Lyra took a deep breath as she walked through the door.
I can do this. Maybe he's already passed out.
Unfortunately for her, he was not. He was lying on the couch, a beer in his hoof as he watched the Wonderbolts. But he hadn't noticed her yet, maybe she could sneak up to her room, put her bags away, and get back out of the house...
"What the hell happened to you?"
Or not.
"H-hey dad."
"Answer the goddamn question," he said, rising up off of the couch. His frizzy red mane was a mess, and his sunny yellow coat filthy, as usual. His golden eyes looked at her in anger when she responded too quietly for him to hear her.
"I, um, got in a fight..."
"Louder."
"I got in a fight," she said at an even lower volume.
“Louder!”
“I got in a fight.”
“Louder!”
“I got in a fight.”
“Louder!”
“I got in a fight!”
Her mane was enveloped in a green light as her father dragged her across the room towards him. She locked eyes with him for a half-second, seeing the pure fury shining in the golden eyes that resembled her own so perfectly.
She closed her eyes as his hoof connected with her jaw.
"SAY IT SO I CAN HEAR YOU!"
"I got in a fight!" she yelled.
"You what?"
"I got in a-"
"I HEARD YOU!"
Lyra's body trembled as she tried to stay as still as possible, salty tears matting her fur, not flinching as hooves pounded her face and body.
~
Colgate took a deep breath as she walked through the door.
She is going to freak.
Wait, or maybe she’s lying in bed and I can just check up on her and get out of the house.
A sky blue unicorn with an unkempt blonde mane lay on the couch, deep green eyes darting around nervously.
Colgate sighed.
Damn it.
As soon as the mare saw her daughter, she gasped.
“Collie what happened to you who did this to you what happened?”
The blue mare started hyperventilating.
“Mom, I’ll be fine. I, uh, just got in a little fight, that’s all.”
“You got in a fight? My baby’s been fighting! I can’t... I can’t... can’t...”
Her mouth stopped moving and her eyes half closed as she passed out.
Colgate sighed as she half carried, half dragged her mother to bed.
~
Colgate was the only pony who knew Lyra's secret.
Lyra was the only pony who knew Colgate's secret.
They were two lost souls who had found each other by chance, sitting next to each other way back in magic kindergarten.
Lyra had lied, saying her bruises were from running into a door.
Colgate had lied, saying her mother could not come to meet the teacher because she had the pony pox.
The two fillies hid their secrets well.
Lyra learned minor healing and illusion spells, masking her father's handiwork.
Colgate learned to take care of both herself and her mother, doing the housework and other things that the mother should normally be doing.
Over the years, the fillies grew closer, eventually sharing secrets.
In the third grade, they went to each other’s houses.
"C'mon, Ly, it can't be that bad."
“It can, and it is. I don’t want you there.”
“What if... uh... nevermind.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Lyra grinned evilly.
“I’ll let you come to my house if you let me come to yours.”
Colgate hesitantly agreed, and that afternoon they went to Lyra's.
Colgate saw everything.
Then they went to Colgate’s house.
Lyra saw everything.
That day, they agreed to never go to each other’s houses again...
Unless they positively, absolutely had to.
~
Lyra sunk into bed with a face full of bruises. She probably should use a healing spell now, instead of when she woke up and the bruises would be even more painful. But she was tired, so tired.
She moaned, wishing her mother were there. But Gentle Harmony wasn’t home as much as her daughter would like. Lyra knew she shouldn’t blame her mother for being at work; her father was incapable of holding down a job for more than a week or two. It was just that she wished she didn’t have to face her father alone.
~
Colgate flopped onto her bed, exhausted. The day had been overwhelming. Waking up, getting ready, then going to school, where she worried about her mother, alone in the house. Then she went home, where she cleaned the apartment, cooked dinner, did her homework, talked to Lyra...
All in all, she didn't end up in bed until around midnight.
~
A light green pegasus walked into a bedroom a little after midnight. The unicorn’s face was a mess of blood and bruises.
The mare’s magenta eyes swelled with tears as she kissed her daughter’s forehead.
“I’m so sorry...”
~
Several streets over, another, different mare walked into her own daughter’s bedroom. The little unicorn’s face was lined with worry and stress even as she slept, causing her to look years older than her true age of fifteen.
The mare sighed, brushing the filly’s mane out of her face. A tear rolled down her cheek, then another, and another, and soon her vision blurred, face soaked as she wept.
“I’m so sorry...”