//------------------------------// // 7 - The Letter // Story: The Woman Who Lived Nextdoor // by Hazel Mee //------------------------------// I patted The Hump for luck and skipped to my little shack. Renting out my sloop meant I could eat like a normal pony, for a while anyway, and my saddlebags bulged with two weeks' worth of vegetables from the market. I'd picked up some extra carrots and potatoes to give Mayree as a thank you gift. Sun Squall talked me into giving her flowers, a traditional human gift, or so she claimed. But Mayree had given me a weird look and stuck the bundle of delicious fresh Daises, Dandelions, and Foal's Breath into a vase to rot. What a waste. No, nothing said 'thank you' like good, honest root veg. I dumped the heavy bags in my crowded kitchen slash living room slash bedroom and nosed open a flap to lip out the letter. I hopped on my bed and settled down with it between my hooves but didn't rip it open right away. It had been almost two weeks since I'd written to mom about our day on the seapony beach. We'd never exchanged letters before and it was lucky that our post office had her Manehattan address or I'd never have known where to send it. Holding my breath I carefully tore off one end. My letter fell out. Still sealed. She hadn't even bothered to read it. Well, what had I expected? I'd hoped… Grimacing, I threw the torn envelope away and a scrap of folded paper fluttered out. I snatched it up and the words scrawled inside broke me. Hours or minutes later somepony pounded at my shack's door. "Mainstay!" Sun Squall called. "Mainstay, we're coming in!" I blubbered nonsense. Pleaded for her to go away or come in or just do something, anything to stop the pain! My head swam and I couldn't put two thoughts together. The setting sun blazed through the door and I tried to curl up in a miserable ball to hide but Sun Squall wouldn't let me. She scooped me up between her fores and wings and I clung to her like a drowning sailor clutches at flotsam. "jεsμs", cursed Mayree as she knelt next to my bed. "What the нεℓℓ happened?" I couldn't speak around the hoof in my throat. Hot tears boiled from my eyes and soaked Sun Squall's fur. Something cool and hard touched my withers and I peeked between orange feathers as Mayree wrapped her long fores around us and hugged us to her soft teats. She pressed her lips between my ears and made soothing shushing noises like a mother comforting her foal. Agony swelled and burst inside me! Sun Squall squeaked as I clutched at her, buried my muzzle in her warm fur, and howled my throat raw. Even the worst storm will finally blow itself out. Sniffling and panting I untangled myself from them and flopped on my back with my legs going everywhere. I rubbed my nose with a fore that prickled with pins-and-needles and smeared snot into my fur. "What happened?" Mayree whispered while Sun Squall brushed tangled mane out of my eyes and gave me a timid smile. My throat burned and if I tried to speak I'd just blubber like a foal, so I unclenched my fore and gave the crumpled note to Sun Squall. I shut my eyes while she read and tried to take slow breaths. Sun Squall gasped, "Oh, no! Mainstay, I'm so sorry." "What? What happened?" The bed shifted as Mayree leaned forward to look over Sun Squall's shoulder. "I can't read that chicken scratch." "It says… It says that-" "My mother is dead", I croaked and rolled onto my side, away from them. "Oh." The bed shifted again as Mayree sat back. "I'm sorry for your loss, Mainstay… Does it say what happened?" I watched out of the corner of my eye as Sun Squall slowly shook her head while reading the short note again. "No, just the postmare's condolences and that she passed away on the second day after new moon, month of Grain Harvest, fourteen-hundred and three." She set the crumpled note down and whispered, "Almost two years ago." "Two years?!" The disbelief in Mayree's voice turned to anger. "Why didn't somepony contact you when it happened?!" "She wouldn't have told anypony about me." I drew a shuddering breath and admitted, "She disowned me before she left." "Disowned you? Why would your mother disown you?" Mayree sounded angry and maybe a little frightened. What rumours had she heard about me? I grunted and tugged a fold of blanket over my muzzle. I closed my eyes and nuzzled into the smelly wool but I could feel them watching me, worried and judging. "Could we not talk about this right now?" Mayree cleared her throat and said, "Of course. Uh, this isn't a good time is it?" I grumbled, "No, sorry." "You've got nothing to apologise for, Mainstay." Sun Squall leaned over me and kissed my damp cheek. "Are you going to be okay?" "I'll live, thanks." That came out wrong. I raised my aching head and earnestly told them, "No, really. Thank you for coming over but I'll get by." No I wouldn't. "It's what friends are for", said Mayree and she hesitantly stretched out a fore and rested her hand on my side. It was cool and surprisingly soft for something so bone-y. Sun Squall nuzzled my cheek and I couldn't help smiling a little even as tears oozed from my eyes. Through gratitude and shame I could feel another storm brewing inside me, waiting to break once they left. Mayree patted me and said, "Come over to my place. You shouldn't be alone and I've got a huge eggplant casserole in the oven. More than enough for all of us." My rebellious tummy rumbled its approval beneath her petting hand but I hesitated, sniffled, and rubbed at my muzzle. "Come on", Sun Squall prodded me with a wing. "Up on your hooves. It's only a short walk and it's that or I'm staying here with you. She's right, you really shouldn't be on your own." I rolled onto my belly and stood up. My everything ached after, what, only half an hour of bawling my eyes out? I hadn't felt this rough since that typhoon off the coast of New Zeebland. Stallions weren't tough enough for this kind of pain. Mayree led the way while Sun Squall stuck by my side with a wing draped over my back. It should have been pouring rain from a lightning shattered sky of black cloud, but it was a typical late summer evening. A refreshing sea breeze whispered through the grass and wild flowers, birds squalked as they settled down for the night, crickets chirped, and sunset turned everything the colour of warm marmalade. Once inside, a delicious scent of eggplant and cheese baking raised my mood, as did the beer Mayree pressed into my hooves. She folded her long hinds one over the other, tucked them under the table, and we dined off princess-grade plates. The mares talked in hushed, subdued tones and I pretended not to notice the worried looks they cast my way. Even following their conversation was too much effort but good food and drink helped me relax a bit, on the outside anyway, like a loose skin wrapped around a hard kernel. After tongue-polishing my plate I sat back and stared blankly at the tracery of gold lines on its rim. Mayree's graceful hand took it away, breaking me free from a dark mood that threatened to overwhelm me again. "Help me get a fire going?" asked Sun Squall hopefully. I nodded and followed her to the fireplace while Mayree cleared away the dishes. With dry grass, twigs, a couple of medium-sized logs, and a fancy magical fire-starter wand we soon had a cheerful blaze. Sun Squall and I found seats on the couch. It wasn't the one from my foalhood, that old relic was long gone, but the fireplace was the same aside from different framed pictures and keepsakes on the mantle. Gazing into the flames made me nostalgic. Memories of my family and that innocent foal I used to be soon had tears running down my cheeks, but not the soul wracking misery from before. Quiet sobbing. Sun Squall snuggled up against my side and Mayree joined us a few minutes later, bringing a handful of soft cloths. She started to dab at my cheek but I grunted, took the cloth from her and roughly wiped my face dry. Sun Squall shoved me and I slumped against Mayree's side. She wrapped a long fore around both of us and I was trapped between them. Nopony said anything. I drew a shuddering breath and tried to relax. I fell asleep with my head across Mayree's thighs while she scratched behind my ears.