//------------------------------//
// The Collapse of a Family 
// Story: The Story of a Powerful Thief 
// by TaylorTheFailure 
//------------------------------//

	My name is Blue Wind, but most ponies just call me Blue. I live in Ponyville, with my mom, dad and brother in a house on the outskirts of town. We are financially stable and have a pretty nice life. My dad works as a baker, making pastries and other delicious treats for the village, while my mother stays at home and takes care of my brother and I.

Our lives are great, except for one thing. Mom and Dad often get into heated conversations. They usually argue about stupid things, like who ate the late piece of cake. But it's been gradually getting more and more intense recently, and the strain is obvious on both of our parents. So, whenever the two fight, me and my brother, Rough Rider, venture outside and play games like tag, since we're only young colts. 

Rider is a pegasus colt like me, and he's too young to fly. He has light gray fur, dark black hair, and big bright green eyes. His personality is that of a natural born leader: humble, kind, selfless and strong-willed. He's my older brother by only a couple days, and he is always good to me. 

Similarly to Rider, I'm also a pegasus. That's about the only thing we have in common though. I have white fur, soft and ruffled light blue hair, along with light blue eyes. I'm completely different than him personality wise as well, because I'm a very introverted colt, with fear of social situations and other ponies. And since I'm always too frightened to play with other foals, everything I do is with him. Rider is my best and only friend.

Today, he and I went outside after another argument between our parents manifested itself in the house. We departed our home, discussing what to play. We decided that since we play tag almost every other day, we'd change it up by playing hide and seek. 

Rider was nice enough to offer to count first. Once he closed his eyes, I began looking around for a good place to hide. Fortunately, it only took a few seconds before I spotted the perfect spot: a shaded area behind our large oak tree in the front yard. I ran over to the tree's rear and crouched. 

I almost broke out giggling, but I was quickly halted as Rider's voice grew in volume, "4...3...2...1...Here I come." I could feel my heartbeat gradually pick up speed, as if I was hiding from some kind of monster. A few minutes passed before I could hear sounds that seemed to be getting louder and louder with each one. When they seemed to be coming from only a couple feet away, on the other side of the tree, I froze. I awaited the sound, staring right at the edge of the tree where the noises' trail lead. And then, Rider's head popped out.

"Ha, found you! It's your turn to count!" he said, with an enormous grin on his face.

"Fine" I said, breathing in a heavy cloud of air.

I put my head on the tree and closed my eyes. I began, "20...19...18..." and so on, until the sound of Rider's hoof steps began to drift off. I continued counting while I thought about where he might go. I wonder if he'd hide behind the tree like I did. No, that'd be too obvious. What if he's going behind the house? Or, what if he's going to hide in one of our bushes?

"7...6...uh, 5..." I continued. But then, a large commotion erupted from the front door of our house. I stopped counting and just watched as Dad ran out of the house with Mom following him. I've never seen them get this upset! They both were absolutely infuriated, rambling everything they were saying.

I couldn't understand anything they uttered because each one drowned out the other with their yelling. The only thing I could hear was the last thing said. Dad stopped, raised his hoof at Mom and said "We're done." Then, he flew off into the blue sky without Mom coming after him. She just stood at the front of the house, watching Dad fly off into the clouds.

I don't know what they were arguing about, but Mom looked devastated. She broke down into tears at the front of the house. I couldn't just stand there and watch, so I went over to comfort her. When she saw me, all she said was "I love you" as she held me close. A few moments passed before Rider came from his hiding spot. When he saw Mom, he rushed over and tried to be as reassuring as ever.

We stayed next to Mom, staring into the sky as she agonizingly uttered, "It's just us now".

I don't know what she meant by that. I mean, sure, Dad flew off, but he probably just had to blow off some steam. He'll be back for dinner.

Mom eventually stopped crying. And when she did, she took a deep breath, kissed both me and Rider on our foreheads, and then slowly walked inside without saying anything else.

That night was a strange one. We had dinner, as usual: hay-sandwiches with apples. It was me and Rider's favorite meal. But, nobody spoke a single word. I occasionally took breaks from my food and looked around the table. The place that my eyes kept getting stuck on was Dad's empty dining chair. It was really weird not having him here. I eventually couldn't take it, so I broke the silence of the house when I asked Mom, "When is Dad coming back?"

She put down her sandwich, took a deep breath and looked at me with a face of complete sincerity. "Dad's not coming back," she said, obviously trying to hold back tears.

"He's not coming back today, or..."

"He's NEVER coming back!" she interrupted, a mixture of pain and rage on her face. She only kept her look for a moment before she stormed off from the dinner table and into her room, slamming the door behind her.