//------------------------------// // The Light // Story: When Angels Call // by The Ranger //------------------------------// The hot coffee burned Free’s tongue and pallet as it entered her mouth. She grimaced from the unpleasant sensation, her teeth feeling like they would crack any minute. Like what the ponies did in the mines scattered across Equestria back in the day; putting a fire close to the rock wall to heat it up, then throwing ice cold water unto it, causing it to break from the shifting temperatures. This felt pretty much the same way she’d imagined that would feel, except it was done backwards with cold first, then burning hot. Still, it made her open her mouth wide and breathe deeply to try and get some cold air into her throat and try to numb the burning, almost spitting out the coffee in the process. Quickly she placed the cup down on the kitchen counter next to her before she let her singed tongue fall out of her mouth. She waved her hooves frantically around it in a feeble, instinctive attempt to cool it. After a little while, the burning subsided, and Free felt her pulse going back to normal. With a sigh she sat herself down on her backside, staring up into the beige ceiling above her. For a brief moment, she wanted to laugh. Laugh at her own stupidity, her refusal to be late to her appointment at the hospital. But the moment the laughter took form in her throat, it died down again. She sighed and turned her head to look at the cup of coffee on the counter. It didn’t look like much, just an ordinary cup made out of white china, almost sparkling in the morning light shining through the kitchen window. At least she knew how to keep things nice and clean. Nopony could say anything different about her. Why, that Flying Free down the street, her apartment is practically shining! Everything is perfect, devoid of every little grain of filth or dust. Strange, seeing as her daughter would probably drag in a lot of dirt. Children always do that… Free frowned at the thought, and raised her hoof to the counter. She grabbed the cup once again and held it up in front of her face. Her reflection stared back at her, tears slowly running down her cheeks. Free’s body began to shiver as she tilted the cup sideways and the black liquid inside it spilled out onto the floor like a thick waterfall of quilt. A puddle formed around her, black and steamy hot. The smell of caffeine filled her nostrils, and the hot liquid started to burn lightly against the skin on her hind legs and haunches. She looked at the reflection one more time. Her distraught face met her again, perfectly clear yet somewhat distorted in the white china. The face staring back at her didn’t even look like herself. Right next to it, another face looked at her. A young filly with beautiful opal eyes. Flying Free dropped the cup and it hit the floor with a shattering sound muffled by the coffee that once called the now broken cup its own temporary home. She didn’t say anything. Didn’t flinch at the loud noise from the breaking porcelain. Tears still streaming out of her eyes, she got back up on her hooves. The coffee had begun to dry into her fur, and strained around her legs as she walked towards the living room in silence. She paid it no attention. Nothing mattered right now, nothing but those shining eyes coated in purest opal, and the filly they belonged to. She let herself fall limply across the couch, the worn out cushions offering little support, causing her to sink deep into the frame of the furniture. Her cat screeched angrily as the Pegasus body almost crushed her, and the offended feline scurried off through the doorway, its tail fluffy and erect. A sure sign that little Opal was - as Lightning Quill would put it - bucking pissed off. Opal. Such a stupid name for a cat. Crawling into a ball on the couch, she hated herself for letting her daughter and pet share the same name. She would never be able to look at that cat without being reminded of her lost foal. Then, in a fit of pure rage, she threw herself off of the couch and spread out her wings into the air. Instantly, she rushed through the living room and into the kitchen where she stopped, panting heavily as blood pumped into her head and caused her vision to blur. The edges of her mouth twitched slightly and a sly smile threatened to take control of her face. The mare saw her target. Saw the cat. Opal. Sitting on the windowsill, she followed some birds outside the glass as they flew around and seemed to play tag with one another. The cat screeched once again as Flying Free’s teeth grabbed it by the skin on the back of its neck and lifted it up. It tried to get free by swinging its legs and paws frantically into the air, hissing angrily at the winged equine carrying it in such a rough manner. Free didn’t care about the furry creatures protest, didn’t care enough to wipe the blood off her cheek that streamed from a narrow cut that Opal’s claws had just caused. She simply walked through her apartment, opened the glass doors leading to her balcony, and stepped outside. The sounds of Manehatten slammed against her like a ton of bricks, and the wind that instantly tugged on her wings spurred the desire to fly off into the clouds. But she couldn’t, she had more pressing matters to attend to. Getting rid of painful memories took priority over everything and everypony else. Opal, now starting to realize what was about to happen, thrashed around in her owners grasp even more, hissing and spitting in a fit of panic and rage. Once her owner lowered her head out over the rail around the balcony, the feline entered such a strong state of panic it froze solid, and it stared blankly at the ground far beneath them. It probably didn’t understand the concept of the height of nine more floors underneath Free’s apartment, but it understood the concept of danger and imminent death clearly. Free opened her mouth. Her precious cat plummeted through the sky, finally free from its paralysis. Little Opal, with her golden fur and equally golden eyes. Her daughter loved that cat more than anything else in the world. Now it soared through the sky, screeching at the top of its tiny lungs. She never thought she’d hear a living creature make such a sound. Silence followed the screech. Free stepped back and closed the door behind her. On the couch, free unfurled her wings and let them hold her in a warm embrace. In the kitchen, Opal let out a low meow. The Pegasus shivered at her own thoughts. Never would she be able to do such a thing, to just let a living creature die like that. Never. She loved her cat too much to ever be able to harm it, even though she occasionally wanted to. Yet she had. She’d let another living creature die right on front of her eyes, and she didn’t do anything to save it. To save her. Once again, her sorrow took the best of her, and she screamed her quilt into the pillows of the couch. Didn’t care if anypony else heard her. The image of her daughter filled her head, those beaming eyes looking straight at her. Then the train came thundering unto the station. -------------------------------------------------- Sometime later, Free found herself in her bathroom, looking into the mirror above the sink that was now filling up with water. Her face looked like that of an old shrew; old, wet from tears and stripped from all sings of happiness. She hated her face, for several reasons. She hated the fact that she could still smile after what she’d done. She didn’t deserve to smile. And she hated herself for being able to sink so low as to become so ugly and revolting. She didn’t even deserve to have a face in the first place. Slowly, the mare lowered her hooves into the cold water in the sink. She brought them together to form a temporary bowl for the water, and then raised her hooves to her face. The water splashed over her face and mane, and once it cleared out of her eyes, her reflection looked even worse than before. As she observed herself through the veil of water, an urge to smash the mirror grew inside her. She managed to hold it back. Instead, she managed to just kick the pipes underneath the sink in anger before she left the bathroom. As her hoof connected to the cold steel, it clanged loudly and echoed through her ears, followed by a low gurgle as something inside the pipes moved. Before leaving her apartment, she made sure that Opal had enough food and water in her bowls, and that the door to the balcony was firmly shut. Of course, the cat would never get the idea to jump up on the railing, but her resent thoughts made her extra careful. She said goodbye to the sleeping feline, which only responded by stretching its legs and yawning slightly, and then headed out into the hallway and stairs leading down to the street outside. The mare threw a quick glance at her neighbor’s door. The name “L. Quill” had been replaced by “P. Spark”. Unlike Lightning, she had never met this Spark-pony, and didn’t really care to either. Whoever he or she was, they would never be able to replace her former neighbor. Before he had his accident, they often got together, and through the years they formed a rather special bond. It was love, yes, but not love as in a mare and a stallion. It was more in the lines of mother and son. She shook those thoughts out of her head and quickly started trotting down the stairs. She hadn’t been late to the hospital even once for almost an entire year, and she wasn’t about to break that stream of perfect time today. On her way down, she passed a familiar face, and greeted the stallion with her usual mask of happiness. “Morning, dear.” She chirped at the white unicorn as he passed. “Yeah, sure. You in a hurry or what?” Lightning Quill answered her as he disappeared past her up the stairs. She was about to answer him, but stopped dead in her tracks with wide eyes. Slowly, she turned around to look behind her and up the stairs. Nopony was there. “Stop, it, Fly...” She whispered to herself as she continued down the stairs. -------------------------------------------------- The streets of Manehatten were as busy as usual as Flying Free made her way through town in the early morning sun. All around her, ponies hurried about their business just like they did ever y day, none of them ever looking up from their work. Their endless cycle of work never broke, but if it did, they probably wouldn’t pay much attention to the dark cyan mare, or her distraught face. Just another pony in the crowd, another nameless face in the infinite sea forming the antlike nest that big cities had become. Free hated it all. She hated the streets, the buildings and the ponies living in them. Building after building, stacked in rows like giant coffins, filled to the brim with small cells, cramped together like sardines. And ponies called them home. It disgusted her. When she came to Manehatten as a young mare, she loved it all and could stroll down the streets hours on end. She loved seeing the parks, the stores, and the sun reflecting of the millions of windows spread out across the tall buildings. To her, there was no place in the world more beautiful than Manehatten, and she nagged on her parents until they finally agreed to let her get her own apartment. And so, she began her life anew. Flying Free, unstoppable and free as she soared through the skies. But slowly, the initial love subsided and was replaced with a sort of indifference to it all. She fell in love, and she had Opal. The stallion she thought had loved her left her and her foal, and she never saw him again. The Pegasus raised her foal on her own, with a little help from her neighbors. Even Lightning Quill who preferred to stick to himself and didn’t really seem to like children offered a helping hoof from time to time, and for that she was ever grateful. She was on her way to visit him, just as she had done once a week for the last eleven months. Every Friday, she made her way to the From Dust Memorial Hospital in which he was a patient, and spent a few hours by his side. Apparently, she was the only visitor he ever had. He never said anything to her, but she talked to him, believing he at least could hear her. His nurse, a kind mare by the name of Redheart, had become a close friend to her during this time, and she often joined Free in talking with Lightning. After a while, the hospital came into her view between the rising buildings around her. A massive construction, probably the most expensive building in all of Manehatten, it, towered high into the sky before her. It had been shaped as a perfect ring, with all the different rooms spread out inside, and a big courtyard inside the ring, filled with lush vegetation and healthy trees. It was a beautiful construction, and so unlike anything else ever seen in Equestria. Free guessed that was because of the fact that it wasn’t designed by a pony, but rather a human. This human had also financed the entire construction together with his wife, Princess Luna. The entrance had been designed in such a fashion that it looked more like some royal palace, rather than a hospital. It was a big, oval shaped room, with reception desks lining the walls on either side of the entrance, as well as stairs spiraling their way through the room up to the next floor. On the walls behind the desks, water streamed down from the ceiling and into shallow lines in the floor. Lowered a few inches and incased by glass, they ran to the middle of the room in a giant whirlwind-like spiral pattern. Flying Free didn’t need to check at any of the counters as she entered; she just tossed a quick nod and smile towards Redheart whom was standing on the opposite side of the room, talking to a family of unicorns and a young little colt that seemed to energetic for his own good. The Pegasus mare stepped onto the spiraling stairs that led up to the floor just above her. She was thankful for this; the first couple of weeks Lightning had been placed all the way up on the seventh floor and the walk up the stairs weren’t too pleasant. Then without explanation, they moved him down to the first floor instead. Suited Free just fine. She emerged into the hallway on the first floor, and immediately took off to her left towards the same door as always. She knocked quietly on it before she opened. Even though Lightning couldn’t hear her knocking, she at least wanted to show him some matter of respect. “Hey Lightning.” She said as she came up to the bed he rested on. He was on his back with blankets pulled up to his shoulders, almost as white as his coat. His chest raised and lowered itself in a steady pace, accompanied by the wheezing sound from the pump-like device that filled and emptied his lungs for him day after day. A small tube had been inserted into his nostrils, and a similar tube went into his mouth and down his throat. “How are you feeling today?” She asked cautiously. “I, uh... I brought you some flowers.” She quickly went through her saddlebags and pulled out a bouquet of white lilies. “Aren’t they beautiful? I’ll just... place them over here, so that you can see them when you…” She trailed off in her speech as she placed the flowers down in a see-through vase at the end of his bed. She looked up at his face, feeling her mouth purse at the sight of it. So peaceful, with no hint of pain or sadness. Just a closed pair of eyelids and an indifferent mouth. She told herself she could see a tiny smile on his lips. No doubt could he smell the lilies. That’s when she saw it. A movement. Before her eyes, Lightning Quill had just moved one of his hooves slightly. She barely resisted the urge to scream out of joy, and rushed to his side. “Lightning!” She laughed happily. “You moved! Can... can you hear me? Oh, please, hear me…” Again, the unicorn moved his hoof. Free couldn’t help herself but burst out laughing even louder, and once he moved a third time, she threw herself upon her former neighbor, wrapping her arms around him and held him close. “You can hear me, can’t you?” This time, Lightning moved his other hoof, the right one. “Could you... could you move your left hoof as a yes and your right hoof as a no?” Free whispered to him through the embrace. He moved his left hoof. “How are you feeling? Good?” She hoped he would move his left hoof. But instead, he moved his right. “Bad? Why? Is there anything I can do to help?” No movement came to answer her question. After a few more seconds, she broke her embrace and pulled away from the bed. She looked down on the young unicorn in front of her, and saw his eyelids move as if his eyeballs moved back and forth underneath them. She was about to speak once again when she heard the door behind her open. Free turned around and saw Redheart peeking in through the door. She had to fight her own mind to keep herself from jumping Redheart and embracing her as well. “Everything alright in here, FF?” Redheart said with her normal smile playing across her lips. “I heard some rather loud noises…” “It’s more than fine, Red.” Free answered her friend with a sigh. “He moved his hooves and answered me.” Redheart looked at her with eyes partially coated by doubt. “Are you serious..? He… moved?” Free nodded in response. “Come on, I’m sure he can hear you.” The nurse entered the room and trotted up to Free, placing herself next to her. She glanced down at the seemingly sleeping figure of Lightning before she took a deep breath and cleared her throat. “Lightning? It’s Redheart, your nurse… can you hear me?” The stallion moved his left hoof slightly, and Redheart tried to smother a gasp by pressing her hoof over her mouth. “That means yes.” Free said with a smile, feeling something wet on her cheeks. Upon seeing her friends shocked face, she couldn’t help herself but feel waves of joy course through her. If this was enough to surprise Redheart, who was certain he would never wake up again, it was a good sign. For a brief moment, her mourning got pushed aside by the flames of hope now burning bright inside her chest. Finally, there was something in her life to be happy about, to look forward to. She wouldn’t lose him too. He’d be alright. She knew he would. With a sudden burst of laughter, she embraced the white nurse in front of her, tears of joy streaming down her cheeks. Her friend answered the embrace with a smile, and held her friend close as she herself burst into tears. Lightning Quill was going to be alright.