New Beginnings: Bluebelle

by Bloobweez

Nightmares: Candlelight

A crackling fire and hushed whispers are all that greeted you as you returned to the world of the living. Opening your eyes to see the stars, you were pretty sure you were still Bluebelle. Not Anon. Were you happy with this fate? You weren't too sure...

"Hey, she's waking up!" You couldn't identify the voice. You weren't sure what had just happened. You recalled hearing a howl, getting scared... You were vulnerable, and then... You let out a short gasp of pain as you thought back. You knew what had happened, and yet you didn't... Probably a hallucination, right? Or maybe a nightmare. Seeing the shadow obscured face of a pony above you, you closed your eyes. You could hear them speaking, but you didn't want to listen to what was being said. You just wanted to block the world out.

A cocoon of warmth you hadn't previously noticed was pulled off of you and you were scooped up into someone's hooves. You had to chuckle at yourself, as you considered paying attention to them only because it was rude to ignore them. Letting the rest of the world back in, you heard Mom let out an awkward chuckle in response to your own and as you opened your eyes you found everyone but Mom looking worried at you, and a short glance to the side confirmed that she was the one holding you.

After a moment of being held next to her, she held you out in front of her, "Blue, are you okay?" You nodded your head as you hung limply in the air.

Mom spun around so that she was facing everyone else and set you down in between her forehooves and then wrapped the both of you in her wings, "Are you sure you're okay? If there's anything, anything, we can do, let us know now sweetie."

As you tried to reply, you found that your throat was dry and so you rasped out the word "Water." With your vision dominated by Mom, you weren't sure who got you the water but a moment later there was a cup in your peripheral vision and without thinking you took hold of it and poured the water onto your mouth with most of it going down and some running off to the sides. You didn't quite have the energy to wipe that some away.

"What happened?" you asked, now that you had some level of hydration.

"We came up to the campsite and after a moment, you called it perfect and then... Well, you collapsed." You felt a gnawing on your head as you thought back to your hallucination. Wincing as you thought of the vague memories you had of it.

"Did I say anything else?"

Mom shook her head negatively, "No, you just collapsed... We were worried sick so we tried everything we could... That was a couple hours ago."

You weren't quite sure what to say... What to do... Finally you had to giggle as it dawned on you, "So does that mean no bed time tonight?" That seemed to relieve the tension a bit based on Mom's reaction, and so she released you from both her wings and her hooves, allowing you to turn around and see everyone else. You also got to see that they had already set up camp, two tents, a bonfire, even some flat topped stones turned into seats around the fire.

Still smiling, you looked up and saw Mom in a mix of happiness and worry as she replied, "Maybe not no bed time, but definitely a later one." You huffed and pouted, getting a nice laugh out of everyone else and so it seemed the trip was back on.

Dad, of course, busted out the marshmallows to start roasting, Flying went off into the woods to gather a bit more firewood, Mom refused to leave your side until she was pretty sure Dad was about to catch on fire, and so you and Cotton ended up together.

"What's going on with you?"

"I dunno, I guess a panic attack?"

"A panic attack, over some wolves?" Cotton asked incredulously.

"Hey, fuck you, I'm six. Siiiiix. I think I'm allowed to be worried about my own wellbeing as a six year old."

"It wasn't just that and you know it. You were getting over the wolves when you fell. What happened?"

"I don't know, we came up to the campsite and then... I dunno, my head started to hurt and I passed out..."

"And nothing else?"

"Well... I had a strange dream... Maybe more than a dream. I don't know, but it was a memory of my dad..."

"And... He didn't have a face?" Cotton asked, what little color he had in his white face fading.

"Wait wait wait, do you have these vision things too!?" you shouted, catching some looks from Dad and Mom who was batting out a flame. You chuckled nervously and waved over at them, "We're uhh, playing pretend! Yeah!"... There's no way they bought that. But seeing smoke rising from behind Dad, they seem to have more urgent issues on their hands. Hooves. Limbs. Whatever.

"I mean, I've had them... I don't think I ever passed out from one before, though. Usually just dreams."

"Okay, dreams... Explain dreams to me, are we talking just things you see in your sleep in general, or only ones that are too incoherent to have emotional value?" You hated to say it, but even you could tell you were getting pretty frantic with this. You were almost certain Cotton would cut the conversation off right there and call you crazy because in your mind's eye you could tell you definitely looked it.

However, very much for his credit, he remained put and the conversation continued, albeit he seemed a bit confused. "I guess it would be, uhh, the second one?"

Raising a suspicious eyebrow at him you leaned in, "So seeing your parents with no faces lacks emotional value for you?"

"I-I guess... I mean... Listen, can we stop talking about this?" Fuck, you were pushing him too hard. God what did Bioware have for dealing with this in KOTOR... Hmmm no restart button and no save scumming.

Okay Carth, let's see how this works, "Did you have a good relationship with them?"

That set him off and you were promptly pushed to the ground by the colt nearly twice your age with him shouting, "I said I didn't want to talk about it!"

As your parents started to hurry over about ready to organize a lynch mob for the other pegasus, you quickly sat up and called back, "No no no, it's fine! We're playing detective!"

Okay you got them to stop but you need to sell the pitch, "I found out he's guilty and now he's mad!"

You weren't sure Cotton was totally on board with what you were doing, but he probably wanted to avoid trouble as much as you wanted him to not be in trouble, "Y-Yeah! She thinks I stole Rarity's cake but I didn't!" Ugh, seriously? Rarity? This guy really needed to learn who best pony was.

They weren't entirely convinced but you leaning to the side and saying "The marshmallows are burning!" got at least Dad to move away and Mom didn't seem willing to handle both of you by herself and so followed after him.

"You mind explaining what all of that was for, dick?"

"Oh my God you're actually talking like an adult. Did I break something in that head of yours?" You couldn't help it. You'd cracked the case, or at least found the next thread of it. Of course, Cotton still looked like he was going to do more than push you down if you kept up so you followed up, "I think I was more attached to my family, and so I'm suffering more severe effects of not having them." You could see Cotton rearing up a punch so you quickly covered your nose, "Wait wait wait let me continue!" He decided to give you at least a bit more time.

"So when I saw the campsite it reminded me of something I did with my dad, and that's when I passed out. That seems to be what triggers these nightmares or whatever they are. So if you weren't as attached to your parents as I was to mine, you're not going to be as distressed about forgetting them... Eh? Eeeeeeeeh? Come on, it's a sound theory!" You weren't sure if you were trying to convince him or yourself, but either way it worked for the time being... You would not be getting punched at this exact instant by Cotton.

"Yeah, well... It still doesn't explain why we can't remember their faces..." he responded as he crossed his hooves as though you had an answer for that as well.

"Doesn't matter! I'm six years old still, I have plenty of time to crack that part of the mystery!"

With a scoff, he turned back to the fire, "Well I'm going to go get some marshmallows."

"Nope, we're making S'mores!" called out Dad giddily and you had to giggle before following suit, "I think a congratulatory S'more is deserved for a job well done."

"Oh, did you find out who the actual cake thief was?" Mom asked as you approached the fire.

It took you a moment before you remembered just what the fuck she was talking about, "Uhh, yeah, the cake ate itself!" ...That works, right? It didn't, you could see it, but she was deciding to leave well enough alone for now which meant you had more time to come up with a lie.

Shortly after, Flying Fish arrived with what would hopefully be enough firewood for the rest of the night. As everyone munched down the S'mores you could feel the energy of the night livening, but every so often you'd catch Mom watching you out of the corner of your eye. She certainly had her own suspicions about what was wrong and while you were sure she was nowhere near the truth, you didn't want to give her any additional ammo. Part of doing so included eagerly participating in the campfire songs despite not knowing any of the ones they were singing, and getting super surprised by just what exactly it was that Dad saw in the sky while stargazing. You also had to ignore the AK-74 you saw in the stars even if it definitely was an AK-74 and there was literally no other possible alternative.

Finally, the time came for bed. You could have stayed up longer, especially after getting jacked up on all of the sugar in those S'mores but even back on Earth you probably would be going to sleep at this point. Best part of camping was the morning by far, getting to see the natural sunrise. Not wanting to burden you at all, Dad brought your sleeping mat and blanket into the tent from its previous position outside. Following him inside the tent you found your arrangements between Mom and Dad and briefly thought back to the days as a foal before they got you a crib. Once you'd gotten yourself settled and looked between the two, Mom spoke up.

"Are you going to be okay tonight, Blue?"

"Yeah, I think I'll be okay... And if not I've got you two right here!"

She nosed you and quirked her head a bit, "Are you sure? Sometimes talking through things can help..."

You shook your head negatively, "No... I think I was just really scared about the wolves..."

That was when Dad grabbed you from behind and pulled you into a hug, "Like I said before, Daddy'll never let anypony hurt his favorite filly."

You smiled and reached up to nuzzle his chin, "Your only filly," you said while sticking your tongue out. In response to this he hugged you tighter and you looked over at Mom, "Uhhh, Mom I think Dad might be foalnapping me so I guess it was nice knowing you." You expected Dad to let you go so you could actually get to sleep but that release never came. You blinked after a few moments and looked back up to find that Dad had miraculously fallen asleep already.

Looking back at Mom she grinned and gave you a peck on the snout, "G'night Bluebelle."

You struggled a bit to see if you could get free and found that it only made Dad tighten his grip more. With a sigh of defeat, you resign yourself to go to sleep like this. On the whole, it isn't that bad going to sleep while being snuggled. It was something you'd actually come to miss way back when your parents got you your crib, and being stuck here reminded you of the main reason why. Turning your head to the side, your ear was right against Dad's heart and god it made your wings flutter to be back in this position. To hear the calming, regular beat of his heart. You were pretty sure you would have good dreams tonight.

Author's Note:

hahaha i bane posted in the title guys ya get it? I actually had some sort of theme going with these titles but I forget what it was. Sorry for uploading this so late, the past few days I've been moving from one room in the house to another and today I spent most of the day putting furniture together. So yeah enjoy my little blog update, and y'know the story.

Comments

[Viper Pit]

i think blue is learning to let go of the past

[Confused Horse Noises]

"I-I guess... I mean... Listen, can we stop talking about this?" Fuck, you were pushing him too hard. God what did Bioware have for dealing with this in KOTOR... Hmmm no restart button and no save scumming.

"This exchange is over." -Sovereign

[TyrannisUmbra]

Oh hey, surprised to see this here. I'll fave it and come back to it when you catch up with pastebin :P

[Horse Girls Are Watching]

Absolutely charmed by all the heartwarming stuff with these parents. Never thought I'd love reading something like that.

[KvAT]

9012425
Gone, but not forgotten.

You also had to ignore the AK-74 you saw in the stars even if it definitely was an AK-74 and there was literally no other possible alternative.

Comrade, ignoring the truth is not how we honour our glorious comrade Kalashnikov. We look up to the sky and salute up high with all our hearts.