"Beep, beep, beep!" This sound suddenly broke the silence in Shallow's room, yet it didn't wake her. Shallow's eyes were wide open already, anticipating her alarm clocks' hysteria any minute. Her magic pushed the small button on top of the device, followed by lifting her cover. She slowly dragged herself out of bed, for some reason feeling heavy on the chest today. With a deep inhale, she tried relieving herself of the peculiar pressure as she made her way to the bathroom. Without success, she shrugged it off.
As she gurgled and spit the toothpaste, a distinctive cough could be heard in the other room. Finishing her morning routine, she poked her head through Tia's bedroom door, "Tia, you up?" She questioned in a whisper, yet upon receiving no response, she quietly closed the door.
Dawn was at its break as Shallow slowly drank her warm tea. Coffee was never something she enjoyed. It was either too dark to drink or too sour to taste, so tea was her substitute. As she took a sip, her gaze wandered from the fireplace to the outside of the window. A small, white butterfly landed on the orange edge of the pot that was resting on the ledge.
Shallow watched as it whisked its wings in a few swift motions. She sat there, by the window, observing the little fellow enjoying the morning dew, yet her thoughts were far from there. Her purple eyes did not blink, they just stared at the peaceful creature and when it flew away, it did so unnoticed as Shallow continued looking at the edge of the pot. A small crack was noticeable, shaped like a tiny, irregular triangle.
Moments turned into minutes and slowly but steadily, she finished her tea. Shallow walked to the kitchen and began preparing breakfast. Pancakes were the fastest to make, but then she remembered, "The cake. Chocolate and strawberry cake." With that thought in mind, her magic opened the cupboard and brought out the flour, eggs and multiple other ingredients along with a pack of strawberries.
Suddenly a cough was heard from the other room. This time, it was correct to assume that Tia would be up. It was her usual time and without a moment to waste, Shallow made her way to Tia's bedroom, leaving the ingredients scattered on the kitchen table.
"Good morning, sleepy-head," Shallow opened the door gently and walked in.
"Shallow, do-" a cough interrupted Tia mid-sentence, but choked down allowing her to continue," do you mind if I skip breakfast this morning? I'm not very hungry."
"Absolutely, get some rest. You look a little more tired than usual," Shallow's reply made Tia grow a smile at the corner of her lips before she closed her eyes back, bags beneath them even bigger than before. If Shallow didn't know better, looking at Tia's face, she'd think a ghost is occupying her friends bed, but she knew full well, the ghost look-alike was indeed, her best and only friend, Tia Rose.
Quietly closing the door to her room, she made her way back to the kitchen, however to her surprise, just as she walked past the phone attached to the wall, it began ringing. "Who could this be? Nopony's called here in months," thoughts raced through her mind as a magical bubble engulfed the phone receiver.
"Shallow Pond speaking, " Shallow answered the call, yet as the colt on the phone continued talking, everything slowly became quiet. She could slowly hear only mumbling, her expression went from idle to horrified.
Her vision was slowly turning into a tunnel of darkness.
Her heart sank, she could no longer stand.
She now only heard the thump of her heart.
She couldn't move.
Her legs wobbled as the phone receiver suddenly dropped from her ear and was left dangling on the wall. "Hello, miss Pond? Are you there," the colt kept asking in the phone receiver, yet Shallow was already in full gallop.
She ran as fast as she could, her legs barely touching the ground. The wind lashed onto her blonde mane as she made her way through the busy streets of Manehattan. She didn't care about ponies looking weirdly at her, she didn't care about the traffic as she ran across the street, all she cared about right now was to reach her destination as fast as possible.
As she approached the building, she found herself in front of the sliding door faster than they could open, yet upon their slightest motion, she managed to squeeze herself through, her heart racing.
Running up to the receptionist, tears running down her cheeks, she let her hooves sustain the impact with the desk as she pulled to a stop. The colt behind it knew why she was there, "Miss Pond. Follow me," he got up, making his way upstairs to the second floor. Shallow followed him with such uneasiness. Her heart raced faster and faster as they approached the door.
"3.C."
Her heart was about to burst out of her chest, "The nurse discovered this morning, we notified you as soon as we could," the colt said as he stepped aside, letting Shallow open the door for herself. "We're sorry for your loss, miss Pond."
Shallow turned the knob with her magic, barely able to see as the tears had blurred her vision almost completely. "Mom," she sobbed as she walked into the room, clopping urgently straight towards her mother's bed, "Mom, I'm here. Are you awake? Mom," her hooves shook her. No matter how hard she tried, though, her mother's lifeless body simply lied there. Limp and pale, eyes closed. Her white mane resting on the white pillow, so peacefully.
Shallow nuzzled their snouts, "Mom, no. Please, it's not time yet. Wake up, jump out of the window, do something," Shallow wallowed her head on her mother's chest, crying.
After a long time, she started calming down. Sitting there on her mother's bedside, she looked through the window next to the bed. "I didn't even get to say goodbye. Only wished you a good night... for the last time," this thought made her burst into a cry yet again.
Slowly, she got up. Walking over to the door, she threw her mother one last glance before turning around and walking down the white corridor, morning sunbeams slithering through the shades on the window.
"I never want to see this city again." She thought as she exited the building, her eyes still tearing up. Her sniffs matched with the tissues she used to wipe her tears couldn't fool anypony who passed by, seeing how she just stepped out of the hospital, it was fairly obvious as to what had happened. Nopony walked up to her, however. Nopony cared enough, it was the kind of place. You would be judged if you showed any sign of compassion, that's almost the way it seemed.
The sun was slowly going down just as she got off the train with a screech, making its stop. "I told myself I wouldn't cry. I knew it would happen at some point, but every day I left her room, I just hoped how that wouldn't be the last. Eventually, one of those times had to be the last, but why this time, though," Shallow kept thinking as she opened the door to Tia's house.
Her priority now was to wash up, so Tia doesn't see her like this. On her way home, she decided it would be best not to even tell her. She's suffering enough. She felt stranger though. For some reason, she felt as if something was missing. She remembered running out of the house without her pouch, yet that wasn't it.
Suddenly, it hit her. "The coughing. I've been in the house for more than twenty minutes and yet Tia didn't cough." Instantly, she dropped the towel she was wiping her face in and quietly made her way to Tia's bedroom. "Tia? I'm home, Tia," she called out to her in a whisper as she poked her head through the door, yet no response.
She decided to inspect further, scenarios racing through her head. "Please, please, please," she begged as she approached her friend's bed, the room dimly lit as the sun slowly made its descent. She slowly lift her cover and what she saw completely shattered her. "Tia, no. I can't-," her hoof flew to her mouth, followed by her other hoof.
She slowly backed away, letting the cover drop besides Tia's head. Shallow couldn't cry anymore, there were no more tears left to drown herself in. She backed out of the room and sat down by the table, the same one she drank tea from this morning... and every morning.
Shallow looked out of the window, her eyes red, her expression so numb. She caught a glimpse of the pot outside of the window, resting on the ledge. Rain slowly started tapping the glass pane as her gaze wandered to the edge of the pot, taking notice of the triagonal crack. She stared at it as it slowly overflowed and water started spilling out of the crack, sliding down the side of the orange pot.
"You understand me," she thought to herself as she slowly got up and closed the door to Tia's bedroom, "because today I leaked water from my cracks too."
The rain intensified as darkness ate away the light of day.
A few weeks later, Shallow was back in her apartment in Manehattan. Brochures of nice houses were scattered over the table in her kitchen. Cutlery, plates and clothing all sorted in different travelling bags, "Where did I put my pouch?" she wondered, pacing from one room to the other. "Ah, here it is," she pulled out her pouch from behind the bed.
Just before she exited the apartment, dragging all her luggage, she remembered, "Oh, the address." Shallow quickly walked back inside and pulled out one of the brochures from the pile on the table.
Making herself comfortable on the train, she took out that same booklet, glancing at it, "Much better." She commented on the picture portraying a simple pink house with a small garden in front.
Not too long after she unpacked and made herself cozy, a knock was heard on the door. "Hm," she thought, not particularly sure why anypony would notice her moving in. Her magic engulfed the door knob, pulling the door open. A figure of a purple mare looking at Shallow with much interest appeared. One detailed Shallow noticed was that this pony in particular had wings... and a horn.
"Hello, I'm Twilight Sparkle," the pony announced herself with a friendly smile. "I heard you just moved in, so I decided to say 'hello' in person. It's a little ritual I decided to keep, it's not every day ponies move in to Ponyville."
Completely baffled, Shallow couldn't believe she was talking to the Princess of Friendship, "We-, I-, yes, come in. Please," she closed the door behind Twilight as she bowed.
The address on it read, "Ponyville, 3.C."