Sometimes all you can do to beat the dark is shed a little light.

[seanan_mcguire]

As most of you are probably aware by now, I collect generation one My Little Ponies from the 1980s. I have something on the order of two hundred plastic horses, a bunch of the playsets, and an open door policy toward boxes of Ponies found in attics of childhood homes. (Seriously. It's amazing how often people write me and go "I found this box, do you want it?" I have several Ponies I love very much that I acquired in this manner.)

As I slowly prepare to move, I've been sorting, indexing, and packing large portions of my Pony collection. I don't actually have a comprehensive list of what I do or don't have; a lot of my Ponies came from eBay job lots, or from the aforementioned attic finds, so there are duplicates, and Ponies whose names I don't know.

I mentioned on Twitter that I was doing this. And one of my Tweeps, a very lovely paranormal romance writer named Delilah, asked if I had her favorite, a yellow Rainbow Pony Pegasus named Skydancer. She lost her Skydancer in a fire when she was a kid. I understand losing Ponies. Part of why I collect is because I lost my childhood collection before I was ready to part with it. I affirmed that I did have Skydancer, and more, that I had a duplicate, and would she like her?

She would like her.

Skydancer has reached Delilah, and is finally home. I have reunited someone with their favorite Pony. And it strikes me that this is the thing we often don't want to understand about fear, or pain, or grief, or loss. Sometimes, we need to focus on the little things to survive the big ones. When a house burns down, we mourn a toy. When a grandparent dies, we get upset about missing a TV show. It's not being petty. It's coping with small so the big doesn't break you.

To quote Delilah: "I have Skydancer again. It's like a tiny little wound in my soul healed, risen like a rainbow-haired phoenix. What is lost can be found."

I feel like the world is going to be okay today.

Comments

[apocalypso23.livejournal.com]

<3 I so needed to hear this today. <3 Thank you.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Very welcome.

[tithenai.livejournal.com]

*actually bawling*

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

[autographedcat.livejournal.com]

You know, sometimes you rock so hard. Thank you for being in my world.

Love you. *hug*

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

I don't have anywhere else to be, darlin'.

[cbpotts.livejournal.com]

Thank you for this story. It totally made my day. Maybe because my daughter is 7. It is a good thing to fix old pain :-)

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Just remember: don't make her give up her toys before she's ready, even if you think she is, or she'll grow up to be a scary collector like me. :)

[iuliamentis.livejournal.com]

This made me cry at my desk. Thank you so much for sharing. As someone who collected My Little Ponies as a child, and who is emotionally invested in my toys in general, this was the best happy ending.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad I had two of Skydancer. It was meant to be.

[eilan.livejournal.com]

This made my heart feel all warm & gooey inside.

I still have a few of my Ponies from when I was a kid. And I have a stage thing that they would stand on, and then they could turn in circles. (Did that make sense?)

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

You have the Baby Bonnet School of Dance!

[taldragon.livejournal.com]

aw, bless you!

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Pony love is true love, yo.

[firebirdgrrl.livejournal.com]

That is so wonderful. I am tearing up.

"Part of why I collect is because I lost my childhood collection before I was ready to part with it. "

I understand that. It's part of why I have dolls now.


(This is completely off topic, but I didn't know if you'd seen the "Daydream of the Dead" Monster High cartoon--it is all Ghoulia and all comics and squeeful and I thought of you right away:) (I can't link directly but it is the first in the bottom row( http://www.monsterhigh.com/videos ).)

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

I love that cartoon so much.

[ohari.livejournal.com]

You are a nice person. I like you.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

I try to be. Sometimes it is hard.

I like you, too.

[sweetmusic-27.livejournal.com]

*wibbles*

*pets the fiddle case that survived our fire*

*opens it, hugs fiddle*

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

*hugs fiddler*

*sees you tomorrow*

[naamah-darling.livejournal.com]

Goodness. There might, like, be something in my eye. *sniff* Something sparkly.

<3

If you ever do get around to coming up with a list of ponies you want and don't have, I'll be happy to see what I've got.

I think when I was a kid I had around 150 ponies, and I recently found about fifty of those in my parents' house, original play-wear intact. Going into that box was a magical experience. I still remember the way they smelled right out of the package (the new ones don't smell the same) and how I would introduce them all to the rest of the herd.

I never did get Skydancer, sadly. My favorites were Moondancer and Starshine. <3

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

I'm working on my list now; it's part of the indexing process. I love Moondancer. I had her, a Baby Moondancer, and a pearlized Baby Moondancer. I called her "Moondreamer."

[valkyrwench.livejournal.com]

You wear the awesome pants wonderfully well.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

:)

[onlyonechoice.livejournal.com]

Here from Shakesville, and wibbling at my desk at work.

Part of why I collect is because I lost my childhood collection before I was ready to part with it.

My ponies were my prized collection when I was 12. I bought one each week with my allowance and saved for TEN WEEKS just to get the Dream Castle for my herd.

My parents once made me sign a contract that, if my grades didn't improve, all my ponies would be donated to the Salvation Army. If anyone reading this has kids, don't ever do that to them. My grades improved, but it showed me that even things I bought with my own money weren't safe from my parents.

I clung to that collection all the way through high school and, alas, lost them all when my mother divorced her second husband and moved while I was away at college.

Thanks to eBay I've regained most of my favorites back, and seeing stories like this make my heart glad that there's still this kind of love for these little plastic horses.

I still miss my Slugger, though, the only boy pony in my herd. He would have been a stud.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

...oh my sweet Great Pumpkin I would have killed my mother if she'd tried to pull that. Killed her.

And Slugger is mad awesome.

[reedrover]

Thank you so much for the happy story, and thanks for linking to her original post. I'm hurt for her lost innocence in the cabin fire (though I'm glad the baby made it out!) and I'm glad that you had a chance to heal that hurt. I hope your day is brighter and your heart lighter because of it, too.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

It has made this a better day. :)

[vulpine137.livejournal.com]

Yay for the finder of lost ponies. Yet another reason you rock. *stealthily wipes the tear from his eye*

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Aw.

[silvertwi.livejournal.com]

What is lost can be found.
That strikes me as very profound. And maybe the seed of a story...

Thank you for being you and brightening people's days. :)

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Very welcome. :)

[tikiera.livejournal.com]

Due to an incident on the train, I was all cynical and hating the world.

Then I read this.

I have lost most of what I owned twice in my life, so I can relate...

... and you made my day. Suddenly, not feeling so cynical anymore.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Yay!

[ladymondegreen.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad for Delilah and Skydancer. Sometimes there are wounds we don't know can be healed until someone steps in and stitches them up with the right thread. In this case, rainbow.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Yes.

[nightfalltwen.livejournal.com]

I teared up. Luckily I'm at home and I didn't have to break my "no crying in public" barrier. This was a sweet story and I think you're a great person for helping someone else be happy. <3<3

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Making people happy is key.

[aliciaaudrey.livejournal.com]

Remind me to remind my mom when she cleans the basement to hold my ponies aside, if you'd still be interested in a random box of them (assuming they didn't get lost in a move, which is possible: dad was in the Air Force and we moved an awful lot.)

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

I am always interested in random boxes of Ponies.

[sheistheweather]

I needed to hear this today. Thank you for putting some good into the world, through this and other things.

[pacalissanctum.livejournal.com]

This made me tear up. I still miss my Dad and it's been 7 years and besides just him, I miss just little things...

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

*hugs for you*

[stormsdotter.livejournal.com]

Thank you for restoring a piece of Delilah's childhood!

...I bought my Apple Delight Family (including the boy!) from eBay. And the Nursery, which I always wanted.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Awesome!

[roadnotes.livejournal.com]

Your existence brightens not only my universe, but that of so many others. Thank you.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

You are very welcome, dear, and happy birthday.

[deire.livejournal.com]

Your kindness sheds light past that one action.

Sometimes I really need the reminder that humans can be good.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

I am glad to help.