> I'll Find You. > by Adorkable > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > No Escape. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “I told you, I wasn’t escaping! I was just taking a stroll!” The lavender mare hid a fit of giggles as two strong stallions lead her back to a room. Each stallion wearing an orderly uniform, keeping a close eye on the petite mare before them. She was small in size, but big in trouble if given the chance. The mare came to a stop before her room door, plopping down on her plot with a thud as she waved her hooves sarcastically in front of the frame. “Open Sez Me!” The mare gave an eerie howl through the empty hallway, a stallion rolling his eyes as he simply unlocked the door and opened it. “Ahhh! It’s magic!” Screwball quickly hugged onto the large stallion beside her door, her swirled violet irises glowing dimly. “Hmmm. Be good now.” The stallion pushed the mare off, nudging her backside as she cantered into the room. Inside was a small room of white, nothing really decorating the cramped space at all. A simple small window was near the center, though the cozy feeling had been lost by a set of bars blocking any escape. A small oak table was placed off towards the corner of the room, big enough to only sit two at most. A plate of cookies placed atop it, as a small child was already sat on the right side. She was an odd one, wearing a tiara atop her mane as her coat was a light lavender tone. She had icy blue eyes which quickly locked onto the grown mare, giving her a wild set of shivers. This filly was frowning and mad about something, perhaps that she was stuck in this place, like so many others. “Heehee! Are you me as a kid? I don’t quite remember being so rich!” Screwball bounced over to the table and jumped onto the plate of cookies, causing crumbs to spray across the room. “Phst No! I’m here to visit.” Diamond Tiara sighed aloud as she placed a small hoof atop her cheek. “A VISIT! I thought this wasn’t my room, too much sunlight!” Screwball burst into a wild fit of giggles, rolling onto her back as she simply spun off the edge with a crash. “Are you done?” Tiara asked with a soft sneer, the mare rising up from behind the left side of the table calm and collected. “Why yes dear I am. Jeffery the tea please.” Screwball lifted her front lip, speaking in a fancy mare voice, nose lifted as high as it could into the air. “Why did you escape?” Tiara asked with an eye roll, her attention on a crushed cookie before her, softly tracing a hoof across the fallen crumbs. “Because this place is a MAD HOUSE! A MAD HOUSE!” Screwball smashed her hooves onto the table as Tiara jumped back surprised, the two stallions slowly entering before the filly waved them off. “This place is here to help.” Tiara groaned in defeat as she locked eyes with this insane mare. “This place is here to fish for yelps?” Screwball locked gazes, her eyes narrowed in confusion. “Grr! Stop that!” “Brrr. Top Hat!” “Stop It!” “Hop Ship?” Screwball yelled out in confusion, her hooves waving side to side in the air. “Ok enough.” A stallion sighed as he walked into the room, glaring annoyed to the mare acting out. “What am I doing? This brat is the one who wants to hop ship! Doesn’t she know that is mutiny?” Screwball hid her muzzle behind her hoof, whispering to the orderly in secret. “Want to just call it day?” The stallion asked Tiara who shook her head no, a angry frown growing across her face. The stallion sighed and walked out of the area, allowing for an odd silence to fill the room. Tiara gazed back to this mare in defeat, yet found her smiling happily to her from across the table. “Are you…” Tiara felt herself be cut off as the mare lunged forward, swiping the tiara off the child’s head and placing it onto her own. “Look I’m Celestia! I can lift a megaton star with my butt!- YUP-YUP-YUP!” Screwball yelled aloud in glee, standing back atop the table in a poised pose. “GIVE THAT BACK!” Tiara screamed in anger, lunging forward to the mare who did a backflip off the table, landing oddly enough on her two hind hooves. “TA-DA! Look Ma I’m Human!” Screwball yelled out in joy as she toppled over in laughter. Her maniacal giggles set apart by something odd, the sound of sobbing could be heard wafting across the air. Screwball blinked her long lashes slowly, seeing that her visitor was curled into a small ball atop the table crying. “Please. It belonged to my mother.” Tiara hid her tear soaked eyes behind small delicate hooves, the mare folding her ears back slowly. “Oooo. Sorry safari.” Screwball sighed and slid the tiara off her head, holding it out to the small child. “...” Tiara sniffled as she gently reached for the item, only to have it yanked away at the last second. “Psyche! I’ll wear this and escape as you!” The mare smiled wickedly, rubbing two hooves together like a insane genius. “Grrr! I’m Done! I’M DONE!” Tiara yelled out to the door between sobs, shaking her head side to side in anger. Both stallions rushed through the door, one grabbing Screwball from behind as he pinned her down onto the floor. The second quickly swiping the small tiara off her head, as he returned it back to the child, who roughly pulled it back into her possession. “Jeffery! Why have you turned against me!” Screwball fought under the stallion softly and playfully. “Time to get some rest.” He spoke into her ear as he allowed her to rise up, the mare rolling her eyes and getting to her hooves. “Buh-Bye! Hope you had fun, when I made you cry!” Screwball waved to the child in glee, the small filly glaring in hellish anger. The door to the room closing shut, as laughter could be heard echoing down the hall. > The Promise. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Diamond Tiara sat alone in the white covered room, her heart beating loudly in her chest much like a stampede of wild yaks. Lips as dry as The Badlands on a summer day, her hooves weak and hope dwindling. Should she keep on trying? Was this all a lost cause? What would the madness bring today? So many questions haunted her conscious, yet none came with answers. Jeffrey swung open the door to the visiting hall, the violet mare at his side in silence. Her eyes were filled with sadness and shame, so tired of days without sleep. Dark umbra bags hung tightly under her broken hues, mane a tangled mess. “Is she ok? Under medication?” Tiara spoke in confusion, eyes narrowing to the mare who took a seat across from her. “No. Just a bad day.” Jeffrey gave a sigh and patted the mare on the shoulder, walking out of the room as silence began to fill the air. Tiara batted long lashes, never saying a word as the mare seemed to drift off into space. Her eyes not quite locking upon the child, but beyond her and off across the land outside. “It’s a lovely day outside.” Tiara gave a sweet smile, the silence broken and the mare shrugging. “The sun is so bright and warm! Love the feeling on my coat, walked like super slow on my way here.” The child giggled and gave a bigger smile. “La vie en rose...“ The mare spoke softly, eyes slowly lowering to the floor ignoring the child completely. “Quand tu me presses à ton coeur.” The mare hummed aloud softly as she sang a melodic tune. “Wouldn’t you like to maybe talk about your day?” Tiara spoke up trying to regain her attention. “ Je suis dans un monde à part.” She would sing sweetly to herself, thoughts drifting her off into another world. The child slowly folded her ears back in sorrow, it was no use to even try. She was invisible to her today, a phantom that could not be seen. Tiara listened to the melody of the song, so soothing from the mare’s elegant voice. She could feel a tear roll down her cheek slowly, gently splashing down onto the table below. The child about to wave in the orderly, yet stopping in her tracks, veins running ice cold. The melody was one she heard so long ago, sung to her during dark and frightful nights. To keep her safe and protected from any harm, be it creatures under the bed or the children at the park, who stole her dolly. “La vie en rose…” The mare begun her song anew, eyes blank and fading away. “Quand tu me presses à ton coeur.” She continued in a flawless soprano. “When you press me to your heart.” Tiara sang alongside her, ears pinned back as her voice trembled. “Je suis dans un monde à part.” The mare allowed her own ears to perk up suddenly in response. “I am in a world apart.” Tiara felt herself crying freely now. “Un monde où fleurissent les roses.” The mare lifted her gaze to the child, expression that of worry and woe. “A world where roses bloom.” The child felt the sting of tears, cascade down each cheek as her whole body shivered. “Et quand vous parlez, les anges chantent d'en haut.” The mare lift a slender hoof, wiping away the tears of the child. “And when you speak, angels sing from above.” Tiara sobbed as she closed her eyes, gently nuzzling into the loving hoof. “Les mots de tous les jours semblent se transformer en amour.” The mare let a loving smile cross her lips. “Everyday words seem to turn into love.” Tiara opened her eyes and wept softly in place, her heart wanting to shatter and spring back to life all at once. “Tiara?” She spoke in a tired voice, yet it was flowing with tender warmth. “Mom!?” The child sprang out of her seat and across the table, hugging the mare tight with all the love she could muster. “I feel so tired. No matter how much I sleep, the darkness never lifts.” She spoke in a confused tone, wrapping hooves around the child softly. “It’s ok! I’ll chase away the dark, I’ll lock it up and throw away the key!” The child shivered in place as she smothered her mother in tender kisses. “My little diamond in the rough.” She cooed and planted a soft kiss on her forehead. “I have so much to tell you! So...so little time.” Tiara felt tears rolling down her cheeks, her heart shattering in place within her chest. “My love! Don’t cry dear, just speak from here.” The mare placed a hoof atop her daughter’s chest softly. “I love you!” The child yelled out in pain, burying her face into her mother’s chest. “As do I.” “I’m going to lose you again?” “You’ll never lose me.” “How are you sure?” “Trust in me as I trust in you.” “...” “If I’m ever lost, call out to me and I will find you.” “Promise?” “I promise.” Tiara curled into a small ball in her mother’s embrace, the sound of singing filling the room. For just a moment, she was home. > Reality. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “I could feel she was herself! Lost among the darkness, she found her way home.” Tiara spoke in a voice of melodic glee. Her small tail swished excitedly back and forth as she sat at the kitchen table, enjoying a small bowl of oats for her breakfast this bright new day. Across the table Spoiled Rich lifted her muzzle high in the air with a sneer, a small cup of coffee before her with steam wafting across the rim. The sun washed through the open window of the kitchen, basking all in a warm light that protected any who it touched from harm. The mare allowing a small huff to escape her lips, the child chatting away in such an annoying manner. “I just know she is getting better.” Tiara flashed a sweet smile to her new mother. “Six Months.” “What?” The child spoke with a sense of confusion. “Six months. That is how long it took her to even show a slight bit of personality.” Spoiled gave an eye roll and stood up from her seat. “Well yeah. But that is still a glimmer of…” The blinds of the kitchen came smashing down loudly, Tiara could only gasp aloud in shock, a chill wicked darkness covering all inside the small room. The mare glaring to her with an icy look of pure hate, the child could only sit in silence and fear. “A glimmer of nothing! Hope or whatever you please is lost on that creature!” Spoiled shook her head back and forth slowly. “You lie.” Tiara let a whimper escape her lips. “I fear not dear. Just because that fool, knew you for a split second. Does not mean she is getting well.” Spoiled walked over to the child, gazing down in a emotionless state. “As of now. She knows nothing of you, a faceless child in a wave of despair.” Spoiled towered over the child with ease, placing a cold wicked hoof atop her shoulder. “She is gone. All that remains is the here and now!” “You mean...yourself?” Tiara spoke slowly, her ears perking up slightly as she lifted her head to the mare locking gazes. “What does that mean?” “You will never be my mother. You might have tricked father and all the others, but I can see through you.” “Hold your tongue!” “All I see is just filth. You must see it too, I never see you once gaze into a mirror.” Tiara spoke aloud as a loud pop filled the room around them, the small child holding to her face in pain and shock. “I’m your mother now! I demand respect!” Spoiled slammed a hoof atop the table loudly, the child curling up into a small ball on the kitchen chair. “Your father and I need to talk about this. I fear spending too much time with that loon is affecting you.” The mare sighed softly and shook her head, her hoof gently lifting the chin of Tiara to face her. “...” “Go to my room, we should cover this up.” Spoiled gave an annoyed eye roll and spoke aloud of the dark bruise on the child’s cheek. The mare walked off into the distance, deeper within the abyss that the child called home.Sliding out of her seat she began her silent walk towards the back, to hide away the misery she felt everyday. Broken eyes gazing out the nearby window, somewhere out there in the world covered by roses was a life she ached for. The life where her real mother was waiting, to take all the pain away. To be whole once more. > Secrets. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The room was darker today as if the sunshine had been stolen from the world, the dark clouds hovering high in the sky outside mockingly. Tiara's Mother was already in her seat when she arrived, hooves strapped in tightly as her eyes were full of confusion and fear. Jeffrey had spoken about how she was on edge, the last few days that of fear and nightmares. He suggested Tiara return another day when her mind was less foggy, yet she had to see her, her mother was inside that fog and she simply had to provide the light. “Mom?” Tiara sat across from the mare, speaking in a calm and collected voice. “Why am I strapped down!?” The mare flung her hooves up, straining the leather straps holding her in place. “They say you've felt confused?” Tiara tried to grab her attention. “Of course I am, this hellish place is holding me here!?” The mare shot the child a hateful glare. Tiara folded her ears down in despair, Spoiled Milk's words ringing loudly inside her ears. Her mother wasn't completely gone, she refused to believe such a heartbreaking fact. “Mom it's me remember!?” Tiara placed a tiny hoof atop her mother's. “I know you!” The mare let her eyes widen in complete surprise. “You do!?” Tiara felt her tail swishing side to side in joy. “Mm-hmm! You're that mean old mule!” The mare broke into a fit of laughter. “No, please mom don't leave me!” Tiara pounced upon the large table in terror, her small heart racing wildly. “Yeah, you have the same color and everything!” The mare gave a roll of the eye towards her daughter. “It's me Tiara, you promised you'd come back!” Tiara lunged at the mare wrapping tiny hooves around her, pulling into a sudden tear soaked embrace. “MULE! MULE! MULE! EEEYAW! EEEYAW!” The mare shook in place roughly, the small child hugging her mother for dear life. “MOM!” Diamond Tiara screamed the chair rocking violently as her mother yelled nonsense, the orderlies beginning to unlock the visiting room door. “Buck you Mule!” She spit a warm wad of saliva in the child's face, Tiara falling off her mother to the floor with a thud. The rattling of keys echoed across the claustrophobic room, Tiara curling up into a ball on the floor. Her mother was indeed lost in faux memories, everything to her a blur of nonsensical tall tales. “I needed that medicine to get out of here!” The mare snapped in pure hatred towards the confused child. “What did you say!?” Tiara felt her eyes lock onto the mare in utmost shock, perhaps it wasn't nonsense!? “MULE!!” She howled like a timberwolf towards the ceiling, Jeffrey and two nurse ponies rushing inside before unstrapping the mare from the restraints. “Please, what did you say!?” Tiara screamed as loud as possible for a reply, a nurse roughly grabbing her shoulder before yanking the child from the room. Tiara struggled while being escorted down the icy sterile white hallway, her mother had indeed called out from the abyss. Now it was her turn to piece together the shattered puzzle, or risk losing her mother forever. > Lies. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tiara gazed down to her dinner with a melancholy gaze, hoof poking at her peas in a lackluster fashion. Her spare hoof rested upon her cheek, that one sentence from today echoing in her mind. “Princess, what's the matter?” Her father spoke up from her left, lifting a forkful of mashed potatoes into his mouth. Tiara flashed a blank stare across the dinner table towards Spoiled, the mare giving a raised brow in reply a air of ice wafting from her. The child shrugging in silence as she lifted her own fork upward, plunging it deep into her salad upon her plate. “Was mom ever on any medicine?” Tiara took the plunge, speaking from her heart towards her father. “Can't say she was?” Her father gave his child an odd look. “From what illness has claimed her, I doubt anything could help her!” Spoiled gave her own two cents on the matter. “Not true honey, remember they tried those whatchamacallits?” Her father flaunted his hoof in place boredly. “No idea love.” Spoiled gave a sudden shrug in a defensive manner, lifting a glass of wine swiftly to drink. “What those hippie ponies eat…” Filthy gave a snort aloud, ready to give up on the matter. “Natural Remedies!?” Tiara felt the words nearly explode from her mouth, Spoiled flashing an hateful glare to the young filly. “Those are the ones, they tried like six or so of those! Expensive they were!” Her father spoke in a blunt tone of voice, as if it had been a bad deal. “Did they work at all?” Tiara questioned with sparkling hues. “Dear, leave your father alone!” Spoiled huffed. “Don't think so, I was out of town and Spoiled met with the doctor.” Those words stabbed the child in the chest like a razor blade. “Well mother, did they have no effect?” Tiara snapped her head towards the mare, eyes locked on her own in fiery passion. “Oh course dear, otherwise she'd still be on them…” Spoiled lifted a fork of salad towards her lips. “Would she?” Tiara spoke in a clear voice. Spoiled lowered the fork down with a callous frown across her muzzle, Tiara's father casting a glare in his daughter's direction. “What would you be suggesting child?” The mare popped her lips loudly. “What are you suggesting Tiara!” Her father chimed in on the growing tension within the room. Tiara knew something was awry, yet until she had hard evidence to prove otherwise. She knew deep inside her heart, that he'd take his wife's side every time. “Nothing at all, I'm just feeling sad.” Tiara folded her ears back in growing sorrow, her father leaning over to kiss her forehead. “Go get some rest my princess, I'll bring you up some dessert later.” Filthy flashed a wry smirk and chuckled. The child giggling as she tried to pass Spoiled, only to have a icy hoof clutch her shoulder tightly. The cold distant mare yanking Tiara into a smothering embrace, whispering hollow words into the child's ear. “Sleep well.” Spoiled squeezed Tiara firmly, locking her in a vice grip as she nearly felt faint. The horrid embrace releasing her as she began to rush upstairs, Tiara taking a few inhales to catch her breath. The icy words of Spoiled dancing loudly through the air, as the filly stood in the abyss of the stairway. “I feel the child is spending too much time at that institution.“