//------------------------------// // Broken // Story: If You Hear Me, Let Me Know // by SolidFire //------------------------------// Broken Steel stared at what was left of his old mannequin. He didn't have the energy or desire to hit it. He just stared at it. It was as if the answers he sought somehow resided within the empty plastic shell. He heaved a sigh as his stomach let out a low rumble. He pushed his door open and slowly made his way to the kitchen. He made himself a quick snack and sat at the counter. His mind was empty as he slowly munched on his meal. It seemed he was doing everything slowly and deliberately ever since the incident with Autumn. After finishing his meal, Steel put his plate in the sink. He'd deal with it in the morning. Spitfire woke to the sound of dishes and silverware clinking in the kitchen. She got up to go check on Steel, but felt a hoof on her shoulder. "Let him eat, he's not doing anything wrong," Rainbow said with a grunt. "I know, I just worry about him. He's been going through such a rough time the last few days. I just want to make sure he's alright," Spitfire replied. "He'll be fine, Spitfire. Now come on back to bed. It's getting cold already." "Rainbow..." "Spitfire, he's not a foal anymore. He's a growing young pony. He just needs to eat more than he used to. Give him a little space, he'll be fine." Spitfire hesitated. She knew when something was wrong, and right now something definitely felt wrong. She went against her better judgement and climbed back into bed with Rainbow. "There we go, that's a good Spitty." "Shut up and go to sleep, Rainbow." "You don't have to tell me twice." Rainbow's voice began to fade as she drifted off to sleep. Sleep would not take Spitfire so easily. She managed to find a comfortable position in her wife's embrace, but her worry was too much for her to take. She wasn't a believer in any of the many religions that had consumed the lives of many Equestrian ponies, but at that moment she prayed to whatever god or goddess that would listen that everything would be alright. After eating, Steel made his way to the bathroom. When he was washing his hooves, something caught his eye. He took a long look at the razor that sat next to his toothbrush. He had begun getting added facial hair earlier than most of his classmates, and thus needed to start shaving it off earlier. He looked in the mirror and noticed that he didn't have to shave at the moment, but for some reason he still felt drawn to the razor on the counter. He picked it up in his teeth and carried it with him to his room. He threw it down on the floor and began to take it apart. He still wasn't sure what caused his sudden fascination with the damn thing, but he continued all the same. It turned out to be a much more difficult task than he had initially expected, but after roughly ten minutes Steel had managed to take the whole thing apart. He gazed at the three blades that were laying on the floor of his room. Steel still didn't understand his fascination, but for some reason he felt the need to pick one of the blades up in his mouth. After doing so, he found himself equally fascinated with his right foreleg. When he finally figured out what had been going on on his head, he dropped the blade and shot to his bed. He wasn't going to do that...he couldn't. That was what emo ponies did to get attention, not a solution to his problems. Then again... Spitfire finally still couldn't shake the feeling she had that something was wrong she shifted to get up again, eliciting a groan from Rainbow. "Can't you just stay in bed?" "Rainbow, something isn't right. I know when something is off, and right now something is off." "Sheesh, you're such a worrier. He's fine, he's just a growing colt." "You say that as if that's supposed to comfort me." "It should." "He's been through so much in the last few days, and most of it's our fault. He's obviously not handling it well, and—" "Spitfire, you need to relax. He just feels guilty over what happened with Autumn. He probably just wanted some comfort food." "I just get the feeling that there's more to it than that." "Spitfire—" Rainbow was cut off by the sound of laughter from below her. Their was no hint of joy or even humor from the laughter. It sounded... dark. Rainbow and Spitfire exchanged worried glances as the laughter grew more and more intense. "So, maybe you should go check on him." "Uh-uh, now it's a WE." "Dammit." Rainbow dragged herself out of bed. She and Spitfire then proceeded to make their way to Steel's room. Spitfire opened the door. She was about to ask Steel what was going on, but the horrific scene before her took away her words before she could say them. Steel got out of his bed and walked back over to the pieces of razor that lay on the floor of his room. He picked up one of the blades and looked back down at his foreleg. He nodded to himself, deciding that the punishment was fitting of what he had done. Without another thought, he dug the razor blade into his leg and ripped it through several layers of skin. Pain shot through his leg, causing him to wince. But after the pain came something he didn't expect. A warm feeling flooded his body. It was barely noticeable at first, but it quickly grew stronger and stronger with every slice into his skin. Blood poured from the new wounds on Steel's foreleg. He sat back on his haunches. A smile spread across his face. Not a joyful smile, but a sadistic one. He fell onto his back and laughed. He found himself laughing uncontrollably. Before long he was into hysterics. It wasn't until he heard a loud gasp that he realized he had been caught. Rainbow and Spitfire stared in horror at the sight before them. Blood was pouring down Steel's right foreleg, and they could only guess that the wounds came from the bloodied razor blade that lay on the floor next to him. Rainbow was the first to snap out of it and take action. She shot to Steel's side and kicked the razor blade away from him. "Steel, what are you doing?!" she half yelled her question, but worry was evident in her voice. "Giving myself the punishment I deserve," Steel said with a grunt. "Why in Equestria would you do that?!" Spitfire wasn't sure how she managed speech at the moment. "Because nopony else will do it." Steel was very matter-of-fact. "Spitfire, go get something to clean his cuts with," Rainbow said. Spitfire simply nodded and galloped to the bathroom to grab some first aid supplies. "Steel, this isn't going to make what happened go away," Rainbow said. "I know you feel guilty about what you did to Autumn, but digging a razor into your skin is only going to make things worse." "Oh yeah?" Steel asked with a smirk. "Says who?" Rainbow sighed. "Says the mare who loves you more than you'll ever know. Now let's see those cuts." Rainbow took Steel's bleeding leg and and examined the cuts. She moved his fur out of the way and quickly realized they were far too deep to take care of with in home first aid supplies. Ironically, it was just then that Spitfire burst through the door with the first aid kit in her mouth. "Steel, what possessed you to do this?" Rainbow asked. Worry was evident in her voice. Steel shrugged. "I wanted to." He spoke as if he hadn't done anything out of the ordinary. "Spitfire, help me get his leg wrapped. We're going to have to take him to the hospital." Spitfire's jaw dropped (and with it the first aid kit) when Rainbow said that. Steel groaned. "It's just a little bit of blood. I'll be—" "Steel, you won't be fine! I've never seen anypony with cuts this deep!" Rainbow tried not to yell, but she failed... miserably. Steel flinched, but she ignored it. "Come on Spitfire, we need to do what we can to stop his bleeding. And we need to do it now." Spitfire nodded and opened the first aid kit. She pulled out a roll of gauze and quickly began to wrap Steel's leg. He groaned in annoyance. "Spitfire, Rainbow, I'll be fine. I'm just... a little dizzy... that's all..." Steel's voice began to fade as he began to slip into unconsciousness. The rest of the night passed him in a blur. Scootaloo grunted as she woke to a knock at her door. "Not this shit again..." She rolled out of bed and fell into a heap on the floor. Lightning groaned. "Come back to bed. Whatever it is, it can wait." "That's what you said last time," Scootaloo responded as she picked herself up off the floor and made her way to the door. "What are the odds that it's going to happen twice?" Lightning asked. "With my history, they're higher than I would care to calculate." "Uggh. Fine. Just come back to bed when you're done." "If it's not important, I will." Her response wasn't heard. Lightning had already fallen back to sleep. Scootaloo stumbled down the stairs and stood in front of the door. She heard voices outside—voices that she immediately recognized as her parents'. "It's five in the morning. We couldn't possibly have let them have a full night's rest before we break this to them?" That would be Ma, Scootaloo thought to herself. "She deserves to know what's going on, and we shouldn't have to make her wait. You heard what the doctor said." And there's Mom. Scootaloo lifted a hoof to push open the door, but decided to wait a little longer. She felt the unusual desire to eavesdrop on their conversation. "All I'm saying is that it would be nice for Scootaloo if we let her get some sleep before she finds out about her brother being in the hospital." Scootaloo pressed a hoof to her mouth. Before Spitfire could respond to Rainbow, she had opened the door and was standing in front of her parents. "Judging by the look on your face, I'm going to say you heard part of that conversation," Rainbow said. Scootaloo simply nodded in response. "What happened?" Scootaloo asked. The looks on her parents' faces made her heart sink. "I think it would be best if we just showed you," Spitfire said. Scootaloo nodded, and was just about to step outside when she felt Lightning bump into her. "Have I ever told you how loud you mares are when you talk?" he asked. The three mares standing outside gave him a look that could only be interpreted with the words "When this is over, our family will be down one disrespectful runt." Lightning sighed. "It sounds rather urgent. Let's get going." "He's going to be fine. He lost more blood than a pony should, but he didn't hit a vein. At this rate I'll be releasing him into the care of a mental hospital by tomorrow afternoon." Nurse Redheart made every effort to calm her patient's worried sister. "Woah, woah woah woah woah, mental hospital?" Rainbow asked with a raised eyebrow. "That's correct. He obviously needs some help—" "That we can give him ourselves. As his family," Scootaloo interrupted. "Look, I know you don't want to send him away, but this is for the best. It will only be for a few months, and—" "Do you need our consent to send him away?" Spitfire asked. "Well, technically you would be the ones sending him away as his legal guardians, so—" "He's not going anywhere," Rainbow finished. "You ponies always were a stubborn bunch of mules." Nurse Redheart huffed and moved to leave the room. Before exiting, she turned back to the family that sat inside. "When he wakes up, let me know. He should be fine, but I'd like to run some tests to make sure." "You'll be the first," Lightning answered. He put a wing around Scootaloo. "See Scoot? He's going to be fine. He just needs some rest." "The last thing he said to me yesterday was that he was a monster." Scootaloo's voice began to break as tears fell from her eyes. She never broke her gaze from Steel. "I should have seen this coming. I should have stopped him." Yeah, you should have. Some sister you are. "Scootaloo, you can't blame yourself. There's no way you could have seen this coming." Lightning pulled her in closer as he said that. "I shouldn't blame myself... But I can't help but to do exactly that." Scootaloo lowered her head. He's your brother. You're the only one who's even related to him. This one's on you. "Scootaloo, look at me." Lightning tilted Scootaloo's chin with his hoof so she was looking him in the eyes. "This isn't your fault. You didn't do this. Steel did." "But I—" "No buts. Instead of wishing you had done something differently, you need to be the role model he needs right now." "I..." Scootaloo looked back at Steel. She shook her head. "You're right. Thank you." Lightning pulled Scootaloo into him and wrapped her in a hug. "Scoot, I love you. I just want to help you stay on track." Scootaloo relaxed in Lightning's embrace. "I love you too, Lightning." Scootaloo and Lightning brought their lips together in a loving embrace. For a moment, Scootaloo had entirely forgotten where she was and why she was there. But only for a moment. After they parted their kiss, Scootaloo returned her gaze to her brother. She was going to help him through everything that was happening. She was going to be the sister he needed, and she was going to be stronger than she had ever been before. She stood and walked to Steel's bedside. She rested a hoof on his shoulder. "Steel... if you can hear me right now, I want you to know that I'll always be there for you. I'm your big sister, and I'll be damned if I don't start acting like it."