//------------------------------// // Sour // Story: Shellstrings // by shortskirtsandexplosions //------------------------------// Appleloosa – Outskirts – Cabins – Late Morning "I'm n-not even kidding." Lemon Hearts swallowed hard, trembling slightly. "I had Braeburn looking left and right... up and down..." She grimaced. "He even had a whole slew of his rodeo friends show up to help out. We looked everywhere for you, Lyra. I... I-I don't even remember when and where I went to sleep last night. I..." She brushed her hoof through her bangs, teetering slightly. "I haven't even taken a bath. Everything's been such a blur." "Uh huh..." Lyra gulped. She wasn't looking at Lemon Hearts. Instead, her eyes swept over her own mint green body—from limb to tail to limb. Everything looked normal. "That's... real sweet of you..." "Last I saw Braeburn, he was heading into town to go fetch Sheriff Silver Star. But... you're b-back! And that's a fantastic thing, Lyra!" Lemon Hearts stammered. "Yeah..." A shuddering breath rose through the frazzle unicorn. "Say... Lemmy..." She fidgeted. "Do I look different to you somehow? Or sound different?" But Lemon Hearts was already speaking. "You know... none of this would have h-happened..." She looked down at where her hoof was digging at the ground. The mare's ears drooped. "If... if I h-hadn't gotten so angry at you and... and said things..." The mare grimaced. "...s-said things that I'm not very proud of." Lyra blinked dizzily. "Hmmmm... mmmhmmm..." ~o~So sterile. So dry.~o~ "...?" Lyra stared up into the dry desert air above the cabins. ~o~She's like an iron vase full of dust. How does she even contain herself?~o~ Lemon Hearts continued, "And... I just want to say I'm sorry, Lyra..." Lemon Hearts sniffled. "I'm sorry for snapping at you like I did." She tilted her guilty head up, biting her bottom lip. "And... and I-I'm especially sorry for... mmm... the comment I made about you and your apartment." She swallowed hard. "That was so... so out of line..." ~o~Oh. We think we're starting to understand. The cracks show.~o~ "Lemmy...?" "Yes, Lyra?" Lyra looked over at her friend. "Please tell me you heard that voice just n—" FLASH! A stallion's angry hoof flew violently at Lyra. The mare flinched. Hard. The limb phased through her and slammed meatedly into a petite body behind the unicorn. "Mrmmmmfff!" A filly yelped inwardly in pain before collapsing across a bedroom floor. "Get up!" the stallion yelled, hairy hooves stomping unevenly across dirty carpet. "Do what I say when I tell you, you little shitstain!" "Gnnnkkt... mmm—" Lyra watched as a frail yellow figure struggled against a wall to pull herself up. Blood and tears formed a soup in glow of a rosy-heart nightlight. Holding his breath, the stallion swept forward and—Whump!—kicked the filly savagely in the chest. She flew back, slammed against a dresser, and fell amidst a shower of school supplies. The stallion teetered above her. He slurred—filling the foal's room with the sour scent of vodka. "If I ever... ever find you asking the neighbors for food again, I'll turn you inside out and toss you into the gutter where you belong. Do you understand me?" "Mrmmmfffngh..." The filly clenched her jaws, fighting the flow of tears. Her voice came out in a heated hiss. "I understand you." WHACK! Another hoof flew across her already-bruised cheek. "Are you retarded?!?" The stallion shouted. "You address me as 'Sir!'" "Mrmmfgnhhh... hckkkt..." The filly fought a puddle of vomit in her mouth, gulped, and stammered, "Yes, sir..." "Like I don't bust my ass feeding you sniveling little snotjobs every goddess-damn day of my shitty life. You take what I earn and you like it!" His bloodshot eyes twitched in the nightlight's glow. "Am I not good enough for this family?! Haven't I sacrificed enough?!" "You're... g-good enough, sir..." The filly shuddered. "Thank you, sir..." "Mrmmmf... yeah right..." The stallion teetered about and limped out of the room, grumbling the whole way. "You're worse than that whore of a mare who squirted you out. You're all in on it. Every goddess-damn pony in this world... all robbing me blind..." He was barely outside the room when a loud thud echoed down the hallway. "And clean up this goddess-damn mess! How many friggin' times do I have to tell you! Worthless! Goddess-damn gutter trash!" Lyra couldn't stop cringeing. So much so that she barely registered the sobbing voices of two tender figures huddled in the far corner of the room. She turned around, blinking. "It's okay..." The battered youngster sighed. "I... think he's done for the night..." A tiny cold and a tinier filly crawled out of hiding. "Lemon..." "Lemon Hearts!" They huddled around her, eyes instantly flooding with tears. "You're bleeding..." "Can you even see out of that eye?" "Please. We gotta get you out of here. Somewhere that he won't hurt you anymore—" "No..." "But—" "No!" Lemon Hearts snorted, wincing in pain. "Remember last time we tried that? You could barely walk." The two younger siblings fidgeted. "I won't let him hurt you two ever again." Lemon Hearts smiled through her tear-stained bruises. "Don't worry... I can take him." "But Lemon Hearts..." One wept. The other leaned in to nuzzle her. "It's just so... awful..." "It's okay... I pr-promise..." Lemon Hearts spat, swallowed, and maintained her composure as best as she could. "I'll take care of you two. You can count on me..." FLASH! Lyra's pupils shrank. Her eyes instantly grew moist. "Huh?" Lemon Hearts stood before her, leaning curiously forward. "Lyra? What do you mean? What voice?" Lyra's lips pursed. "Your dad beat the crap out of you...?" Her ears drooped. "...all this time, I had no idea." Lemon Hearts froze in place. "And you took it... you took it all..." Lyra winced. "Because you were the oldest." Lemon's ears curved back viciously. Her voice took on a hissing tone: "Who... h-have you been talking to...?" "Lemmy... Lemon Hearts." Lyra took a bold step, reaching forward. "No wonder you're always so defens—" "Rrrgh!" Lemon Hearts angrily batted her fetlock away. "Answer the question!" she hollered. "Who the Hell have you been talking to?!" "I... it..." Lyra winced, leaning back. "No one—!" "Have you been making rounds at the sanitarium during your lazy strolls in Canterlot?! Huh?!" Lemon Hearts practically spat in her face. "Went to go see the freak show, did ya?! Well maybe some ponies deserve to stay there! For good!" "Lemon! I... I-I'm sorry—" "For what?!" Lemon Hearts was shivering at this point. Boiling fresh tears trickled down her muzzle as she sneered at the unicorn. "For snooping around just so you could dig up an old wound?! Well you can just shove it! I'm well past those shitty years and I don't need to relive them, thank you very much!" She turned to leave—but stopped halfway. "You know..." She sobbed, teeth showing. "At least I had the d-decency to apologize for what I said! What's your friggin' excuse?!" In a flash, she flung the cabin door open, rushed inside, and—SLAM!—left Lyra out in the dry desert morning. "... ... ..." Lyra sat on her haunches, flabbergasted. ~o~Pity. Like a microscopic crack in milk jug. Had she stayed any longer, we might have started feeding.~o~ "... ... ..." Lyra numbly turned away from the cabin and trotted towards town. "I want to go home." ~o~It's as we have ordered you. You must go find the hives...~o~ "Rrrrrrrgh!" Lyra bowed her head, breaking into a full gallop. "Shut uppppp!"