//------------------------------// // Hurricane Clyde // Story: The Muffins Family // by PaintedNovel455 //------------------------------// It was a chilly winter day and three young fillies laid cuddled together. The first had pretty red hair, short bangs covering her eyebrows. Her hide was a grey mist and her eyes a fiery orange. The second had a matte grey hide with violet hair and deep green eyes. And the last one had a light lavender coat and blue hair with golden eyes. The first was Garnet Pie, the second was Jasper Pie, and the last was Amethyst Pie. They called each other by nicknames, Garnet being “Clyde”, Jasper being “Sweetie, and Amethyst being “Amy.” Clyde was very fun to be around, and looked out for her sisters. Jasper was very sweet and often put herself before her sisters. Jasper would share food with them or, take the blame for a something they did wrong. Amy was shy but very smart and many times was able to prove her parents wrong. Clyde spoke, “i-it’s s-so cold.” Sweetie sniffled, having caught a cold this season. “I know, this blanket isn’t big enough for all *sneeze* of us.” Amy rolled her eyes, “if you hadn’t dropped the Sapphire, then they could of bought us a better blanket.” “It’s not my fault, *cough, cough* I’m sick and they don’t feed us enough.” Sweetie said, her eyes had dark circles around them. “But guys! Inkie and Blinkie are coming over!” Clyde cheered. “Really!” The two sister asked. “Papa said-” Clyde began. “Papa is a big fat liar! He said he was going into town to buy me some medicine but, he just brought back for tools for Gem Digging.” Sweetie said, they had despised their parents after Pinkamena showed all the kids in the village how to smile. “We have more pickaxes than food these days.”Amy said, turning her back on her sisters. “Now go to sleep.” Her sisters listened, each closing their eyes and dozing off to sleep in their small bed… Amy awoke in the morning to find her sister's gone, she rolled out of bed and fell to her hooves. Slowly she made her way into the kitchen, she grabbed a shiny green apple and wiped it on her chest briefly before biting into it. Amy quickly finished her apple and went into the front yard. There Clyde and Sweetie were working near a river by the house, however the river was blocked by a thin row of trees. Sweetie was using a shallow pan to sift through dirt and rocks, while Clyde was using a shovel to dig a the edge of the river. Amy trotted over to them, “hey, how come you didn’t wake me up.” Sweetie rubbed her eyes and yawned, “we didn’t want to wake up…” “I hear Blinkie Pie got her cutie mark.” Clyde said, digging the tip into the dirt. “Really? When!” Sweetie asked, dropping the pan into the river. “She got a gold nugget cutie mark, and I think last week.” Clyde explained. “How come Mama never told us, they're our cousins!” Sweetie asked, reaching her hoof over to grab the pan and failing. “Hey, you know how long it takes for News to reach all of Rock Country.” Clyde said, her eyes wandering to the pan in the river, which was now floating away. “Sweetie! Get the pan, Mama’s gonna kill us.” Soon all three of them were grabbing for the pan but it had sailed down the river and to the revines. Sweetie began to cry. “Why am I so careless?” Sweetie said wiping her tears. “I’m going after it.” Clyde said. “Are you crazy it’s just a pan.” “I’m not letting you guys get hurt.” Clyde said and stood in the shallow part of the river. “I’m comin-*cough* -g too.” Sweetie said. “No, we have to cover for Clyde.” Amy said, who had been listening to everything. Sweetie didn’t ponder it long, she nodded as Clyde swam into the deeper parts of the river. Finding small rocks to stand on. Clyde felt the water wrap itself around her and pull her under. Clyde’s arms worked overtime as she churned through the water. A wave smashed into her, making her cough. Water rushed into her nose and she panicked, Clyde failed about uselessly. M-maybe, I could go back. Clyde struggled at the river, she saw something glint in the sun. Her heart raced more because of the strain on her lungs then the excitement of the pan. She smiled at the pan only a few feet away. Clyde felt adrenaline surge through her, rocketing to her heart and bolting her through the water. She never reached the pan, the pan reached her. It smashed in her forehead along with a wave. The crash was like slamming the brakes on a runaway train. Clyde couldn't swim anymore, she didn’t even struggle. She turned to face her sister’s at the river's edge. Her heart sank, it was to far to swim and to far for her sisters to reach her. Another wave came and she was pulled under water, her eyes refused to close. Closing meant defeat. She still tried to pull up to the surface, clutching the pan in her mouth. She saw something else glint in the light. She turned herself to face it, a ruby perhaps? A Dragon Clan lived in the mountains around Rock Country. Pretty much the only reason so many gems were found here. Clyde swam over to it, she picked it up. It was larger than rubies, so it had to be garnet. She beamed, it had to be faith. Faith that she was named after the same gem, she found on her deathbed. Clyde swam over to it, running out of breathe. She didn’t care, she let go off the pan and gripped the garnet close against her chest. Clyde gasped as a blinding flash lit up the water for a second. It was enough to reveal her tail, caught under a rock. Clyde held the gem in one hoof and her tail in another. She pulled at her tail before feeling her whole body float to the surface. “Ahh!” Clyde inhaled and swam to shore. Clyde trotted with the garnet in her hoof. Sweetie wrapped herself around her sister. “We were so worried, when you went underwater-” Amy interrupted her shouting, “YOUR FLANK, LOOK AT YOUR FLANK!” Clyde’s gaze followed Amy and Sweetie’s gaze to her flank. A single garnet gemstone adorned her flank. Clyde squealed ‘I got my cutie mark!’ “Where’s the pan?” Amy asked. “Forget the pan! Let’s go!” Clyde stated and started for the house. They found their parents in the kitchen making dinner. Papa looked at Clyde in disgust, he gasped as he noticed the image on her flank. “Look Mama, Papa Cly- I mean Garnet got her cutie mark!” Sweetie said. Mama turned to face them, her hair was pulled back in a bun, and glasses sat on the tip of her nose. “Where did you get that?” Clyde sighed and told her parents the story of how she went swimming in the river and almost drowned. “You went into the river? We told you fillies never to enter the river.” Mama took some steps toward Clyde. “WAIT!” Sweetie said, “I forced her to go. She didn’t want to but, I forced her…” Clyde’s eyes widened, oh no she’s trying to stand up for me. “No.” Clyde said, “we lost the pan I went to get it, reciving my cutie mark..was just, a bonus.” “You.” Papa said, tapping Clyde’s chest so hard that she coughed. “Jasper Pie and Amethyst Pie to your rooms.” “But what about Gar-” “Don’t talk back, go to your room.” Mama insisted before watching her other children leave.   Sweetie cried for her sister as she sat on the rug in Amy’s lap. “Clyde’s tough, she won’t cry.” Amy said, stroking Sweetie’s mane. Sweetie didn’t realize she fell asleep and only woke up when the door swung open. Clyde stood there, not a single tear on her face...