As My World Burns

“...Davey…”

Ugh, you’d think I’d be able to sleep in peace.

“...Davey, come on.”

Wait…

“Get up, sleepy head.”

Is that…

“Davey, really. You can’t lay there forever!”

Petals?

My eyes shot open at the thought, but was instantly closed for me by the excessive light pouring in the window. Part of me wanted to roll over and ignore the world after that, but there was a chance of seeing my Petals again. Lifting a hoof to block the light, I eased my eyelids open, and there she was.

Feather Soft, my wife, stood over me in all her splendor. She looked exactly like I remembered her. Well, the few wrinkles that appeared as her condition worsened weren’t there, and she didn’t favor her front-left leg, but you get the idea. Her rich golden coat shone beautifully, like she just left the shower. Going by the way her sage green mane hung heavy against her withers, I think she did.

I laid there, staring into her purple orbs, lost in memories. When we met, the dates we had, the confusion and pain of finding things we didn’t agree on… meeting her folks, proposing, getting married….. Then, she giggled, and the world returned.

We were in our room above my store. There was my nightstand with the picture of us on our honeymoon. Over there was the shared dresser, a tossed aside bow tie dangling its edge. In the closet was our luggage from when we returned.… That’s right! We just got back from our second honeymoon!

“Davey,” she called with that sweet voice of hers, that hidden giggle carrying it into my ears. “Get up, slowpoke. You need to open the store.”

A smile graced my lips, then. Only she could make work sound like something new every day. I told her I was up, and she tittered again. “Sure you are,” she rang as she sashayed out the door, swinging her flank all the way. Mmm…

Hey! Don’t look at her like that. She’s mine.

I ran down the streets like a crazed antelope. My hooves pounded the dirt beneath me as my velocity cooled the sweat pouring down my brow. There were glimpses of ponies skittering out of my way as somepony called behind me to slow down.

Like I’d do that right now. My wife was in trouble!

The hospital loomed on the horizon, but it never drew closer. Even as I put on more speed and felt my balance start to shift, it wouldn’t move. Why couldn’t I get closer? Move!

A rock jutted out of the ground suddenly, catching my leg before I could adjust. The world spun end over end as I tumbled, then everything went white.

Then faded into the hospital room.

I was gasping for breath. The doctors were trying to shuffle me out, but I could do nothing but stand there. She was on the bed, wires and hoses hooked up to her like a machine, and I couldn’t think. A security guard stepped in and dragged me forcefully out by my tail, but I didn’t feel a thing.

A doctor stood before me, explaining… whatever it was that caused this. I didn’t hear him, and I wasn’t particularly good with lip reading, even if I was aware enough to try. His lips stopped, then he put a hoof on my shoulder and shook his head.

The halls disappeared in another expanding cloud of white till it was just the two of us. His coat slowly shifted to gold, then his mane lengthened and turned green. The last things to change were his eyes and lashes, and she replaced him completely.

“Davenport.” Her voice sounded weary. “Davenport, you can get through this.” Oh, so weary. “Please, Davey, keep moving.”

“But I want to be with you, Petals.”

A sad smile graced her lips at my nickname for her. “And you will be. But not right now.”

“Can’t I stay with you?”

“Not yet,” she said with a shake of her head.

“Why?”

“Because…”

I remember that word well. We had our arguments, like any couple, but we worked through them. Eventually, an agreement was reached. If we ever had something to say or do, but didn’t have the words, we’d say ‘because’ and that was it. It was our way of saying ‘just trust me.’ Now, she was telling me to do just that, but I didn’t think I could. Just this once, I couldn’t.

She must have saw the pain in my eyes grow harder. “Davenport, listen to me,” she said with every bit of authority she had over me. I nodded my compliance.

“I know it’s hard. I’ve watched you every day, and you’re miserable. I can’t stand to see you like that, Davenport. So the shop burned, so the townsfolk aren’t what you think they used to be, so the life you built with me is gone. It’s okay.” She reached out to me, but didn’t let her hoof touch my coat. “You can start over, Davey. I won’t be mad. I promise.”

“But…” I tried to grab her hoof, but she pulled it away and shook her head.

“Look again, Davey. Don’t let your mind trick you. I love you too much to let you do this anymore, so—”

“No…”

“Please—”

“Don’t say it, Petals.”

“Move on.”

With that, her body turned to dust and drifted away, slowly blending into the white space around me, and everything shifted to black.

I opened my bleary eyes to the hotel’s wood ceiling. The sun shone through the window and lit the room ablaze in morning reds. It was apt, I would say, to how I felt. My mind was clearer than I remember it being in weeks, but I couldn’t remember my dreams. A fair trade, I decided.

A new day has begun, and I intend to make the most of it. Pinkamena, most of all.