Falling Backwards

The candles wavered in the silence as the fireplace smoldered. A hard yellow light struck out across the majority of the room. Sun Blaze's bright red coat stuck out, his mane encased in a glowing silhouette. Warmth seeped all through the room, spilling from the ashes in the fireplace and out into the belly of the room. Off to the side of this cozy space was the old stallion. He leaned against the wall, one hoof resting on a backleg. The other lifted a short necked bottle to his lips. With a satisfied sigh, he let his head fall back and stared down toward the glow of the fire. I trotted carefully down the stairs with the sheets tucked safely under a wing. This was the sight I was greeted with, his amber bottle glinting in the light.

I dropped the bedclothes and sat in the circle of heat, stretching my wings to let it warm my feathers. "Well, h-how was the trip?" It was a long minute before I dared begin.

"Long and hard, sweetheart," He sighed and cast his orange gaze to the window across the room. I followed it to see the snow piling along the wall. Beyond that, the dimly light day was dreary and cold. The trees of the forest waved and rattled in the wind. Suddenly, Blaze snorted. "They talk about that global warming, right? Well, take a look outside." Another portion of that dark liquid disappeared. "It's so damn cold, them idiots can't even write their lies in their books. Global warming my ass."

I pursed my lips, ears perked as I continued to watch the weather. "Global warming didn't mean literal heat," my voice whispered across the room. A mere gust of wind would have drowned it out. Blaze's vacant eyes snapped on me. I gulped, catching my wing before it could rise to hide my reddening face. "It was just another name for climate shift. Some ponies get warmer weather year round while others get less." Silence beat away my frantic whispering, but as soon as it lulled I found myself talking again. "Sometimes, every few hundred years, Celestia moves the position of the sun to help the other countries grow. Because of this, the pegasi need to alter the weather patterns to accommodate for the lack of direct sunlight." The words tumbled out, emphasised by a long, drawn breath at the very end.

Sun Blaze stared widely for a long moment before smoothing back his thinning greyish brown mane. "Don't believe all the silly rumors you hear everywhere." Another swig. I watched the bottle tip, caught him smacking his lips afterward. "Celestia moves the sun because one 'a them foreign pansies blackmailed her into giving them the sun. She might move it, sweetie, but she don't got control of it." A small, ever so slight sloshing sound came from the glass. It tipped, spilled and them splashed back down in its container. Blaze sighed and shifted his hindquarters. "You see, she-"

"You said you didn't drink anymore."

A small scattering of flakes pattered gently on the window. It was all that passed through the room. Blaze looked me over for a moment, from my stretched yellow wings to my long pink hair. I am not sure what he was looking for, or what he suddenly noticed, but he nodded slowly. "Well, things were hard this month, dear. Work has gotten a lot harder since my shoulder injury. I needed something to help me through the night."

"Shoulder injury?"

"Yeah, it was real bad. Pulled a muscle so bad the good ol' doctor had me off my hoof for a month." He grinned, resting his head against the smooth wood behind him.

"Goodness, that must have hurt." Half of a minute ticked by.

"I'm surprised you didn't hear about it. Yer mom usually brags to everypony about what a useless lout I am, right?" He shrugged and again took a swig of his beer. The fuzzy haze before his orange eyes only grew. "Bet she just raves about how evil and mean I am."

He sat up and his mouth opened, but my small, squeaking voice filled his. "Oh, gosh, I have to go check on the deer!" Silence surrounded Blaze as he watched me stand up. I trotted toward the pantry and found a sack of what appeared to be trail mix. In it was a pile of old crop bits. Pieces of carrots and wheat that were discarded. A few not-so-perfect apples even littered the mix, courtesy of Applejack. I dumped the mix and a few strings of bark into my saddlebags and paused long enough to watch Sun Blaze stand.

"I have to go check on my deer friends in the meadow. It might take a while so, make yourself comfy. There's food in the pantry... I-if you're hungry, you know. The stove is there, just rekindle the fire to heat it up." The door beckoned to me from just beside me. It called my name just a tad quieter than the nerves screaming through my churning stomach. "You can do whatever," the world wavered as I shifted from hoof to hoof, "Just don't make too much noise. You don't want to wake the animals."

Sun Blaze looked over to the closed door. Beyond it were the many large cages and the...

"I've never met a deer." He suddenly said, pursing his lips. "Let's go meet some deer." With that, he marched out of the door ahead of me.

The day was winding down steadily. The pale glow that eased over the edges of the clouds above slowly began to dim as the day grew old. Enough light persisted to brighten our path as we trudged through the fields. A striking pair against the white backdrop, the deer raised their heads as we neared them. First, they started at the sudden bright red that was my companion but I soon calmed them. Worry continued to seep from their timid forms, despite my attempts to reassure them. Sun Blaze cleared away a decent spot and plopped down, watching me as I wove my way around the magnificent beasts.

"Oh, Emelda," I sighed. The fawn before me hopped about on its little spindly legs, rearing back with a cry of excitement. "You're looking better every day." Emelda's mother warned the fawn of her reckless play and I laughed. "She's just a little deer. Let her play a while. I brought food for everyone."

With the food dispersed, I spared a glance to Sun Blaze. He watched from afar. With bottle in hoof, he hauled himself up and started back toward the cottage.

I gave a start and zipped after him. "Sun Blaze!" He halted and drew back, eyebrow raised. Panic shot through me as I slowly, awkwardly, lowered myself to the snow. "W-why don't you, ya know, uhm..." My eyes found their way over his shoulder to the deer. One of them bent to retrieve an apple from my discarded bag. Inspiration hit me and I clapped a hoof. "You should really meet my friend Applejack!" Wind howled in place of words he did not say. I kicked a pile of snow and fluttered to his back, nudging him along. "Yeah, Applejack. She's a very good friend of mine."

"Listen, Fluttershy, I'm kinda tired," Sun Blaze stepped away from me. "Maybe tomorrow we can go and see this Apple-whosits, okay?"

"Oh but she's really quite nice. She's the most honest and loyal pony I know." I laughed and tapped my chin. "She's a real hard worker, too. Since you're out here and new and all, I figured maybe she could set you up with some work to kinda get you back on your hooves. The Apple barn is always being reconstructed so it's perfect for your work, right?" Some part of me hoped, prayed, he was listening. It really did. The rest of me was not so surprised to find the empty space beside me. It was moreso suddenly panicked at the prospect of a wandering Sun Blaze losing himself in my meadow. "Hey, wait!" I flew after his hoofprints.

Emelda could only laughed as I zipped back long enough to tip over the saddle bag and distribute their food. I gave a smile and zipped away once again.

The door eased open with a soft creak. Sunlight flooded the room, casting his long shadow down the wooden floor. For a moment, everything seemed dim and cold until the pony found his way to a nearby table. He struck a match first, then the started the fireplace. Soon it's yellow glow filled the shadowy corners of the livingroom and hung at the edges of the nearby door frame. Sun Blaze stood by the fire and observed the door. Beyond it were a dozen sleepy little critters and one ferocious beast... He trotted closer and slid the nightstand over in front of the door.

"Sun Blaze!" I burst into the room. He looked up and gave a smile.

"Listen, I know you're excited to see your ol' daddy again but I'm not ready for a complete tour just yet." He set himself up on the chair beside the covers and stretched. With a hoof, he gestured me to sit beside him. "It's been so long since I've seen you, why don't we just spend the day to talk?"

I took my seat and twisted the sheets in my hooves, letting my mane fall into my face. "Well, what do you wanna talk about?"

"Anything, sweetheart." His hoof came around and locked around my shoulders, dragging me in. "I was kinda surprised when I got your letter. Figured your ma still had hold of you. You were never the assertive one, were you?" A sudden belch erupted from his chest. "But you're an adult, right? No mind dumbing-"

I slipped away, leaping into the air. "I really think I should check on my animal friends. They might be hungry or... Or something." I backed up into the door.

"Wait, I thought we would catch up a bit."

"Tomorrow. After all, you're pretty tired and if Harry doesn't get fed regularly, he gets cranky."

Sun Blaze's dim eyes flicked up to the door and fell back down. His red brow furrowed and he began to fiddle with the sheets. "Goodnight!" He dove under the covers and disappeared.

I smiled politely and ducked into the animal room. "Oh thank Celestia!" With a soft sigh, I made my way around the cages. A certain cotton-tailed critter bounded toward me with a small squeak. Angel Bunny leapt up to throw his little soft paws around me. "Angel! I was wondering where you'd gone off to." I nuzzled him back and set him down.

A short string of bunny chatter erupted from my frantic little friend as I made my rounds.

"It's going great!" I laughed, ears drooping. "I couldn't imagine this day going any better." Another little bit of chatter came at me and he put a paw on his little bunny hip. "No, I'm being honest." I flicked my tail in response, "This is the best any of this could possibly go." He tapped my hoof and frowned. I looked down at him with a sigh and fell to my knees. "I don't know what I'm expecting, Angel. I had hoped for... I don't know, just something!" I dropped my muzzle into my hooves. "I don't know what to say to him or how to act around him. He's my father!"

Angel stroked my foreleg, his little ears pinning back.

"It's only the first day and I already feel like-" My ears perked. Something within me ticked and I leapt back up. "It's only the first day! This is just day one, Angel. There are plenty of days left." I scooped up the clever little boy and nuzzled him gently. "I can't rule out the whole month if it's only been a day. I'll make that stallion see. Tomorrow, thing's will be different!"

Angel moaned with nausea and hopped away. He stumbled into his little bunny burrow and curled up with a little huff. He said something then that I missed as I trotted out the door.

Out there, Sun Blaze had sloppily made up his bed and fallen asleep. His gruff, old face was slack and peaceful, devoid of its usual scowl or sneer. Now, asleep and adrift, he seemed almost normal. A soft snore started up from the couch as I ended the fire and blew out the candles. A bit of sunlight was all that shone through as I took the last candle upstairs. "Tomorrow will be different," I assured myself as I closed the bedroom door.