//------------------------------// // 2: Something to Forget // Story: Fire of Friendship: For One // by Psychic Smith //------------------------------// 2: Something to Forget (Three years ago) I hummed to myself in satisfaction as I closed my eyes sleepily and yawned, tired after a long couple hours shoveling the sidewalk outside. Whoever thought that scheduling a record snowfall today of all days needed to be fired. The fire crackled lazily as I laid on the soft shag carpet, letting the fire’s radiating warmth wash over me. I could almost feel the snowflakes melt and evaporate off of my coat. With a loud pop I stretched out my spine, letting out a satisfied groan, as I felt something soft being pulled up over me. Opening my eyes, I saw my mom, pulling my favorite blanket over my shoulders. She gave me a warm smile as I snuggled up underneath the thick fleece. “Someone worked hard today,” she said between chuckles. I just nodded, a wee bit too tired to talk. She playfully socked me in the foreleg. “Must’ve been cold out there. I told you to wear your hat ya dunce.” “Come on ma, you were right. You’re always right.” Mom leaned down and placed a loving kiss on my forehead. “And don’t you forget it,” she whispered. I closed my eyes for a few moments before I felt her muzzle nudging me awake again. “Whaaaat?” I groaned, opening an eye. Instead of seeing my mother’s face smiling playfully at me, all I saw was a steaming purple mug, with the distinct smell of cocoa. “You earned it,” mom said with a smile, turning back to the kitchen. I reluctantly sat back up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes the best I could, taking the mug in my hooves. Gingerly, I took a sip, letting the hot liquid flow down my throat. The hot chocolate pleasantly burned as I swallowed it down, warming my insides, while the fire took care of the outside. The taste of chocolate lingered on my tongue after every sip. You must enjoy and savor every last drop. Whenever the pegasi scheduled Manehattan for a snowstorm, I think they have a particular vendetta against 3rd avenue. We got mounds of snow blocking the doors this year. The only reason I was able to get outside to clear the walkway was because our house had a window that I was able to climb out of. I heard my mother’s melodic voice drift out of the kitchen as she hummed while washing the dishes. I could sit for hours listening to mom. I still think I’ll never be too old for her lullabies. Even now, sipping on a warm cup of cocoa, I felt myself drifting off at the notes that seemed to carry throughout the house. As my eyes began to close, I heard the distinct sound of the front door opening, followed by a freezing breeze, carrying the distinct smell of alcohol. “I’m home,” a gruff male voice called out, slamming the door behind him. Dad had been drinking again. I opened my eyes to watch him enter. I knew better than to say anything. However, sometimes saying nothing was just as bad. “What’re you looking at boy? Ya have a problem? Probably been sitting on your lousy flank all day while your mother slaved away.” “Honey, Spirit actually did a good deal today,” mom said, placing the dish she had been cleaning down on the counter. “He got up especially early to make sure that we could use the front door. You should’ve seen the snowdrifts.” “Hmph. Got the neighbors to do it while he watched is more like it,” dad tried to mutter. Any attempt he made to lower his volume had failed. Dad was always a loud drunk. Dad was a brute. Loud and obnoxious. I loathed him. He had this earthpony mentality, which gave him a certain outlook on other ponies. “Nope. Did it all himself he did.” Mom came over and ruffled my pink mane, despite my attempts to bat her hoof away with my own. Dad just rolled his bloodshot eyes and stumbled over to the brown recliner, in which he proceeded to collapse into. “Didn’t use ‘you know what”, did he?” “No dad, I didn’t.” I huffed in annoyance. It seemed like his only goal in my life was to make me feel like a freak. It’s like the kids at school weren’t bad enough. My attitude only spurred him on, making his brown muzzle slightly redder in anger. “You listen here you hornless freak. You’re an earthpony. That’s all you’ll ever be. You will never do magic under my roof, you understand me? You’re a freak that no one will know about. Don’t even get me started on your fascination with those Wonderbolt featherbrains. You don’t even have wings.” I felt my eye twitch slightly in anger. Dad and I never really got along, especially when it came to my magic. Ever, really. As soon as he found out about my special talent when I got my Cutie mark, he practically disowned me. It’s not my fault that I ended up having a Cutie mark in magic. At least mom was supportive. Even though she was an earthpony as well, she bought me books and did her best to help teach me how to use my magic. But because of dad’s all-earthpony beliefs, we never got a whole lot done, and mom had to hide the books where he would never find them. Behind the refrigerator. I still could only do basic levitation, even if I had to put a lot of effort into it. “Now Coarse dear, leave Spirit alone tonight. He has done plenty around the house for me,” mom stood tall next to me, trying to protect me from dad’s sharp tongue. “Of course you would be the one to speak for that thing,” he said, gesturing towards me. “He’s got that face that only his whore of a mother could love.” “No matter what you say Coarse, he is still your son. We even had the genetic testing done, remember? Even the doctor said he was yours as much as he is mine.” I gave mom a worried glance. She was staring down my father with a motherly intensity that only she could pull off. Even still, the bald earthpony was a terrifying beast, especially when inebriated. “No sense in covering your back Rosemary. You were fooling around, I just know it. The only reason that I haven’t divorced your sorry flank is because I need to provide for this thing you assume to be my son.” I stood up next to mom. It was my turn to speak up. “You don’t provide for anypony! All you do is go out one night, spend hundreds of mom’s hard earned bits on booze, and don’t come home for two or three days. The only thing you ever do is make things harder on mom!” “Why you little.” Dad stood up out of his chair, his eyes focused on mine. “Turns out you still don’t know your place. I guess I’ll have to give you a reminder.” I straightened my neck as much as I could, but dad was still much bigger than me. I prepared myself for the next part as he started walking towards me in a slow, intimidating manner. Even in the faint glow of the fire behind me, I could still see his monstrous muscles flexing beneath his brown coat. He moved past me as he picked up his signature whip from where it was hidden behind a picture frame on the mantle in his mouth. Mom tried to pull me away, but I just shook her off and faced the stallion I called my father. As I turned my head to face him, he had already uncoiled the leather. ~SNAP~ I howled in pain as I felt the whip strike my neck, the burning sting still lingering as my forelegs gave out, forcing me to kneel. I already was feeling the blood trickling off of my neck. I could hear my mother sobbing from behind me. “Coarse, stop this! Don’t you beat up on him enough?” He didn’t seem to hear her, and I had no time to react to the second strike, ~SNAP~ I felt the leather break the skin on my neck a second time, causing more streams of blood to flow. “Coarse!” “Stay out of this whore, unless you want some too.” ~SNAP Tears had begun flowing down my face as I tried to hold back my screams. I guess the fact that he was not getting any sort of noise out of me, edged him on even more. ~SNAP SNAP~ The next two came in rapid succession. I screamed, unable to hold it back anymore. I braced myself as much as I could for the next. “Coarse, you need to calm down.” I turned to look in horror as I saw my mother holding on to dad’s neck, keeping him from striking. “How dare you,” my father roared, rearing up, and striking my mom with his front hooves. All I heard was the cracking of bones as I watched my mother crumple into a heap, blood trickling from an open gash on her forehead. Before mom got in another word, he struck her again, this time in the jaw. The blow was followed by the sound of more bones cracking. Mom wasn’t moving. “DAD STOP!” I screamed. It was either he was too drunk to hear me, or he was too drunk to care. He delivered another kick at mom’s ribs. “STOP!” I was faintly aware of pressure building up in my eyes, although I discredited them for tears as I felt my anger practically building up in the sockets, like a dam on the verge of breaking. I felt an energy flowing and pulsing though my body. He struck her a fourth time, mom’s leg snapping at an unnatural angle. The dam broke. “I. SAID. STOP.” I watched as a flash of white light flooded the room, and my father was wrapped in a magical pink aura. With a flick of my head, he was hurled at the nearest wooden post with the strength of an ursa major. I heard the sound of cracking bones as he collided with it. He fell to the ground in a pile of flesh, leaving a sizable dent in the pillar where his head had collided with it. I quickly turned around, not caring what had happened to the stallion, and relieved that he wasn’t moving. “Mom!” I rushed over to her. Kneeling down, I pressed an ear against her chest, praying to Celestia that she was still alive. I tuned out everything else and just listened. I felt my heart sink to an all-time low while I waited for something other than silence. I sat like that for a good ten seconds that felt like an eternity. Listening to nothing. ~Thump thump~ ~Thump thump~ “Mom! I’m here. Hold on!” One of her eyes was swollen, black and puffy, and there were plenty of spots where her lavender coat was stained crimson. Her not swollen eye half opened, revealing a glazed over stare as if she was disoriented. As she took a deep, labored, breath, I let out a sigh of relief while I saw her focus on me, and motioning me to turn around with her good hoof. I had to shake my head. “No, don’t move mom. Don’t even speak. You’ll only hurt yourself more.” I was trying with all of my might to hold back the tears welling up behind my eyes. She ignored me, signaling me to turn around a second time. Knowing that there was no stopping this, I obliged. I heard her faintly gasp at what she saw. I already had a pretty good idea of what she was looking at, since I could feel the sticky, uncomfortable sensation of drying blood on my neck. I turned around, to see tears flowing from her eyes. “No ma, don’t worry about me.” She looked at me, taking more shallow breaths. I could tell that the simple act alone was hurting her. She tried to touch my face with her hoof. Shaking my head, I gently held it down. “We’re gonna be okay mom.” Tears had started rolling down my cheeks as well. “We’re gonna be okay.” She glanced behind me, her eyes widening in shock. Looking behind me, I could see what had surprised her. My father crumpled up on the floor, and a pony scull shaped crater in one of the thick wooden poles that held up the house. “He won’t hurt us anymore.” There was only one problem with that statement. The stallion was still breathing. My rage had since died down, knowing that mom was going to be fine. Despite what he had done to mom, I stifled my anger quickly, instead of all the painful things i wanted to do to him. He was still my father after all. I stayed with mom, curling up beside her. I did my best to stop her bleeding, and was mostly successful, despite knowing only basic first aid. I myself was starting to feel woozy however, since some of the gashes on my neck were bleeding profusely. Kinda hard to tend to a wound you can’t even reach. It felt as if a few hours past, and I could feel sleep trying to overtake me as I was still losing some blood despite my body trying desperately to close the wounds. I faintly heard the sound of the front door being forced open and the pounding of multiple sets of hooves rushing into the house. I found myself starting to fade as my vision was overtaken by a blurry white figure wearing yellow clothing, and a large black hat. I barely felt my body being lifted upwards as my entire world faded to darkness. ----~+~---- (Present Day) Seven Days to Hearth’s Warming I let out a groan as I sat up from my couch, rolling onto my stomach. The nightmare had been plaguing me for three years, but I’ve gotten used to them. They had become part of my daily routine, and a rather unsettling part at that. A yawn escaped my lips as I tried to get up, needless to say, without much success. I just rolled onto my side and stared at the blank wall. It was times like this that I really wished that I still had my Wonderbolt posters. Wind Rider was my favorite. At least until Equestria found out he was a liar and a cheat. I haven’t followed up on the flying squadron since then, and that was a couple of years ago. Even then, I hadn’t really paid attention to any one of them other than long distance speed record holder. I instead tried to focus on getting out of Manehattan. It was what mom wanted for me, and I was through with dealing with the stallion I had called my father. At least he was rotting in a cell where he belonged. “Good bucking riddance.” I couldn’t even bring myself to face my mom anymore, even though I was supposed to visit her tomorrow. I failed her. I forced one tear back with a sniffle, and I forced myself to get up off of the couch, despite how much I didn’t want to. I went into the kitchen and began fixing myself some pancakes for breakfast, and prepared myself for the day ahead. ----~+~---- Grocery shopping in Ponyville was much more of a chore in comparison to the markets in Manehattan. In Manehattan at least, all of the stalls were close together, (even though piled on top of each other is more like it). Ponyville, on the other hoof, was very limited to the amount of goods you could buy from the daily produce, especially in the winter it seems. I tugged my scarf tighter around my neck as I made my way towards the town square. ‘At least its sunny out today,’ I mused, looking up at the nearly cloudless sky. The sun, however, did not do much in the way of providing much warmth. As I approached the town square, where many of the townsponies were out and about buying various fruits and vegetables. I avoided their gaze as much as possible as I made my way to the line in front of the apple stall. As I approached, the orange mare donning a Stetson adorned with little holly glanced up, shooting me a friendly smile. Another reason Ponyville is better than Manehattan: at least the ponies didn’t glare at you when you wanted something. “Mornin’ Sugarcube!” Applejack greeted brightly. “What can I do ya for?” “Just some Macintosh if you happen to have any left.” “Aw shucks. Sorry Spirit, Granny Smith used the last of ‘em fer her applesauce last night. I do have some Coltlands back here. They’re not as sweet though.” “That’s fine Applejack-” “Spirit, you have been livin’ here fer how long now? Three months? Please, call me AJ.” I just chuckled a little bit at that. “No promises, AJ,” I said, passing the bits over to her. Another reason shopping for groceries took so long: everypony loved a good bit of small talk. I just turned with a wave as I trotted off to the next stall. I found myself thinking back on last night’s events with that yellow mare. “Where have I seen her before?” I whispered to myself. “Who do you think you’ve seen before, Spirit?!” The loud, bubbly voice made me jump in surprise. When I came back to my senses, I was inches away from a pair of baby blue eyes. “Pinkie, you gotta stop doing that to me.” I didn’t mean it. In fact, I kinda liked how she would pop up seemingly out of nowhere with a big ol’ smile on her pink face. Although, I’d prefer not to have a heart attack. She had been doing this ever since that 'welcome to Ponyville' party she threw for me when I first came into town. I just happened to meet just about everypony in town. All except for Princess Twilight. Apparently, according to her friend Rainbow Dash, she had to go to do some Princess'y things in Canterlot. “You were thinking about somepony, and I happen to know the name of just about every pony in Ponyville.” “I doubt you would know her. I’ve never seen her around here before.” “Nuh-uh. I would have known if somepony new came into Ponyville.” Her eyes narrowed at me slightly. “I always know.” Was she giving me a challenge? “Okay then how about this: Mustard yellow coat, two toned orange mane, pegasus, wears a lot of blue.” With every word, she seemed to be trying to put the pieces of a puzzle together. When I finished, Pinkie’s eyes roll into the back of her head. “Nope. Not there. Couldn’t be.” What was she doing? Does she have a literal filing cabinet in there? “Wait. Almost got it. Hmmmmm. Oh!” Her eyes flicked back around to me a small smirk on her face. “So… who is she?” I asked curiously. “Sorry can’t tell ya!” Buck you Pinkie. “Why not?” “Because if you’re thinking about the same pony that I’m thinking about, and you met that pony, and she gave you something for Hearths Warming, you’re gonna get a super duper surprise!” What? How? Who… Huh? “How did you know all about that?” “Pinkie Sense!” Pinkie what now? I shook my head in disbelief. In a flash, I felt Pinkie place something in my hoof. When I looked up, she was already at the door of Sugarcube Corner waving to me. Looking at my hoof, I found a cupcake topped with pink frosting. “I will never understand you pinkie,” I said to nopony in particular. I just continued through the crowd of ponies, determined to at least get some shopping done before Celestia lowered the sun. Absentmindedly, I rubbed a hoof across my scarf that covered the thin scars that adorned the back of my neck.