I sat up from my bed with a gasp, my head pounding like a motherfucker. I winced as the light coming in from the window made my migraine worse. My body closed the closer eye in an instinctive effort to mitigate the pain. Once the pain subsided enough that I could think more clearly I took a look around, expecting to once again be in the hospital.
I wonder if I have a designated bed with how much I’ve been in the hospital the past few days.
I raised an eyebrow in confusion as instead of the sterile but comfortable enough conditions of the hospital I was met with the interior of a bedroom. My bedroom. The one I had back in Japan, back when I was...
I grit my teeth and shook my head, forcing the rising memory of my death(s) from my mind. A groan came from next to me, nearly making me jump out of my skin in shock. Looking next to me I was greeted by the dark brown eyes of Themis, her half-open eyes warming my heart with the love coming from them. She gave me a kiss on the shoulder and pulled me back into bed, her arms wrapping around me in a hug.
Was it a dream? If so Themis is right, I really gotta lay off the burgers
I lay there in her warm embrace, enjoying the feeling of quiet love radiating off her. I snuggled a bit closer to her, feeling my head slide into the crook between her shoulder and chin. If I had the choice I would have laid there forever, but a flash of purple stirred me back into that grey area between awake and asleep.
Shaking off the last vestments of sleep I rolled out of bed as quietly as I could, trying to not disturb Themis too much. Thankfully she only let out a small whine at me leaving her embrace, so I moved my pillow over so she could snuggle with that instead. I smiled at the adorable sight of her falling back asleep and silently went to close the blinds so the light wouldn’t wake her as it did me.
Now mostly awake, I dressed in jogging shorts and a simple shirt as quietly as I could before finally leaving the room. To not wake my siblings I tiptoed past their rooms to the front door, breathing out a sigh of relief as I was far enough away not to have to be so careful. One pair of shoes and set of keys later I left the house to do my daily exercises, a body like mine didn’t come easily after all.
Once outside I spent a few minutes stretching, waking up my muscles for the journey to come. I chose the scenic route for my jog, wanting to see the town I decided to make my own. After so long trapped in a weird pastel pony nightmare I almost forgot what it looked like. I took a deep breath of the (mostly) fresh air and went on my way.
While making my way to the park I could swear I kept seeing something out of the corner of my eyes. Thankfully there were no cars or anything out at this early hour otherwise I would probably have been hit by someone with how distracted I was. At the edge of the park itself, I took a moment to lean against a tree and try to clear my mind. Unfortunately, the complete silence had the opposite effect of what I wanted, as I could swear I could hear faint clicking from somewhere in the trees.
“God, what is wrong with me today?” I groaned and rubbed my temples in a doomed attempt to cut off a building headache.
I sighed deeply and tried to go back to jogging, enjoying the sun on my skin. A surprisingly cold wind blew through the trees, too cold for summer by far. I shivered and began jogging a little faster to escape the chill. My frown grew deeper and deeper as the temperature kept dropping and the clicking slowly became louder.
I spun around as the clicking got louder, morphing from a faint tapping to more of a clop. Of a rock hitting crystal, or...
For a moment I could swear I saw a flash of purple in the trees, a hint of a horn and wings. My breath caught in my throat as I stumbled back straight into the tree behind me. I grit my teeth hard enough to feel my jaw twitch in pain as I held my head in my hands.
“You aren’t real, you aren’t real,” I mumbled under my breath, forcing myself to not cry.
[How do you know that you are the one that isn’t real?]
I twitched hard enough to slam my head back into the tree, wincing with pain. “Go away. I am back home, I don’t need this.”
[You know this is not what you want, Storm]
I hissed under my breath and pulled my hands from my face, breathing slowly in an attempt to calm my rising emotions. “I know what I want, fuck off.”
“Storm, please, wake up.” I snapped my head around at the sound of Twilight’s voice, almost headbutting the alicorn ahead of me.
“What, you’re gonna tell me that I am not real either?” I growled, balling my hands into fists. “Fuck off Twilight Sparkle.”
“I am not Twilight Sparkle. She is merely the bearer I am most familiar with.” The alicorn stared at me, her gaze unblinking and emotionless. “Wake up.”
I opened my mouth to respond but instead found everything fading to white, with me falling into the void.
A giant shadowy figure stood before the grieving mare, tears dripping down her cheek. A singular stuffed animal sat in front of her, almost glaring with its beady snail eyes.
“What Do You Want?” The shadow whispered its voice more like two tectonic plates grinding together than a true mortal voice.
“I want her, I want my daughter.” The mare cried, closing her eyes. “I felt her love fall away, felt her...her...”
The shadow drew closer, enveloping the mare in its embrace. “I Can Grant Your Wish. But First...”
I snapped my eyes open to see myself falling through the air towards a giant mass of clouds. I quickly glanced around, seeing a few ponies on smaller clouds watching me fall, some even holding signs with my name on them. Looking down I saw a few circles made of clouds leading to the main mass, the sounds of cheering coming from there.
I grinned as the wind blew through my mane and wings, pulling the latter even closer to gain more speed. If it wasn’t for the goggles on my face I probably would have been blinded by the wind but I wasn’t dumb enough to not plan for that. A laugh escaped my throat, blown away by the howling of the wind around me.
My wings twitched slightly, every instinct telling me that I had to pull up now or I’d smash into the ground. Or the clouds, which at this speed may as well have been the ground for all intents and purposes. But I forced those instincts down, instead just focusing on making sure I was aimed at the right cloud-ring.
Right before impact, I let my wings spread free, using them to steer myself through each cloud-ring in quick succession. I twirled around, expertly guiding my momentum from a downward trajectory back to an upwards one. Once I was done twirling I headed towards a series of clouds, easily spinning around each of them fast enough that they almost fell apart behind me.
I ended my flight by sliding on a piece of asphalt, leaving a burnt streak behind me. My sweaty windblown mane hung over my eyes for a second before I pulled the goggles off, letting my mane fall back over my eyes for a moment afterward. My breath came in deeply, experience letting me know not to let my breath get too erratic after that much exercise.
The sound of hoofsteps on asphalt rang out, but before I could look up I was tackled in a hug by the pony in question. I giggled and hugged my mom back, amused at the fact she was nuzzling my sweaty mane. Behind her were my aunt Celestia and Uncle Shining, both with proud smiles on their faces. Even Twilight was there, although she kept her distance from the group out of respect.
The sound of someone sighing tore my attention from the ponies around me, forcing me to turn around to properly see the pony in question. Standing tall before me was none other than Aunt Cadance, even though her coat and mane were a lot darker than I remembered...
“Everything alright auntie?” I asked, my brow furrowed in concern.
[Of course not, you’re there]
My ear twitched at the sound of the voice, but I focused my attention on my aunt instead of taking the bait. Cadence looked down at me with a look of both apathy and frustration, the two emotions obviously battling within her.
“You aren’t my daughter.” She growled, taking a step towards me.
I blinked and tilted my head in confusion. “What are you talking about? Of course, I’m not your daughter, I’m your niece.”
“No. You are an imposter in her flesh.” Her wings flared out, blocking out the sun from shining upon me. “I can feel the love you feel for me, be it from whatever part of Flurry remains or sheer naivety. If you truly loved me, you would give me my daughter back.”
I scowled, the boiling frustration breaking whatever hold the illusion around me had. The other ponies, no, the entire world boiled away until it was just myself and Cadance standing in a white void. My wings twitched a bit in my frustration but I forced myself to stand tall, glaring back up at the elder alicorn.
“I told you, she is dead and gone and will never be coming back.” I felt the emotions I’d been keeping bottled up for so long boil up and over until they began to simply spill out. “Do you think you can force me to be whatever you want just because Flurry Heart died? Do you think you’re the only one who has lost loved ones and wishes they could come back?”
Cadence rolled her eyes, a dismissive snort echoing from her. “What do you know about loss? You’ve never lost your firstborn.”
“No, but I’ve lost just about everything else. I had to bury my mother, who died at the hands of my own father. I had to run away from everything I had ever known to protect my siblings from his growing insanity.” I growled and took my own step forward, never breaking eye contact with Cadance. “I also died. Now everything I worked so hard for is a world and life away, and I have to start all over again.
“Do you think I want to be in your daughter’s body? If I had my own wish, I’d be able to not just start again, but start again on a whole new page as myself. Not with Flurry’s body, but my own, as Luna’s daughter.” I sighed, sagging a bit as the rage flowing through me began to disperse. “As long as I could fly in that body I’d be happy. But I doubt that would happen.”
“I-I” Cadence began, her voice cracking a bit in surprise. “I did not expect that I will admit.”
“I figured. If your frustration is with me, just let everyone else go. Please.” I turned my gaze away from hers, a wave of exhaustion washing over me. “I can’t ask you to just move on, I know that someone close to you dying takes a part of your soul out of you. But you shouldn’t hurt others because of it. Trust me.”
I grit my teeth for a moment and went to hug the elder alicorn, wrapping my forelegs around her chest. Cadence flinched at my touch for a moment before pulling me in close, sobbing into my mane. We stood there for who knows how long in the darkness, forelegs wrapped around each other in an attempt to comfort each other. One who lost everything for a new life, the other who lost a life they wanted to give everything.
Eventually, the white void faded to darkness, the last vestiges of comfort before the real world broke in. It almost felt like reality itself vibrated as all of the love caged within the Crystal Heart broke free all at once, washing over everything and everyone in a rainbow tsunami.
“I Can Grant Your Wish, My Little Pony. But There Will Be A Price You Must Pay.”
The price was steep, but not unpayable.
“How do I know I will actually survive?”
“Do Not Worry, I Always Keep My Word. Otherwise, Who Would Make Deals With Me?. Now, This May Sting...”