Flight

by TheUnknownPerson

XV: Trust

Marble sat at the dinner table. She glanced down at her bowl of rock soup. It had already gone cold, sitting there for what felt like hours. The moonlight cast a shadow across the room. She should've retired to her bedroom long ago, but she hadn't. Or, she couldn't, rather.

I can't just leave her out there. She glanced towards the front door, thinking of Limestone. Maybe she would come in if I talked to her? I mean, she's gonna have to talk to Maud eventually, whether she wants to or not.

Marble scooted back, sliding off the chair and turning towards the front door. She walked out the front door, heading towards the barn. The air was calm, quiet. Almost stagnant, if not for the cool breeze that drifted by her every few moments, sending shivers down her legs.

The barn was dark and quiet, aside from one flickering light at the very edge of the door.

"Limestone?" She whispered, walking up to the barn entrance. "A-Are you here?"

Marble slowly stepped forwards, the barn door creaking open. Her sister's bed sat at the center of the room, resting on the inside of a large wagon. A brown blanket draped over the side, tangled in the wheelbarrow, with a shovel crudely tied into it. Limestone laid down beside the wagon, on the hard, uncomfortable gravel floor.

She can't be sleeping that way...

A particularly loud crunch in the gravel beneath caused Limestone to stir. She grunted, stumbling up to her hooves and kicking up dirt.

"Get out!" She pulled the shovel out from its make-shift sheath, holding it up. Her movements were sloppy and tired. She hobbled towards her slowly.

"Limestone?"

"Leave!" Limestone continued to move towards her, speeding up as she neared her. She kicked the candle in her rushed movements, colliding with the barn door.

"Limestone! It's Marble!"

She cocked back the shovel, swinging it down as soon as she was close enough. Marble stumbled to the side, her right leg colliding with the barn door. Sparks flew as the metal collided with the gravely ground. Her sister huffed quietly, standing there with the shovel stuck in the ground below. She rested on the ground beside her, her leg throbbing from the sudden movement and the collision.

A few silent moments passed, only Limestone's huffing filling the air. Marble sat still, staring at her sister. Neither of them had moved from their spots. What's wrong with her?

"... Marble...?" She exhaled, finally seeming to realize what had happened. Limestone turned to look at her. Her face contorted into some sort of mixture of sadness and horror, her lips quivering why her eyes widened.

"Marble! I'm so sorry!" She dropped the shovel, turning to her sister. "I-I didn't get you, did I?!"

"N-No, I'm alright," Marble reached for the side of the barn. Limestone grabbed her hoof, helping her stand up,

"Sorry... it-it was dark and I-I couldn't see your face so-" She turned back, retrieving the shovel and the candle. "I... I-I thought you were Maud."

"Oh..." Her head lowered. She wouldn't really... it-it can't be that bad. She walked beside her sister, back up to the wagon. Right?

"And I... er... haven't been sleeping that much lately. Mainly try to sneak in when Maud isn't around the house and sleep on the couch for an hour or two." Limestone admitted. "Sleeping on the ground's nearly impossible with the gravel and all. And I need the wagon free for work, so I can't keep my bed up there."

"Mmhm."

"And I only have the one candle. I took it when Ma-" She paused, taking a breath. "When Cloudy and Igneous left. I haven't been back in their damned room since."

"Mmhm..." Marble nodded. Limestone reached what could barely be considered her bed. She slipped the shovel back into its sheathe, placing the candle down on the end of the wagon.

"So, any reason why you're out here?"

"Well..." She scooted slightly to the side, sitting down on the edge of the wagon. "We need to talk about Maud."

Her sister visibly shrunk at the topic. A small groan escaped her, sitting down beside her bed.

"What's there to talk about?" She grumbled, sitting down on the edge of her bed.

"You two need to talk-" "Like Tartarus, we do..."

She turned down to her. Marble wasn't about to back down. This needed to happen.

"Look, as much as you hate it, you have to speak to live here. You both can't keep this up."

"Hmph." Her sister grunted quietly, managing to stand the candle up in a small mound of gravel.

"Limestone, I know you can't be comfortable sleeping out here." She scooted down off the wagon. "You're sleeping on gravel..."

"Better than having a knife in my back."

Marble paused, taking a quick breath. She knelt, trying to look her sister in the eye. Limestone turned away, staring at the candle.

"You know she didn't want to do it, right?"

"Doesn't matter. She still did it."

"Because of Mom and Dad."

"What? She couldn't have stopped them? Or convinced them otherwise? Could she have done anything to protect her baby sister?!" She sat up. "Oh, woe is me! I cut off my sister's wings, but it wasn't my fault! My parents made me!" Limestone turned up to her. Her eyes were glassy. "Fuck her! I hope she dies!"

Marble stared up at her. Her brow twitched, eyelids twitching for a moment before she turned away, her head pointing downwards.

"You don't mean that."

Limestone kept staring at the ground.

"You're angry at Mom and Dad-" "They are not my parents." She growled. A small, quiet whimper escaped her sister, her anger replaced with sadness. "I... I don't even know who they are anymore. Every time I see a picture in that house, I don't even know what to feel."

A small, shaken breath escaped her. "I used to love them, so much. But, since I found out... I-I can't help but think, 'how could they?'" Limestone's hind legs pulled up to her chest. "How could someone do that to their daughter? Force a mare to cut her own sister's wings off? Then try to do it to another?" She rested her head on her legs, pointed away from Marble. "They- They're monsters, there's no debate about that. I shouldn't even care about them anymore, but it still hurts to think about it. And Maud's a walking, breathing reminder of that. Every day I have to work with her, I have to think about them, and what happened to Pinkie."

Marble stared at her sister, moving forwards and placing a hoof on her shoulder.

"I know Maud didn't want to, and I know she regrets it. I get that- I-I just... It's hard to be in that house."

Marble took a breath. "Will you start talking to her again?"

"I don't know, honestly. I can't just forget what she did."

"I know..." She sighed. "Just think about it, okay?"

"I will."

"Thank you." She scooted up off of her bed, standing up in front of her. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Night." Limestone laid back down, gravel crunching under her bed as her weight shifted.

Marble slipped between the open barn doors, pushing them closed before she walked back towards her home. The door creaked open. Light poured out into the darkness. Her older sister stood in the doorway, waiting for her.

"How's Limestone?"

"Alright." She said, standing in front of her. "Well... managing."

"Hm. I suppose that's something we both have in common." Maud nodded, stepping to the side and letting her in. She shut the door behind them. "It's late. You should get some sleep."

"Mmhm."

Maud turned, following her into the kitchen, then into the small corridor of rooms. She stepped to the side, allowing Maud to get in front of her. "Goodnight, Maud."

"Goodnight."

She turned towards her bed, freshly made in preparation for her return. A small grin formed across her lips. I never thought I'd be so happy to see this old bed.

Marble walked over to her bed, sitting down. The frame creaked as she shifted up onto the bed, pulling the covers back and slipping under. She glanced over to her sister's empty bed.

I hope she feels better soon. Marble looked up at the ceiling. For her sake as much as Maud's.

=================

Pinkie yawned quietly at Pinkamena's bedside. A pile of books sat at the edge of the bed, precariously balancing on the edge, with more sitting on the floor beside the bed. Each seemed larger than the last, though her counterpart had managed to read over them all in little over three days. She sat up in the bed, her nose buried in another tome, one of which had a cloaked figure on its cover, with the title written in a rather odd manner. Pinkie couldn't quite make it out, but it seemed like a rather long, rather intriguing tale.

"Jeeez... how many are you gonna go through? Twi's gonna run out of books before too long."

"I need something to do in this bed." She mumbled, not taking her eyes off the page. "Besides, she offered them to me while I'm here."

"Mmhm." She wiped her eyes. The sun had set a bit ago, only leaving the moonlight to illuminate the room. "At least you're keeping yourself busy while you're in here."

"Yep." She responded plainly.

Pinkie yawned again, sitting up. She raised her forelegs over her head, feeling her joints popping as she stretched.

"So, how're you feeling?"

"Fine."

"Good."

"Mmhm."

"Anything you need to talk about?"

"No."

"You're sure?"

"Mmhm." Pinkamena flipped through another page.

"Because, if what happened to you happened to me... I'd wanna talk about it."

"Hm."

"Soooo... if you need to talk, I'm here. You can talk to me about anything, you know that, right?"

"I know."

"Okay..."

Pinkie huffed, resting her head back down against the bed. Maybe she's just really into reading... can't exactly walk on clouds to see her house. Not without Twilight, at least.

Still, Pinkie persisted in her line of questioning.

"Why don't you tell me what happened one more time?"

Pinkamena glanced towards Pinkie, then back down to her book. "We've been over it half a dozen times, there's nothing much left to tell."

"I know, but-" "Did you know that the main character in this story actually ends up losing control of his hoof for a period of time?" Pinkamena glanced up to her.

"No...?"

"It's really an interesting read." She turned back down to the page. "I'd really like to keep going if you don't mind being quiet for a bit."

Pinkie turned up to her counterpart, her eyes glazed over her wing stuck in the same cast it had been for weeks.

"Look, your wing is gonna be fine."

Pinkamena kept her head firmly planted in front of the book. "You don't know that."

"Yes, I do. You're going to be alright."

A small, suppressed breath of air escaped her friend.

"It'll work out in the end-"

"You wanna know something else I learned from reading?" She finally turned up from the page, a sharp tone of anger riding along with her voice.

"Happy endings don't exist. Not for someone like me." She said, her eyes glossy. "They finally get everything they could have dreamed of, the life they always wanted, and what happens? Chaos."

Pinkie stared as she closed the book and sat it to the side.

"They fight and struggle, work themselves to the bone to accomplish their goals. And most of the time, they do achieve their goals. They get to be happy and live in peace." She turned down to the book. "But for some of them, their's don't exist. They're damaged goods, and, no matter how much they might want to bury their past, or how hard they try, they don't get a happily ever after. They'll keep fighting and struggling to get it, but it'll never come."

Pinkie's eyes locked onto hers, her mane slowly deflating.

"They- I tried to live to be a better person. I tried, and tried, and tried. For years, I worked to better myself and be as good as I could, and for a brief moment, I thought I had reached that perfect moment. My 'Happily Ever After.'" She paused momentarily, taking a quiet, stuttering breath. Pinkamena turned up to her with a pained smile. "I got my wings back. Everything I had ever wanted. It felt like I was in heaven. But, like always, I was mistaken. And this is what I got for thinking that it was." She turned towards her casted wing. "Who knows how long it'll be before its out, and even then, I'll have to learn to reuse it all over again."

"It'll be a lot of work, but you'll get through this."

"That's not the point. Even if I get to fly again, it'll still be another mark left by my past." She said, her hooves crossed over her chest. "The happiest moment of my life was getting my wings back. The worst was when I lost them. But this..." She turned down towards her chest. "Having my ability to fly taken away from me again... it- it ranks up there, I won't lie."

Pinkie stared, a hoof over her mouth. She could see the pain in her eyes, the aching in her heart.

"And now, I can't help but think... 'What's the point?'" Pinkamena turned up to her. "Why even bother anymore? There's no point in caring anymore, Pinkie. There's no point in trying to care." She turned away, towards her window. "Getting my wings back, my own body... all that happiness... it's all just one big sham... and I'm just the fool who fell for it." Her voice was monotoned. There wasn't any anger or hurt, no sadness or pain- not even hatred or viciousness, just... Blank. Emotionless. Numb.

Pinkie sat in silence, tears in her eyes. She knew Pinkamena would be hurt by the injury to her wing, but she wouldn't have dreamed it'd be like this.

"I... I'm here if you need me, you know that, right?" She said, trying to conceal the shakiness in her voice. "I will never let you get hurt like that again, okay? Mom and Dad won't be able to hurt you anymore."

"If it's not them, it'll be someone else. Or myself." She responded plainly, turning away. "Please, cut off the light. I want to sleep."

Without a second thought, Pinkie did as she was told, before she returned to her seat and Pinkamena's bedside, gently rubbing her hoof. For the first time in a long while, she didn't know what to say. She didn't know what she could do to make this better, if anything.

Comments

[Speedy Silverstreak]

So since it's been 3 years since I read this I need a quick catch up on this story

[RandomGuy101]

Woo! UPDATE! I just discovered this a month ago. I knew tracking this was a good idea!

[skycipher666]

I want more of this so badly aaaaaaa

[The Weaver]

Magnificent

More please

[another strix]

We need more!!