"Last chance to turn back."
That comment only earned Dinky a light swat at the back of her head delivered to her by her stern older sister.
"Hey!" Dinky hissed as she rubbed her head, neck twisting to glare at her as they continued to trot up the long stone pathway leading through the overgrown sea of dead grass. "I was just joking. Gosh."
Amethyst muttered something about showing respect that wasn't received by Dinky.
Finally the family of three approached the rickety, old wooden house, painted an ugly faint color of sea-stained green. A loud commotion could be heard emanating from the house's mysterious depths. Dinky sighed as she remembered that the strange house had a queer and unspoken charm riddled with tacky decor and long empty halls - similar to the house in which they themselves lived in.
Amethyst raised her hoof to rap three times on the hollow gray door. They could nearly hear the sound echoing through the strange house.
A long silence followed. Nearly ten seconds had passed by and Amethyst was about to lift her hoof to knock again, but then the faint sound of hooves trotting to meet them was heard and soon enough, the door creaked open to reveal a pony looking almost identical to their mother. Same pale gray fur chalked with a faint dark dusty charm. Same long light gold hair gleaming in the rays of the high sun and flowing with the unique family trait of scruffiness. The only things that could determine who was who were obviously the facts that Dinky's mother was a pegasus, had bubbles for a cutie mark, and had eyes that were... well... off.
"Aunt Pear Seed!" Amethyst threw her hooves around her mother's sister, but the pony remained still as a statue. Dinky's heart churned with an upsetting feeling as she eyed Pear Seed's neutral expression. The pony's golden eyes were locked with Dinky's mother's and she didn't even return the hug.
An awkward, stiff moment passed by. Amethyst eventually slunk off Pear Seed, hooves returning to the ground and a bright, encouraged smile fading into the stoic atmosphere.
"Hi, Aunt Pear Seed!" Dinky grinned, trying to lighten up the strange pony's attitude. Never once in her entire life did Dinky ever witness the slightest sign of emotion escape from Pear Seed.
The earth pony nodded to them and motioned for them to come inside with her hoof. They filed inside the narrow, creaky entrance and almost instantly did Dinky trip over a lump on the scratchy gray carpet.
The lump screeched in a raspy tone at her in anger and pain before it bounded away to hidden troves of darkness in the hallways of the house. Dinky recognized the thin, lithe shape of the aunts' cat for a minute before its fluffy gray tail flicked down the corner and it was gone.
"Sorry," Dinky said guiltily. "I didn't... see her."
Pear Seed blinked and Dinky wondered if she was angry or upset with her. She never knew. Her aunt just stood there, emotionless, unfazed.
It wasn't long before the shape of a chubby grayish-teal pegasus trampled into sight. Her golden mane distinctly recognizable as part of a consistent trait in her family, the younger filly burst into the scene full of amusement and glee.
"Hey, Amethyst! Hey, Aunt Derpy!" the little filly squeaked, voice high-pitched and annoying. Speaking of annoyance, Dinky let the feeling wash over her as she realized her younger cousin didn't even bother to notice or greet her.
The ball of excitement didn't hesitate to fling herself on Amethyst and strangle her neck with her strong arms. The unicorn hissed as she tried to breathe, and pried the filly off her before bringing her in for a safer, shorter hug.
"Hey Chirpy," Amethyst wheezed, setting her cousin down on the floor. It was only a few seconds before the pegasus had coiled herself around Amethyst's sturdy front leg, wrapping her arms tightly around said limb. "Chirpy..?"
"Don't. Leave. Me."
"I..."
Dinky rolled her eyes to the ceiling, which was stained with leaking water from storms and strange foreign lumps all throughout its surface.
They might as well have named that amazingly irritating brat "Clingy."
"I- nobody is going anywhere. We just got here. Alri-"
"I can't wait to show you and Auntie Derpy my collection of different pieces of mold I found!" Chirpy tugged on Amethyst's hoof, prompting her to be dragged back into the kitchen. "C'mon, hurry, you're too slow!"
Shut up, stupid, Dinky growled inside her mind, but didn't dare put her words to speech in front of the filly's mother. She was still hurt at the thought of her cousin's favoritism and failure to acknowledge her existence. Dinky knew she was supposed to love her family, but right now she hated hers.
"Can I get you anything to drink?" Pear Seed said in her normal, typical demeanor - plain, average, and without any distinctive, unique properties.
"No thank you," Dinky whispered back, drawing her gaze to the shape of three full-grown mares emerging from the shadows.
The trio of mares with pelts as silver as the moon escaped the ocean of everlasting darkness to face Dinky and her mother.
Dinky didn't even notice the fact that her own mother had tears in her eyes, and when she finally did, she hated herself for it. She couldn't bear to see her own mother cry. It was worse than Tartarus.
"Flutter, Ski, Frosty." Her mother had made a dash for the ponies mirror to her, throwing her arms around the group in an excitable burst of happiness. "I missed you guys so much," she whispered to them as they returned the group hug with equal affection, bliss spreading through the air.
Dinky could not have possibly felt more awkward. She stood off in the corner waiting for her turn to be loved and praised, but it seemed like ages before the loving sisters pulled away from each other.
"It's been... what, nine years now?" the mare with the distinct violet, scruffy styled mane rasped in her crackling voice, punctuating the air with her strange, hoarse accent.
Dinky's mother nodded curtly as her neck twisted around. As it did, her daughter was able to catch a glimpse of her painfully tear-stroke face and it tugged on her heartstrings.
"W..Where's Orange Box?" her mother whispered loudly, eyes scoping about the place in different directions.
"Sl-sleeping in the l-laundry room under the pile of warm cl-clothes. You - you know how she l-loves her naps," the silver-coated pony with an icy blue mane and piercing golden eyes stuttered in her strange speech impediment.
Dinky felt a wave of awkward compassion and respect fall over her chilled self - years ago, way before she was born, apparently her aunt, Frosty Dew, had "gone through an emotionally shocking and devastating experience that left her with problems such as PTSD and stuttering," according to Aunt Pear Seed, who had exposed that entire theory whilst maintaining a set frown. She shook her head. Who was she kidding? Everyone in her family had something emotionally scarring happen to them at some point in their lives. They were all messed up in their own unique ways. That was what made family so special... right?
Her thoughts were taken from her when she was forced to make eye contact with her aunts. Two of them stared at her with the same wide, golden eyes her mother had, the other with deep red contacts. There was clear family resemblance between the sisters, and Dinky wondered about the many days they had spent together, growing up and living united as sisters in their tiny little childhood house.
"Look at you!" the rusty scarlet-maned pony purred as she took her niece's face in her hooves. "I haven't seen you since you were a little foal. You're so big now." The strong scent of perfume invaded Dinky's senses and made her company almost unbearable. The heavy scent was detectable from across the room and even worse up close. Through the horrid haze of the perfume, Dinky could faintly smell the distinct scent of alcohol brushed on her aunt's lips and in her breath.
"Thanks, Aunt Ski." Dinky winced, and was reminded of Ski's queer obsession with the color red as she gazed deep into the maroon-colored contacts worn by the older mare. They were a mesmerizing shade of deep red that seemed to fade on and on. If it wasn't rather rude, Dinky would have been hypnotized by her aunt's eyes the entire weekend. Her gaze flittered to the long red hoop earrings that shone in the light worn by the owner of the strange crimson eyes.
Ski let go of her face, leaving her heavy scent to stay behind and linger through Dinky's nerves. "My husband is out buying more red dye. He should be back in, oh, ten minutes?"
Poor guy, Dinky thought silently as her eyes traced over the curved, bent shape of Ski's glossy lips, stained bright red thanks to her lipstick.
Frosty Dew wrapped her quivering arms around Dinky's. The unicorn felt terribly uneasy towards the feeling of her aunt's shuddering body, each second bringing a different jolt down the poor pony's spine.
"I-I-I. I ha-have something f-for y-y-you," her quiet voice fought to sound intelligible as she stammered out her quick sentence.
Dinky half-smiled graciously. "You do..? What is it?"
A small brown package was tucked under the pony's soft wings, concealed by fluffy feathers to keep it warm and safe. When it was handed over to Dinky by shaking hooves, she could feel the warmth radiating from the package from being pressed against fur and feathers.
She smiled contentedly at the sight before tugging on the long, thin and silky ribbon tied around the soft tissue paper enveloping her present.
Gentle and careful hooves spread the tissue paper down to reveal a bronze-coated watch with a beautiful glimmer that highlighted its shine. Dinky's eyes lit up as she watched in awe as a thin handle protected inside the glass case of the watch ticked with each passing second.
"I-It - it m-might need t-to... to be s-set, I don't kn-know if... if th-the time is c-correct," Frosty stammered shyly, an ever-so-slight smile blossoming across her face.
"I love it," Dinky said gratefully, and before she knew it she was pressed against the shaking pony in a hug as she whispered her thanks a million times. It was hard to believe that a pony could possibly be vibrating so much... it was weird.
"Y-You're w-w-welcome," the pony whispered back as they broke away, joyous to find out that Dinky had appreciated her gift. "Wh-where is y-your s-sister...? I.. I have some-something f-for her t-too."
As soon as she finished speaking, a familiar pink unicorn arose from the depths of the kitchen, followed by an ecstatic and excitable Chirpy. "Here I am!"
After embracing every one of her aunts present at the moment, Amethyst was handed two rectangular packages, each wrapped in the same brown tissue paper as Dinky's watch was and tied with a pretty blue ribbon identical to Dinky's.
It was pretty obvious that Amethyst's presents were books due to the familiar, rectangular book-shape each package possessed. Sure enough, as she tore off the wrapping she was pleased to discover two books that she hadn't read yet (which came as a surprise to Dinky as her sister was such an egghead and adored reading.) The delighted pony threw her hooves around her surprised aunt in a blissful hug.
Chirpy squeaked in jealousy, annoyance embedded in her childish tone. "Hey. How come they get stuff? I want something too! I want-"
"Chirpy. Enough of that," Pear Seed snapped, and her young daughter winced slightly, head lowered.
"Sorry Mommy. I just don't understand why they get gifts," she said in a calmer fashion, pointing to Dinky and Amethyst respectively. This might have been the first time Chirpy ever cooperated with the fact that Dinky existed.
"You live in Fillydelphia," Pear Seed sighed, stress escaping her in her clear and tired voice as she rubbed her temples softly with her hooves after sitting down on the plush couch. "You see them everyday... Frosty hasn't seen Aunt Derpy or your cousins in years."
"And?"
"And... and so they get gifts," Pear Seed growled frustratedly, and Chirpy simply backed down and didn't speak a word. However, her sour expression remained as she ceased to become the center of attention as she usually was, and she poked at the ground in front of her in an angry sense of mind.
The violet-maned pony's strange, scratchy voice cut the air and sent a chill through everypony's fur. "So sorry to hear you guys couldn't make it here yesterday," she rasped, before bursting out into a fit of endless laughter for some strange reason. The cackling lasted a good five seconds before she gasped for breath, coughing and wheezing as she stumbled in her crazy way of speaking and laughing. The pony cleared her throat, willing the concerned ponies around her to relax slightly.
Dinky was forcibly reminded of her aunt Flutter's condition where she would randomly burst into a serious fit of maniacal laughter - even when she didn't intend to - she just couldn't control it. Nightmares plagued Dinky's mind when she was little, each one revolving around that ominous outburst of strange hilarity. Sometimes she would just be standing in darkness with her aunt's insane cackling echoed through her quivering, frightened mind, eyes shut tight in fear.
She was snapped back to reality at the sound of her sister's soothing, calm voice. "I'm sorry too."
"Yes, well," Flutter hissed between unintended, anxious giggles, "It's a real shame you couldn't be here. Carrot Top and her husband Written Script were in town yesterday. Just left last night, actually-" before she could finish she was overtaken by another long period of time intoxicated by psychotic screeches of laughter.
When Flutter managed to control her actions, she breathed deeply, wheezing and growling to herself whilst staring at a random point in the room nopony but her could envision.
Dinky could almost feel the guilt gnawing at Amethyst's stomach.
"Too bad we missed them," their mother said tentatively while deep in thought, pondering over their old friend.
"They told us to tell you hi," Ski murmured in her naturally loud voice.
After a moment of awkward silence, their mother spoke. "I wonder if..."
She was cut off at the sound of the door being thrown open and the screech of the outside wind howling down the lonely roads before it was soon cut off as the door shut behind the pony responsible for opening it.
The stallion before them, fur as white as the fluffy clouds concealed by the cerulean sky, was carrying a small brown bag in his mouth. He blinked as if to greet the ponies he saw everyday, and as he crossed the room to hand Ski the paper bag he noticed the company standing amongst the hoard of familiar ponies he knew.
"Hi, Uncle Icy Drop," Chirpy squeaked loudly as soon as he smiled in their direction.
"Hello girls," he said in his usual nervous, shaky voice, until he noticed his wife was halfway through the task of opening her paper bag. "Uh...!" he cried, suddenly tense.
"There's only two bottles of dye," Ski growled lowly, demon crimson eyes snaking up to his startled and frightened expression. "I asked for three."
"I'm sorry..." he murmured, fear creeping up on him like a lion preying on a gazelle. He gulped, scratching the nape of his neck nervously before he retained eye contact with the frustrated pony before him. "They... they were almost out. All they had were two bottles and..."
"And?" Dinky could feel the tension rumble through her throat.
"A-and..." the poor stallion stammered, sounding more than a bit like Frosty at the moment. "And... you're going to have to do with two for now," he finished bravely, his posture straightening at the release of his words.
Ski simply raised an eyebrow and scoffed before leaving the room without another word, obviously rather offended. Her husband was left to pretend their encounter never happened and start making conversation with his company from out-of-town.
"Is there anything we can get you?" Flutter snorted, laughter falling out of her mouth as she struggled to keep it back in. She managed to fight back and her driven attempts ended up in a sound that reminded Dinky of something along the lines of choking.
"No thank you," their mother whispered quietly, neck twisting to look around the room in hopes of finding her sister Pear Seed, who had disappeared subtly.
"No thanks," Amethyst chuckled awkwardly after clearing her throat.
Dinky's head reeled. She wasn't even paying attention to the conversation, but the words flew through her tired mind as she stared off into space, ready to doze off into a trance if possible. She was so amazingly tired and her whole body ached; she felt as if every passing second demanded another generous amount of energy given at her expense.
"Dinky?"
"Hm...?" She blinked, dizziness reaching the topmost peak of her brain as everything swam before her eyes. A yawn escaped her lips and she shook her head rapidly to clear everything before offering a sheepish, weak half-smile. "Yeah. No, I'm good. Thank you. I think... uh, I just need to lie down for a few minutes."
Before she knew it, she had crashed the minute her head hit the lumpy pillow of the guest room's crude twin bed.
Pulsing adrenaline filled Dinky's body as she trampled through the thick forest haze and deep undergrowth. What was she even running from? She didn't know for sure, but she didn't want to stick around and find out - the only thing on her mind was the basic primitive instinct she possessed - and that was to try as hard as she could to save herself.
Her hooves shot like lightning into the dust, cracking over twigs, speeding through and shaking the brush of tropical jungle leaves and flowers that shriveled in the deep dark light. Her pounding head was filled with the shrill growls of fury elicited from the heart of her enemy chasing her - she could hear its heavy feet stomping on the ground over and over with a thump that shook everything below her each time it dashed forward in an effort to reach the terrified equine.
Dinky gasped for breath as sweat dripped down her chin. She didn't dare take a short look behind her shoulder for fear of losing it in discovery of what the creature may be. She heard the sound of hooves beside her, and as she galloped with all her strength and might through the thick layers of the rainforest she let fear nearly consume her before she decided to glance over to her right.
The light, sleek shape forming Rumble's body caught her eye before she recognized him. He wasn't chasing her; no he was dashing right by her side, looking as equally terrified as his confused unicorn companion. He didn't even look at her; his dilated, glowing violet eyes pierced into the path ahead of him, mapping out a plan of what his next quick move would be. Another hiss of the monster behind the two made Dinky's heart leap and she didn't even notice as a scream escaped her throat. It wasn't heard by anything through the sound of the beast roaring and grumbling right behind them.
She could feel the creature's hot breath on her neck - he was on her tail. The deathly suspense could have killed her - the daring moment drove her emotions insane as fear covered her like sticky tree sap from the dripping pines above her.
Before they even knew it they were halting to avoid dangling off a steep cliff that descended into darkness. Dinky whined in terror as she whipped around to face the snarling beast standing its ground only a few feet away from the shaking ponies.
The massive feline possessed a thick layer of shaggy, gleaming orange fur that clung to its bulky shape. Dinky's heavy and loud breathing increased in speed as she eyed the creature over - massive, muscular shoulder blades leading to the creature's powerful legs, thick and sharp curved claws looming out of the depths of its huge front paws, equally menacing teeth poking out of the threatening cat's blood-stained mouth, jet-black waving stripes that could have hypnotized Dinky if she wasn't so fear-stricken.
The panicking unicorn pressed herself against Rumble's quivering pelt and even the soft, feathery touch of his wings didn't comfort her one bit. She felt like she was staring directly into Death's terrifying eyes.
She didn't want to die.
Rumble whimpered and his hooves scraped the earth as the giant feline loomed over the pair, inching closer ever-so-slightly as if to taunt them a minute before they died. Dinky glanced back into the shadowy trench behind her, shivers breaking down her spine. The two backed up as close as they could get before they had edged off the cliff.
But Rumble wasn't afraid.
In an instant he had abandoned Dinky and stepped out bravely in front of the monstrous tiger, deep eyes pinned on the fierce cat's yellow glare. The cat whipped its tail behind it, letting a snarl escape its curled lips in aggression.
Rumble glared right back at it, his gaze almost nearly as intimidating, boldness and brashness emanating from his brave heart's depths.
He muttered a single phrase, but didn't turn his head to make eye contact with Dinky. "I'll buy you time... Go, Dinky!"
"What?" she whimpered, tears emerging from her nervous yellow eyes.
Anxiety was building in her weak heart, tears clouded her vision.
No, no, no. She couldn't let this happen.
"Dinky!" Rumble snapped fiercely to remind her that time was wearing thin.
She sniveled, standing in shock for a brief moment. Then she spoke. "Rumble! I can't let you -"
"Get out of here!" he hissed sharply, and the sudden coolness of the moment drove the distressed unicorn to obey.
Reluctantly, the pony swallowed hard before she began to set off with one last look at the heroic pegasus. His eyes were fixed on the tiger's gleaming gaze of terror. His feathers were spread to make himself look bigger, wings bent and broken, covered with scars that proved him incapable of flight due to damage.
"I - Rumble!" Dinky cried, not having the courage to leave her friend.
She didn't get a response. The next few seconds were blurry and constricted: they consisted of the horrid sight of the terrible monster lunging at her best friend, the sound of his shrill screams of terror piercing the air as long, curved claws awaited him, and the horror that filled Dinky's head as she was forced to watch in shock and devastation.
Rumble's cries for help tangled with the wild growls and hisses coming from the striped predator as it tore into him. Pained wails of terror jerked Dinky's heart as all she could see was nothing but red, the worst color in the world, the dreadful color a pegasus' blood possessed - and she stood watching the hideous creature tear apart her hopeless best friend.
Anger heated the blood in her veins, the light of battle glimmered in her eyes. A thirst for revenge nearly overwhelmed her at the moment. She couldn't even begin to describe how torn apart she felt right then, despite the tiger not having laid a claw on her-- yet.
In a fit of rage she hurled herself at the manipulative beast, strong hooves striking the tiger with all her might in the ribcage and dealing powerful consecutive blows to the jaw. An animalistic behavior rose to meet her, and she spat angrily at the fearful feline.
The tiger had no time for her nonsense. In a moment she was lying on the ground below the looming predator, not far from the injured Rumble she had once known, his dying wails ringing through her ears as pain fell through her shoulders and back.
She was left to cry out through her stress and tortured state of mind, hating herself miserably for failing to protect her courageous friend.
Is... Is this how it all ends?
Dinky's head shot off the hard wooden panels, shrunken yellow pupils flittering open to eye her surroundings. She was on the floor of the guest room of her aunts' house, lying like the stupid lump she was on the cold wooden floor, fur drenched with sweat as it had been the last time she fell asleep. She must have fallen off the bed and not realized it, she concluded as she shook her head to clear everything.
It was all a nightmare... again.
The pony whimpered as she tried desperately to calm herself down and not break out into a babyish fit of tears. Holding her knees, she rocked back and forth slowly as she tried to register what the heck happened.
Why did she even have these strange dreams all of a sudden - why did they have to include Rumble, the one pony she didn't want to think about at the moment?
Even if she recognized the nightmare as fake, she was still driven with the terror that surged through her body at the memories of Rumble's dream-death - and it devastated her. It was funny how such a made-up situation could drive a pony to tears - even knowing that fact didn't make her feel any better. It felt so amazingly real.
The only thing she wanted at the moment was for Rumble to be right there next to her, calming her, holding her in his arms and whispered comforting words into her ear. The pony shivered and wailed into her hooves.
She felt so awfully homesick at that moment that the first thing she could think of was to go on a full search for her phone...
Which she then remembered she left at the motel.
She mentally smacked herself. Genius! She couldn't even casually say hi to Rumble and pretend like nothing was wrong. Dinky couldn't reach the pony she so desperately wanted to see - to hear, or at least listen to the soothing sound of his calm voice and know that he was alive and well.
She was never going to make it out of this trip alive.
The poor pony whimpered and pathetically sniffled as her rocking slowed. The faint sound of hushed voices caught her attention, and she ceased her quiet whining to herself to be able to eavesdrop by crawling across the room silently to press her head to the door.
Dinky couldn't quite make out the exact words the voices were muttering, but she did appreciate the fact that they almost seemed to lift her recent troubles off her mind. Almost. She shivered yet again at the disgusting memories her dreams captured. Through her worries she could, however, barely catch a few words emanating from the ponies outside her door's adamant-sounding conversation.
"She's not like..."
"....going to have to put up with it for now..."
"...doesn't belong here!"
"Pear Seed... I really don't want to talk about this right now."
"She's not... her eyes... I don't think Chirpy and Dipsy should be around... she's crazy!"
Dinky growled in disgust. Excuse me? Were her so-called "loving" aunts talking about her mother behind her back?
Her blood boiled, and it took every ounce of energy of hers to not barge through the door, march down the hall and tackle the two traitors in her annoying extended family. Crazy? Was that how Pear Seed thought? She wanted to teach that blonde maniac who was really crazy. She gritted her teeth as the thoughts of strangling the pony who dared to even think about questioning her family ran through her reeling mind.
The pony sighed in an attempt to relax as she heard the faint noise of a baby wailing - probably Dipsy, her youngest cousin - and the sound of the two ponies trotting away, hooves descending into the deep distance of the creepy old house. There was no use in being overly irritable, as her mother had told her once. She let herself slide against the door, her back pressed firmly against it, and slunk down to the cold hard floor.
It was just a natural instinct of hers to get defensive at the sound of someone talking down about the ones she loved. That was how she felt with Rumble, and how she so desperately tried to save him but ultimately failed. She didn't know why, but her heart churned with a sudden feeling that felt weird. She got this strange and uneasy thought that no matter what, she wasn't going to be able to protect him some day.. and it scared her. All she wanted was for her best friend whom she cared so deeply about to be alive and well. Anything else was unimaginable. Whether she felt a strong platonic bond or a deep romantic passion for him was unclear at the moment, but a thought sank into her head.
No matter what, as long as she could, she would try her absolute best to protect him, to be there by his side, whenever he needed her for the rest of her life if it was in her control.
She had already accepted the fact that she would never deserve him. Why would she, anyway? She was selfish, a coward, neglecting... Dinky felt utterly disgusted in herself at times. But she would try her best anyway to always be there for him and love him with whatever strength she could - as a friend or otherwise.
Dinky narrowed her eyes as she felt her stomach growl - she was absolutely famished, and if she tried hard she could remember her sister saying something about breakfast her aunts prepared that she probably missed out on during her worthless nap.
It was worth a try, anyway.
All thoughts aside, the pony crept out of the creaky door into the shadows that awaited her to meet her family while they were awake and in one place.