Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire
  • Mood: happy
  • Music: Bree Sharp, "America."

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

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.
Tags: contemplation, friends rock, giving stuff away, good things, toys are nice
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  • 146 comments

phoenixfirewolf

July 19 2011, 20:36:31 UTC 5 years ago

Wow, that's really cool.

I don't have a collection beyond what I had as a child, but I'm pretty sure I have about 30 or so ponies from the 80's. When I was young I lived in a neighborhood with only old people for about a year or a year and a half. My parents actually took me to daycare so I'd have kids to play with. They also bought me My Little Ponies. They were my best friends for many years of my life. They are still tucked away in a box waiting for the day when I have my own house and a good place to display them.

Your story is really touching. I'm so glad you could reunite her with a piece of her childhood.

Julie

seanan_mcguire

November 8 2011, 17:39:30 UTC 5 years ago

I am, too.