You put your hoof down as you released the knob of the door and gently spun around into the hallway of your home. Summer removed her hooves from your mane and glided off of your back and landed a bit down the hall, just as Mom came hovering down the stairs which was to your left with an empty bowl in her hooves. "Hey Sweeties," your mother said to you and your little sister as she landed at the bottom of the steps and folded her wings to her sides. "Rainbow Dash left already? I actually hoped she would stay for dinner, I would have liked to know her better."
You chuckled lightly at how you unknowingly had asked Rainbow Dash the very thing your Mom would've wanted to ask as well, "Hehe, well, I did ask if she wanted but she declined."
Your mother's ears drooped a bit sideways, "Oh... that's to bad." She flicked her ears up again, "Oh well, maybe she'll want to join us next time when she's around." Your mother got her signature smile back as she ruffled her feathers and took a left and turned into the hallway down towards the kitchen.
Summer pranced after your mother, trying to keep pace with her shorter legs, "Mommy, is Gloom going to be okay?"
She asked the question you had been having ever since the clubhouse where Gloom started to feel her tummy ache. Wanting to know the answer eagerly yourself, you trotted lightly towards your mother and Summer as the latter stopped in her tracks. Your Mom looked to her right and down to the little filly that stopped next to her, Summer's tail flicking in curiosity with her ears down in slight fear of the answer. Her fears where quickly to be pushed aside, however, as your mother smiled warmly at her and craned her neck down to your sister and nuzzled her cheek affectionately, "Don't you worry sweetie. Gloomy is going to be fine." Summer's ears flicked up again and she pushed her head into her mother's nuzzle.
You halted next to your mother as she brought her head back up, "Mom?"
Your mother glanced over her shoulder and looked at you with her head sideways, "Yes, Static?"
"Do you know why she has tummy ache?" you asked as you drooped your ears to the side of your head, wanting to know if you could do anything to help her yourself the next time she would have tummy ache.
"I cannot say for certain right now, but I think it might be because of nervousness." Your mother turned her head back around and walked further into the kitchen with your sister keeping pace next to her and you following close behind.
Entering the kitchen, you noticed there was a pan on the small cooking pits with some left-over soup in it. Further there were several vegetables put down in an orderly fashion over the kitchen counter with a sharp cutting knife laying close by, which upon entering, your Mom swiftly put further onto the counter and away from the edge of it where it lay a bit close to, most likely to keep your little sister at a distant from it. Your mother put the empty bowl onto one of the empty cooking pits. She grabbed a ladle which was laying next to the pan and on a piece of cloth against getting the soup all over the counter. She picked it up and tilted it a bit sideways before lowering it into the pan and taking scoop of soup out of it.
You looked down as you heard Summer put her hooves on the edge of the kitchen counter, her muzzle just able to get above the edge. "What did you make Mommy?" Summer asked as she looked over all the different food that was laying about before noticing the pan your mother was stirring in. She wagged her tail and looked up to you as you came standing behind her, "Eep!" making her almost fall backwards as she craned her head to much back and swayed her hooves in a failed attempt to grab the edge of the kitchen. You swiftly held her with your left hoof and pushed her gently back to how she was standing before. "Thanks big brother." she said with a small embarrassed blush.
You chuckled at her and glanced down to meet her eyes, "You know I'm always there to catch you or your sister, Summy," you said while giving her a quick nuzzle on her mane. Summer smiled broadly at you and gave your right fore leg a quick nuzzle before turning her muzzle to her right where your mother was pouring some of the soup into the empty bowl.
"But what have you made for Gloom, Mommy?" Summer asked again in curiosity. Your mother turned to you and Summer before brining the ladle in front of your sister's muzzle. Summer glanced it over skeptically before sniffing the contents and made a small 'hum' with her mouth closed. Opening her muzzle slightly, she put her lips on the side of the ladle which your mother gently tilted in to Summer's direction, making her able to taste the soup that was in it. Sipping a bit of the soup, she swallowed it and licked her lips, "Hhmm! It tastes very good!" Summer said with a smile as she looked up to your mother. "Can I have some too?"
Your mother chuckled lightly, "I figured you would ask." She turned her muzzle to you as you stood beside her, "Static, do you also want some?" You politely shook your head, knowing that you'll likely have dinner in the next hour or so. Your mother smiled gently and shrugged with her wings, "Suit yourself. You don't know what you are missing." She stood up onto her hind legs and grabbed a clean bowl out of one of the cabinets that were hanging above the counter. Putting the bowl down onto one of the free cooking pits your mother closed the cabinet and stood back on all four. "Static?" your mother called as she turned her muzzle to face you.
"Yeah? What is it Mom?" you asked while Summer let go of the counter and went to go to the left of the kitchen.
Your mother filled the empty bowl she brought down with her from the stairs and held it in one hoof in front of you. "Would you please give this to your little sister upstairs? She might be sleeping, though. If she is, just put it on her nightstand where also her spoon should be, I'll go check on her later if she wants to eat something."
Reaching out with your left hoof, you took the bowl from your mother, "Of course." Your mother smiled in gratitude as she went to fill the clean bowl with soup as well.
In curiosity, you brought the bowl up to your muzzle and sniffed the soup. You 'hummed' as you smelled the fresh ingredients of tomato, some herbs, and a mix of well combined spices, actively making your tastebuds tingle. Lowering the bowl again, you turned to your left with the bowl in hoof and went to walk out of the kitchen. Summer walked past you and back to your mother with a bit to big of a spoon in her mouth, making her cheeks look like a squirrel that was carrying nuts, earning a chuckle from your mother behind you at the sight of it, "Summer, sweetie, that's a to big of a spoon to eat soup with." Summer tried to respond but only gibberish came out of her thanks to the large spoon she refused to carry in her hooves.
You rolled your eyes at your sister's action and made way to the staircase and ascended it until you were on the first floor. Taking a right, you turned into the small corridor to your sisters' room. You stopped in front of your own door first, putting the bowl carefully onto the floor, you craned your neck to your back and loosened the buckle of your saddle bags. With the bags now loosened, you bended your hind legs and wiggled your flank from side to side, making the bag slide off of your back and onto the cloudy floor. However, you hissed silently as it managed to rub slightly over a burn spot which was below your left cutie mark, more irritating you than actually hurting.
You sighed as the irritation faded away. You were also slightly relieved that you didn't have to put any of the 'jelly' onto your butt. Picking up the bowl with your left hoof, you made your way further down the hallway, passing a small cabinet in the middle of the hall with a few pictures on it of you, your sisters, and your parents, with above it a painting of Canterlot Mountain. Passing it by, you saw the door to your parents room at the very end of the hall swung open inwards, letting in fresh air as you could see that the window in their room was also open, the curtains swaying with small breezes of wind.
You glanced to the door which was left of your parents', the door was opened, but only on a small bit, enough for you to see that the room behind it was dark. Walking up to it, you softly pushed it further open. "Gloomy, are you awake?" you asked silently before going further.
You waited for a bit but got no response. Deciding that your little sister would likely be sleeping, you tip-hooved into the room as silently as you could. As you got into the room, your eyes adjusted to the darker surrounding, showing you the room's contents. The room was verily large, makes sense since there are two ponies sleeping here. There was one bed placed against the wall on either side of the room, on the right side you had Summer's bed, and on the left, where you could hear light breathing come from, was Gloom's bed. Either bed had its own nightstand next to it with small items on it. Gloom's nightstand had two small plushes standing on it, one was a small phoenix while the other was an slightly bigger owl. You knew that Gloom had three plushes however, so it was likely she was sleeping with the one missing. Next to the two plushes was a small lamp with underneath it a fillet and a spoon, likely the one that your mother mentioned.
Silently and carefully you moved to the nightstand, making sure as to not make any noise for your sister. You gently placed the bowl next to the spoon and placed your hoof back onto the ground. However, you did not feel the cloud, you felt something else, something soft. Looking down and lifting your left hoof up, you saw a small pegasus pony plush laying on the ground. "She must have dropped it in her sleep." Picking up the plush with your hoof, you took a look at it and, just like the other times you had seen the plush, you felt a smile grow on your muzzle. For whatever reason Gloom wanted this plush, you always felt happy she did. The plush looked very much like yourself in miniature form.
Glancing to your left, you saw Gloom laying soundly asleep, her hooves aimlessly moving over the cover as if they searched for something. Bringing the plush to the bed, you gently placed it by her hooves. As soon as her hooves touched it, she got a small smile and grabbed the plush with both her hooves and pulled it against her chest. She snuggled with it and breathed happily. You couldn't help it but smile fondly at seeing her so content. You lifted your hoof and brushed a bit of her untied mane out of her face and over her ear. Lowering your muzzle to your sister's, you gently nuzzled her cheek which earned a small 'hum' from her and a brief ear flick. Raising your head back up, you started to walk away and leave your little sister to her rest, "Get well soon Gloomy. Don't scare your brother like that again."
You thought you could hear her 'hum' something but was interrupted as your mother walked silently into the room, "I take it your little sister is sleeping soundly?"
You turned your muzzle to your mother, seeing her standing in the door opening with her ears slightly lowered. "Yeah. I think it is for the best to let her sleep, she seems to be fine besides being a bit tuckered out."
Your mother nodded with a saddened expression, "I think so too. Come, Summer is waiting downstairs and your father should be home any minute now." She turned around on the spot, briefly leaving you alone with Gloom. You spared her one last look of concern before silently walking out of the room yourself, leaving your sister to her dreams.
Stepping out of the room, you gently pulled to door closed until there was a small gap left. Putting your hoof back down, you breathed outward in disappointment of yourself. "Something bothering you, sweetie?" your mother asked as she looked at you with her right hoof raised a bit from the ground. Your ears drooped down as you looked away, not really knowing how you could explain the helpless feeling you had regarding your little sister. "...You're feeling bad because you can't do anything to help her, don't you?"
Your ears flicked straight up as you glanced towards your mother with surprise, "H-how do you know...?"
Your mother got a warm smile on her muzzle as she flicked her tail while her ears drooped halfway down, "Because I know that look that shows on your muzzle every time you can't do anything to help your sisters... You have it ever since you helped bottle feeding them." You looked away again. "Static... look at me." You raised your head again to meet your mother's eyes as she stepped closer. "You're really just like your Dad, you know that?"
You gave a weak reply, "You say that more."
"And you know why?" she asked as she brought her hoof around your neck and hugged you closely. "Because it is true." you mother said with a gentle and soothing voice. "Did you think your father was never concerned about you or your sisters? He had, and still has from time to time, that same expression as yours. That expression of being powerless to help his foals. The inability to do something... anything at all, but wait. You share that same look."
You lay your chin on your mother's shoulder, leaning in to her as the feeling of being powerless surfaced, "Is it so obvious?"
"Don't feel bad about it. Remember the last time you were feeling unwell for a couple of days?" You gave a gentle nod as you kept your chin resting beside her neck. "Your father was very concerned about you, more so than I was. Since you are very rarely ill, let alone ill for more than two days, it was noticeable on his muzzle every day. That expression... the utter concern for his foal... for you. He even went out of bed one time during the night, purely to check on you, if he could do anything to help you, even when he clearly knew you were sleeping and couldn't do anything, he still did so."
You gave a weak chuckle, "I never knew he could be so emotional and caring."
Your mother nuzzled your cheek in return, "You have no idea. Sure, he acts all though and tries to lighten up the mood whenever he can. But deep down? Deep down he's one of the most caring, gentlest and caring stallions you'll ever get to know. That is the very reason why I married him."
You pulled your head back to look into her eyes. Your mother held her hoof to your shoulder before putting it gently back down. "Mom, why are you telling me this now?"
Your mother sighed with her eyes closed, "Because, after all that has happened today, as well as what you're going through, I think it is indeed time I talk to you together with your father about maturing. After what I've seen today, it is clear to me that you're reaching the point where you'll start making your own decisions, deciding the road you want to take." Your mother sniffed lightly as you noticed, just like this morning, that faint glimmer in her eye. She quickly brushed her hoof over it and turned around, "Come. Your little sister will be wondering why we are staying away for so long."
You followed in step, but noticed the uneasiness and nervousness she was trying to hide; her wings were shifting slightly and were not resting silently against her sides. Her right ear was halfway down as well, sometimes flicking as she started to go downstairs. "Mom... What is worrying you so much...?"
You stopped at the top of the stairs as your mother was already downstairs, she stood there for a second or two, just looking to the door. Going down the steps yourself, you saw her raising her right hoof to her chest and took in a deep breath. You waited on the middle of the staircase as she slowly let out her held in breath. To your slight confusion, her features seemed to visibly relax, "You coming, Static?" she asked as she turned her muzzle around to look at you, her signature smile back as if it never left.
You gave a hesitant nod, your mother smiling like everything was fine as always. You stepped down into the hallway, following your mother back into the kitchen just when Summer stood on her hind legs and put an empty bowl on the counter. Your little sister looked to you and your mother as the both of you came walking into the kitchen, "Hey Mom, hey big brother." She walked up to the both of you, her tail wagging in excitement, "Is Gloom feeling better?" she asked with hope and joy, clearly hoping that her twin would be okay after resting a bit and eating some warm soup.
"Your sister is sleeping, sweetie. Best if you let her rest. We'll see how she's doing tomorrow."
Summer's ears drooped sideways and her tail hung down, "Aawww... She'll be better tomorrow, right?"
"We can only wait and see, Summy," your mother said as she nuzzled your little sister affectionately. "Now, will you both help me prepare dinner until your father gets home?" You nodded together with Summer, "Alright then, lets get started. Summer, if you want to place the dishes onto the table, then you can help me prepare the vegetables Static."
Summer went to her assigned duty as you started to help your mother with preparing the ingredients. All the while, your thoughts stayed with your little sister upstairs, as well at your mother. But at the same time, a certain rainbow mare was never far from your thoughts.