"I'm always here for you."

by Penroseamber

The Accident

Her heart was pounding, ringing in her ears. Fear and panic curled around her heart. In all these years, Elaina Mash had never felt this scared.

She bit her lip. Not now, not here. She would make it.

She limped towards the trees, hoping to find a gap in the undergrowth where she could at least signal from below.

The mare felt the poison creep slowly up her four hooves, the bite flaring worse than ever.

Her life flashed before her eyes. The birth of her only child, her son, Button Mash. When she had held him, she had felt joy like no other. When she saw the other foals tease him for the lack of a father, rage surged through her entire being, and she had given them a private talk.... she remembered the scared faces, the shouts of the other parents.

Her vision was starting to get blurry. She could feel the energy ebbing away. She wouldn't make it. The town was too far. Even if she did manage to crawl back, the poison would've reached her heart.

With a sob, the mother collapsed, head swimming, pain flaring through her entire being.

So she did what any dying mother would've done for their child.

She left him a final message.

---

They found her corpse, and they identified the source of her death. The bite of the rare forest cobra, they told her son. Once the poison reached the heart, that was it. No pony had ever survived from the bite.

Button Mash felt bile rising in his throat. His mother had only one living relative: her sister, Vera, who absolutely refused to take in her nephew.

"LEAVE HIM TO DIE! I WOULD NOT RAISE THAT CHILD!" she had screamed, slamming the door in the faces of the authorities.

Now the orphaned colt was standing in front of his mother's grave, hugging the gravestone as if nothing else mattered. His eyes were blank, and devoid of all emotion, yet one could see the tremble of his scrawny build.

"Button?"

He turned his head. Sweetie Belle was standing next to him, hoof poised as if to lay on his shoulder. Her green eyes were smouldering with worry, and she held an umbrella in her magic. He hadn't noticed that rain was upon the town.

She sat down next to him, brushing his mane out of his eyes. No words were needed; she understood how he felt. Ever since losing her parents when she was a little filly, she had been raised by her sister, Rarity, who so happened to be the Element of Generosity.

The scrawny teenage colt felt the first tears drip silently from his brown eyes. He lowered his head, letting the tears mingle with the light drizzle of rain.

Sweetie Belle pulled him into a hug. She was warm, like his mother had been. She smelled like lilacs, his mother's favourite flower. Her coat was soft, like his mother's had been.

"It's okay, Button. Cry all you want. I'm always here for you." she whispered in his ear, and he could feel her tears as they clung to each other, everything else disappearing into nothingness.

Author's Note:

Well, it's not over. I promise I'm working on Daughter Of The Changeling Queen: The Start and a half dozen of unpublished stories, too. I've just moved into a new house, and it is the fabulous source of loads of inspiration! Please watch "Don't Mine At Night", the source of inspiration for this story. Stay tuned, fellow writers/readers!

Comments

[StarDancer1123]

Very nice story! Looking forward to see where it goes!

[UniqueSKD]

So what was the message she left her son, and why did her sister not want to take in Button Mash? These seem like details you should have elaborated upon a little bit more, author.

[Fluttershyisacutegal]

awww poor button and sweetie belle :’(