I promise you, I didn't know he was coming. I didn't invite him. Never in a million moons would I have ever done something like this to you. He showed up when you were at work. It was our daughters who let him in."



"You should've sent him away," Orange Blossom scoffed. "Kicked him out the minute you saw him!"



"You're right. I should have. I have no excuse. But maybe my mistake was… a good thing."



"I can't forgive you for this. I won't."



"Blossom…"



"No. For my sister's sake only I will allow that monster a minute to say what he wants. After that, I don't want to see either of you again."



—————



PANEL 2 →



"Aunt Orange, I know what you're feelin'," Applejack said. "The confusion, the anger. I didn't know if I wanted to forgive him either. He abandoned my mother, too."



Orange Blossom kept her back turned to her beloved niece. "I gave him a minute. He didn't say anything."



"One minute isn't enough for decades of regret. He's a changed stallion. True, I didn't know him at his worst, but the fact that he's here should tell you enough."



"You're right. You didn't know him at his worst. The things he said to me, kicking me off our farm, and making me fend for myself. I was hardly older than Apple Bloom!"



Applejack fell silent which further validated Orange Blossom's stance. She heard her niece turn to leave but the pony who reminded her so much of her late sister had one more thing to say.



"My mother never got to make things right," Applejack sighed. "You could."



—————



PANEL 3 →



"Forgiveness? Never," Grand Pear sighed with a sad smile. "I'd never ask for that. I don't deserve that. What I did was unforgivable. To you and your sister."



Orange Blossom's ear pricked up in spite of her hardened heart. Some part of her wanted to hear him out now that he was talking. Applejack was right, she knew that, and she'd give her father one last chance.



"I wasn't a part of Pear Butter's life," he continued. "I missed the birth of her children, I missed watching them grow, and…"



Grand Pear choked back a sob.



"I wasn't there when she died," there was no hiding the uncontrollable trembling in his voice. "I let my stupid, arrogant, shallow-minded thoughts keep me from her. All because she married someone I didn't approve of. So much loss… because of my pride."



Orange Blossom spared a peek at her father who was getting closer to her with every word. She saw the desperation in his eyes, the want to hold her, to be with her, and every muscle in her body tensed at the thought.



"You hurt her," she said.



Grand Pear nodded. "Yes, I did."



Orange Blossom felt her own tears building up. "You hurt me."



"Yes… I did."



"So, if you're not here for my forgiveness, why are you here?"



"I cannot lose one more pony I love."



"You already lost me."



"Then… let me find you again. Just see you. Watch you and your children grow. Be there for you from now on and spend every last second of my life on this earth dedicated to being the father I never was."



Orange Blossom let his hoof touch her back. The shell around her heart cracked ever so slightly and her thoughts drifted to her sister. She'd died incomplete, missing their father, longing for him to be in their lives. In Pear Butter's many letters to her, Blossom had read her yearnings and pitied her. Why she'd want a twisted, prideful stallion in her life was beyond her.



And yet when Orange Blossom finally looked back at her father, seeing his brown eyes with so much fervor and earnestness, she pitied him. She hated herself for feeling so weak, for wanting to be held by him, but memories of happy times with him when she was a filly plagued her mind.



"Dad…" she sighed. "You're still hurting me."



Grand Pear got closer still and wrapped her in a hug that she didn't pull away from. "Never again, sweetheart. I'll never hurt you again."



—————



PANEL 4 →



There was a presence with them. Orange Blossom felt it grow warmer behind her as she hugged her father back. A flood of emotions was rushing through her body: anger, confusion, desperation, happiness, fear, and anxiety.



Then a voice whispered in her ear, "No more loss, sister."



Orange Blossom squeezed her father tighter and lowered her head onto his. She didn't know if she could ever forgive him, not entirely, but holding him, being held, made her feel complete.



—————



PANEL 5 →



"You were right, Chic," Orange Blossom said as tears flowed down her face. "I'm… so sorry-"



Chic interrupted her by placing his nose against hers. "No, my darling. You don't need to apologize. You were right for feeling the way you did, for your anger, your words."



"I don't know what to do. Can I really forgive him?"



"Let's not think about that. What are you feeling in this moment? Right now?"



"Relief."



"Let's keep us here then for just a little longer. I love you so much."



"I love you, too. Thank you for your mistake."



—————————————



Thus the saga is complete! I wanted to leave it on a bittersweet ending, one that didn't really have a definitive answer. Orange Blossom has had a weight lifted off of her but healing this massive a scar could take a lifetime.



I loved making this series, though! Such a rollercoaster of emotions!



Here are the other parts of this series:

You forgot to embed the previous parts at the bottom of the description. Here:

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