Chapter 4
The sensation of wetting fur against my chest snapped me out of my reprieve and back into the present. Surprised, I looked down and found Dash awake, crying silently.
“Dash?”
“Oh ponyfeathers,” she sniffled turning her head inward against my chest, “Sorry for waking you, Specs.”
“I hadn’t fallen asleep yet, hun,” I replied, running a hoof through her soft, light mane. “But I don’t think we’re going to wait until morning to talk.”
She sighed, turning over, with her back to me, dragging my arm over and holding it close. “Why do we even bother with friends sometimes, Specs?”
“Hm?”
“Friends. They’re only around for a short while, they change, and eventually they die. Why do we even bother?”
“Dash, they’re so much more than that…”
She was unable to speak for a minute, as the tears continued unabated down her face, then asked, “Then why do they leave us?”
“Dash… who was it?”
“…Gilda.”
“Oh, Dash…”
I leaned over, wiping the tears that stained her beautiful face, and held her close, not bothering with words, just yet. Something about it just didn’t seem right, there was too big of a gap here that words alone couldn’t fill. Sure, words take thought, effort, and energy, and the mere fact that they exist shows caring and companionship, something Dash obviously needed. But here, they lacked the true expression that silence gave, the ability to reach beyond understanding, to feel beyond words.
Then the words came.
“There’s never really a good reason. Or a fair one, to be honest. Because there are just some of those people out there who we’re never going to be able to let go. At least completely. Why? Because that’s what friends do. They walk into our lives, and often walk out of them too, leaving the biggest mark not where we can see them, but feel them. In our heart.”
“But... she changed. She used to be okay, and now… I don’t understand what happened.”
“You know, you might not ever understand Dash. Life’s cruel to us like that, where we’re forced into a world full of unknowns…”
She looked up to me, her magenta eyes still shimmering, threatening to overflow again.
“What do I do?”
‘Well isn’t that a question,’ I thought to myself, looking out the window at the head of the bed. Already the sun was starting to rise, the amber rays peaking among the crest of the ridge that broke the horizon.
“Forget her.”
“… What?”
“Forget her of who she’s chosen to become,” I corrected. “She once meant something so much more than what she’s become to you now. Remember her as someone who once stood by your side as a friend that you needed the most, and forget her for who she’s become.”
The sun ascended above the ridge, the golden rays shining through the window, and into our faces as my eyes me hers.
“That’s… I don’t know if I can do that Specs…”
I extended my wing, the silvery feathers catching the light and blocking the glare from Dash’s face.
“It’s not easy… But you’re not gonna be alone either.”
She smiled then, stretching her own wing out so that it laced through my, covering the same glare from my face.
“Here’s to doing this… Together.”
“Together,” I agreed, smiling at the shimmering, azure tinted light that speckled the room before our wings fell, resting upon each other, a sanctuary of peace that gave way to fitful sleep.