Speak Not Of The End Of The World

by Shaslan

Elsewhere

Cheerilee had somehow found her before she left.

“There you are,” she snapped, out of breath. “Have you been avoiding me?!”

Strawberry didn’t reply.

“Like it or not, we’re going to talk before you go out there.”

“Okay.”

They stared at each other. Strawberry could almost feel hatred radiating off of Cheerilee, from years and years of boiled over tensions and frustrations. But there was something else there, too. Something she couldn’t recognize.

Cheerilee took a deep breath before she began to speak again. “Strawberry, I…” Instantly, her anger melted away and her words washed over her like a wave. “I guess I just wanted to say that I’m sorry I haven’t been there for you.”

“What? Cheerilee, you’ve done more for me than literally anyone else in my life has,” Strawberry protested.

“If that were true, neither of us would be here right now,” Cheerilee said sadly.

Strawberry sighed and put a hoof on her oldest friend’s shoulder. “You really think you could’ve stopped all of this from happening? The sun, all the death, everything?”

“I don’t know,” Cheerilee sniffed. She looked so small against the dull metal of the station. “But I feel like I could’ve if I just… did more.”

“Cheer… Some things are beyond you and me.” She sighed, feeling exhaustion setting in. “I can’t explain it, but ever since I was a kid, I was convinced that the world was going to end. And that nothing anyone could do would stop it. You taught me years ago how bad it was to think that, and showed me how I was hurting everyone around me through it. And I mean… We’re here now. We still have a chance.”

Cheerilee wiped her eyes again. “When you come back from your mission? What happens next?” A silence grew between them and Cheerilee regarded her with a sad, knowing look. “Strawberry… It’s going to go fine. I know that I’m always the one clamoring that things will go wrong, but–”

“No.” Strawberry let that single word escape her. She could lie, stretch the truth a bit. But Cheerilee didn’t deserve that. “I’m… I’m not coming back tonight.”

She could see the lump in Cheerilee’s throat. “I… had a feeling. With the way you’ve been… talking about things lately.” She took a deep breath and released it in a choked sob. “How are you so sure?”

“I don’t intend to come back,” Strawberry said simply. She draped a wing over Cheerilee’s shoulder. “Walk me to the hangar bay?”

They proceeded down the steel halls of the station, letting the silence wash them away. “I should go,” Cheerilee whispered. “I’m not supposed to be down there.”

For the first time in a long time, Strawberry felt a twinge in her stomach at that. She didn’t want to be alone. Not now. “C’mon Cheer. Nobody’ll notice.”

When she didn’t protest further, Strawberry continued leading them towards the bay. They came to a stop in front of a heavy set of airlock doors. “I dreamt again last night,” Strawberry said. “I was with Cherry, at home. We were sleeping together, and I was just watching. Laying beside her.”

“Oh, Strawberry…”

“No, it wasn’t a sad one. It was… I knew she was dead. And maybe she did too. In that moment I could’ve woken her up, said any of the things that I’ve wanted to say over the years.”

The doors slid open with a quiet hiss.

“But I didn’t. Just let her lay there.” Cheerilee reached down and took Strawberry’s hoof in her own. Together, they crossed the threshold and stepped into the hangar. Strawberry’s ship was waiting: a sleek, white craft, with engines and wings and all sorts of other things that she didn’t know how to spell.

“I’m glad you found me before I left. I’m not used to being able to say goodbye.”

Cheerilee sighed. “I don’t want this to be goodbye,” she whispered. “But I guess we don’t get what we want.” She leaned in and pressed her forehead against Strawberry’s.

For a moment they stood, embracing the other. It sparked an old flame within Strawberry, a series of familiar tingles flashing down her spine. But she paid them no mind. She did nothing more than hold the position.

Eventually, too soon and too long at the same time, Cheerilee pulled away. “Okay. Good luck.” There was nothing more she wanted to say.

“I’ll see you again. Maybe not here, but I know it.” Strawberry raised her helmet and pulled it over her head.

Cheerilee smiled sadly. Strawberry turned to her craft and began walking. Up here, she felt closer to Cherry than she had in a long time.

There was no turning back, no hesitation as she ascended the ramp. No last minute words or calls from her oldest friend in the world.

There were no regrets, no thoughts left unspoken.

There was nothing left to say.

Comments

[Bicyclette]

There was no turning back, no hesitation as she ascended the ramp. No last minute words or calls from her oldest friend in the world.

There were no regrets, no thoughts left unspoken.

There was nothing left to say.

and oof, beautiful way to sum up such a delicately poignant scene