Coronet Cresthaven

It was a cold February night and a thick layer of snow blanketed the town of Seaward Shoals, leaving the streets feeling silent and desolate. Coronet Cresthaven found herself trudging up the hill to the local cemetery, a scarf wrapped tightly around her shoulders and an overwhelming sense of emptiness weighing heavily on her heart. Thick snowflakes swirled down around her as she walked. She shivered and pulled the scarf closer to her face. It was hard to see through the curtain of falling snow, but she kept going anyway, determined to reach her destination. Eventually, she could make out the faint outline of a familiar stone sticking up from the ground. Her heart sank in her chest but she pressed on until she reached the base of it. Staring down at the marker, Her eyes briefly scanned the engraved epitaph. "Hey, Auntie Jubilee." Silence. "It's been five years, now." she started."A few more months and I'll be twenty." A single hoof dug idly into the powder-white snow. "I uh," The words seemed to get lost on their way to her tongue. She cleared her throat and tried again. "I'd like to think I've grown a lot these past few years... but there's still so much I have left to learn. Still so much that I wish you were here to teach me." Cora's ears flattened. "The um, The business has been doing really well. It's grown, actually, believe it or not. A lot of volunteers chipped in to help keep things running after you passed. They really loved you, you know." The tears welling in her eyes began to trickle down, leaving a red hot trail against the freezing fur of her cheek. "So much so that some of the older customers," She sniffled, "They... still mistake me for you, sometimes. It...It's ridiculous. I could never be you! Everything came so effortlessly to you. And I-" A pause. Another sniffle. "I don't know. It just... seems like I'm trying to fill shoes ten sizes too big, you know? Every time I do something, I think about you and how you'd probably do it so much better. I can't help but feel like that's what the customers think, too." "I'm trying so hard, though! I really am! But no matter what I do it never feels like it's enough... Is it enough?" As she said this, her eyes fell upon the small etched photo of her aunt at the top of the memorial. The stone offered no reassurance. Silence filled the air for several minutes. The mare tentatively reached out and pressed her forehead against the tombstone. "I love you, Aunt Jubilee. I really hope you're proud of me."