Someone Out There Loves You

by The Red Parade

Don't Look Back

And she fell from the earth like a glass knocked off of a table, so fragile and weak, like a flower petal drifting through the breeze. Without a care and without a noise. Dozens of eyes watched her fall, standing silently and judging her. And she fell again and again, until she opened her eyes with a gasp.

She stood in a field by the school, shovel in hoof. The sun beat down on her, stabbing its rays through the clouds. The sound of voices and laughter echoed nearby, as students and teachers moved about, enjoying the weather.

Closer was the sound of a shovel hitting dirt. “Alright. Light her up,” Strawberry said.

Raindrops nodded and tapped a cloud lightly, sending drops of water trickling down over the soil. Fiddle watched the water, following it on its brief journey. It tumbled out of the cloud lightly and gently, and spiraled gracefully through the air until it made contact with the ground, where it promptly disappeared into the soil.

The blue of the sky shone bright today, mixing well with the whites of the clouds and the yellows of the sun. The earth was rich and brown, and the greens of the plants leapt out at her. But it still wasn’t enough to beat back the fog. In a few seconds everything faded again to shades of gray and white, reminding her of those silly noir movies Cousin Braeburn liked to watch.

Strawberry wiped her brow and glanced at Fiddle. “Hey, uh, I think that hole’s deep enough, Fiddle.”

Fiddle looked down to see that her body was moving automatically, shoveling out scoops of dirt and flinging them through the air. With a great effort she regained control and stopped, setting the shovel down. “Right. Sorry.”

“No problem. Just… uh, fill it up a bit?”

Fiddle nodded, her white stetson hat bobbing up and down like a buoy in the sea during a storm.

She appreciated Strawberry looking out for her. Tasks like these slowed her fall by distracting her and giving her a temporary purpose. It felt good to be doing something.

Raindrops struck up a conversation with Strawberry, and Fiddle tuned them out. She knelt in the dirt and picked some up in her hoof. It weighed almost nothing. She turned her foreleg slightly and watched as it fell to the ground.

She sighed again, remembering the shades of tan that dominated Appleloosa. Fiddle couldn’t believe that she took the colors there for granted, even complaining of the dusty golds and vibrant yellows that dominated her life. She'd do anything to see those colors again.

“Hiya Strawberry!”

Fiddle flinched as a cheery voice sounded off from nearby. She turned to see a hippogriff trotting towards them, a peppy smile on her face.

And Fiddle saw color. She saw shades of blue and violet, mixed with magenta grays and orchids. And it was brighter than anything Fiddle had seen in a long time.

“Hey, Silverstream,” Strawberry greeted. “How’s it hanging?”

“Hanging? I’m not hanging anything right now,” the hippogriff replied. “Oh! Except for my paintings! Those are hanging out to dry in my room right now!”

Raindrops laughed, and even that had color. “She means what’s going on.”

“Oh! Not much, I just had a break and heard you were in the garden!” Silverstream then crouched low, her face almost touching the dirt. “Woah! What’re you growing?”

“Watermelons,” Strawberry answered as she dusted herself off. Fiddle saw the brown specks of dirt against her friend’s bright yellow coat. And the yellow shone through the fog, following the purples and grays that Silverstream brought with her, lighting up the hole and warming her coat.

Silverstream scrunched up her face. “Is that like a melon with water inside? Why would you want to eat that?”

“It’s just what it’s called,” Strawberry explained before turning to Fiddle. “Oh, this is my friend Fiddlesticks, by the way. Fiddle, this is Silverstream.”

Silverstream surged towards her and seized her hoof, shaking it excitedly. “It’s so nice to meet you!”

Fiddle let her hoof be moved and smiled. It didn’t feel so fake this time. “Nice to meet you too. You sure are interested in gardening, huh?”

Silverstream nodded eagerly. “Yeah! Us seaponies, we can’t grow this stuff underwater! Most of my family’s never even seen a fruit in their entire life! It’s so much fun telling them about apples and strawberries and watermelons and…”

Fiddle glanced around the garden as Silverstream went on. She was suddenly aware of the sun against her coat and of the dirt underneath her hooves. Her ear twitched as she realized the chatter of the other students was closer than before, and that everything just had so much more life to it.

But above all, Fiddle heard the music. She heard the musical tones hidden within Silverstream’s voice, as it mixed in with the chirping of birds and the laughter of the other students. The wind drove it on like a metronome, and the world bent to its will as songs and intricate melodies filled her mind.

It was something she hadn’t heard in a long time.

And her fall slowed. Colors swam across her vision in various shades, but underneath it all she could still make out that brilliant shade of blue and violet. She saw Raindrops and Strawberry smile, and Fiddle began to smile too.

The despair in her heart eased its grip, intrigued by this new and excitable hippogriff. The fog around the world began to fade. It backed away slowly, as if reminded that there did exist joy in this world.

“Are you a farmer like Strawberry?” asked Silverstream, her wide eyes gazing at Fiddlesticks kindly.

“No, I’m a musician actually.”

The hippogriff’s eyes widened further as she gasped. “No way! That’s so cool! I want to learn how to play something! What do you play?”

“Uh, the fiddle, mostly. Or violin, if you want to call it that,” Fiddle said.

“Can you teach me? We don’t have much music in Seaquestria, which really sucks.”

Fiddle raised an eyebrow. She glanced at Strawberry to see her give an encouraging nod. “Uh, yeah, sure. I think we can figure something out.”

“Yes!” the hippogriff exclaimed, leaping into the air with excitement. “This is so cool! I have to go tell Gallus! When can we start?”

Fiddle shrugged, feeling warm for a change. “I’m in Ponyville for another few months, so whenever you want. How about this Saturday? I could bring some instruments for you to try out.”

“Yeah! Great!” Silverstream shook her hoof again. “This is going to be awesome! Thanks again, Ms. Fiddlesticks! I gotta go! See you around, Strawberry! You too, Raindrops!”

The three waved their goodbyes as Silverstream darted away towards the school. “What a gal.” Strawberry chuckled. “Wish you all could be that interested in fruit.”

“Come on, Strawberry,” Raindrops replied. “Fruit’s a rare commodity to them. But you better not try and make her into your personal assistant.”

They laughed again and got back to work.

Fiddle picked up her shovel and looked down at the hole she dug. The rich smell of the earth finally reached her face, and the colors of the world called out to her. Her heart finally felt free again. She took a deep breath and smiled.

“You good, Fiddle?” asked Strawberry.

Fiddlesticks nodded and beamed. “I’ve never been better.” And this time, it was the truth.

Strawberry gave her a friendly punch in the shoulder. “Then get back to work! I didn’t bring you out here to stand around,” she said with a mischievous wink.

Fiddle laughed and began to fill in her hole, humming a happy little tune to herself.

And she wasn’t falling anymore.

When you fall, don't look back

Even if this world fades to black.

When you fall, don’t cry,

I’ll be right there at your side

To hold you up and dry your eyes

So let’s get up and blow this whole world wide

And if you feel alone and through

Know that someone out there loves you.

Comments

[wishcometrue]

Your character work and your imagery and similes are consistently top notch, and this story is no exception. Great stuff.

[The Red Parade]

10262702
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!

[Nitro Indigo]

I liked all the sensory descriptions, and how the opening sentences of each chapter contrast each other. I did both of those in Silent Wings. I also love how you wrote Silverstream.

Is Fiddle depressed?

[The Red Parade]

10263456
In a sense, sure! We can call them nightmares :)

[The Red Parade]

10263481
Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed it! Yes, Fiddle here has been through some things, and the implication is she’s struggling with depression.

[Nitro Indigo]

10263531 I was wondering if this had anything to do with Sister, then I remembered that Fiddlesticks is dead in that one. Is this a pseudo-sequel to another one of your fanfics?

[The Red Parade]

10263538
I thought about that too! But remember that in Sister all Vinyl hears are the words “killed herself:” we never know if there was more to that sentence, for example “tried to kill her self.”

But either way, I think the spirit of that piece carries on in this one.

[Nitro Indigo]

Also, is the uncommon pairing Fiddlesticks and Strawberry Sunrise, or Fiddlesticks and Silverstream?

[The Red Parade]

10263576
It'd be Silverstream and Fiddlesticks according to the tags.

[RubyDubious]

Fiddle nodded, her white stetson hat bobbing up and down like a buoy in the sea during a storm.

Wow, what a way to both describe the motion, but also the emotion Fiddle feels. This is so excellent!

Fiddle raised an eyebrow. She glanced at Strawberry to see her give an encouraging nod. “Uh, yeah, sure. I think we can figure something out.”

Very subtle here, with the nod. I loved it, and I love your work in how I see Silver Stream too! This uplifting optimist who wants to know as much as she can about the world that fascinates her! The dialogue here is solid and so natural and fluent!

Wow, so that ending was outstanding. You've been playing with colors a lot this story, greys marking depression and how it can cloud your experience in the world, and the flashes of color indicating flashes of emotion breaking from this. That, I loved. Then at the end, to describe everything as calling out to her, also great! Fiddlesticks felt alone most of the story, but was reached out to, and found that somepony out there, cared about her, and was genuinely interested in her. Strawberry reached out, and she was a gleam of color. Silver Stream imparted her optimism and the world became colorful again. It's a simple story, but very well done! To sum up, the filling of the hole that she dug too deep was excellent, if but a tad on the nose. Though, it's completely excusable because of just how damn well it fits it!

Overall, the technical aspects were done superbly, and the emotional theme running through everything was also done very well too! The story told here was direct, and the prose to do it was stylized and didn't overstay its welcome. This is an underrated work, and I hope more people unearth this gem, and see the glimmer of color across their face.

[The Red Parade]

10356742

Thanks Ruby!

Means a lot to me that you liked it, this is in my opinion a far better story than never forever :U

Guess it was a bit personal too, but I'm really glad it all worked out in the end. Really happy you liked it!