Chapter 01 - ...Right?
I’ve always thought it was strange how the world works. People, myself included, get up, go on about their days, and generally hold little regard for the happenings around them, but sometimes there are anomalies. Sometimes, somebody does take a moment to take in the world around them. In this instance, I was that somebody.
The streets were crowded and bustling with people as is typical of a lunchtime rush, so it wasn’t too much of a surprise to see at least one car moving too quickly, probably rushing to get some food so they could get back to work in their allotted break time. Nor was it uncommon to see people crossing the street with little regard for the oncoming traffic in their own eagerness to get to wherever they were going. Honestly, I probably wouldn’t have even seen either of them had I not been watching the crossing lamp so eagerly. I watched that small, blue sedan as it sped, completely unaware, towards the equally oblivious little girl. I didn’t know why she was running across such a busy avenue, nor did I care as I dropped my messenger bag and raced to intercept the kid before the car did.
Blood pounded in my ears as adrenaline coursed through my veins, drowning out my attempts at screaming the girl back to safety. She stopped and, for a moment, I thought I’d be able to get her out of the way. I reached for her, sweat beading on my forehead and stinging my eyes, and lifted her into the tightest grasp I could manage as I rushed to jump back onto the sidewalk, but I was too late.
Was it selfish of me, in that moment, to wish I hadn’t tried to save the girl? Was it wrong to think of myself just then? I had a split second to realize my folly and pray that the car would swerve into the other lane before I felt the fiberglass body, then metal frame, crash into my hip and send both me and the girl tumbling over the car’s hood. We were dropped, broken and bleeding, on the hot asphalt. The girl was screaming on the ground next to me, choking on her own blood, and I wanted to soothe her, to try and caress her short brown hair and tell her that everything would be fine, but I couldn’t move. I was terrified, breathing erratically. It was strange. I couldn’t even feel any pain. I did just take the full impact from the car, right?
Maybe.... Maybe everything would be fine. I could hear sirens and thanked whatever God, Goddess, or holy being that had influenced a paramedic into driving down this random street. I think I smiled. We were going to be fine. I had saved the girl and, other than some broken bones, we’d both come out of this without a hitch.
I could see the paramedics, dressed in their navy uniforms, working frantically to help us. Everything would be fine.... I just had to take a nap, first. As I closed my eyes, still smiling, one of the EMTs knelt down by my head, staring down at me with her bright, blue eyes. I didn’t understand why, though. We were going to be fine. I couldn’t even feel any pain. We would be fine..., right?
~{E}~{w}~{b}~~{F}~
I woke in a cold sweat, my heart thundering with adrenaline as if it was trying to burst from my chest. It was dark, almost too dark to see anything, but a soft light pouring into wherever I was from under the door at the far side of the room gave me just enough to light to make out some of my surroundings. The walls seemed blueish, a strange sight considering every hospital I’d ever been in was always a sterile white, or, rather, every hospital I’d seen in movies was. I was in a hospital, right? I could clearly remember the accident, being hit by that car, the strange euphoria I’d felt knowing I’d saved the little girl, the paramedic staring at me with pity.... My body still ached from it, too.
How long was I out? How was I not hurting more? A myriad questions ran through my mind, but at the forefront of all of these thoughts was a niggling doubt, another question that haunted me for every second I didn’t have the answer. Did the girl really survive? I threw the hospital sheets off my body, shivered as the chill hospital air met my bare skin— Why was I naked? —and crawled off the bed. I was startled when my feet hit the floor so quickly, the bed barely came up to my thighs when I wobbled up to full height on my unsteady legs, but I quickly filed it away for later as pain shot up through my limbs.
It wasn’t anything unbearable, more like a mixture of the pins and needles you’d get after having slept on your arm and clipping your shin on the edge of a table, but it was enough to drop me back onto the very welcome padded perch. I hissed as I tried to massage it away, but it only seemed to make the sensation worse, so I gave up and soldiered on, back to my feet, and towards the now-obviously too small door. It was then that I realized that I could just barely touch the ceiling, a feat I’d never been able to accomplish before considering my rather limited height.
It was another issue I filed away, though; I had another, more pressing matter to attend to and I needed to find a nurse to see if they could point me in the right direction. I twisted the door’s handle, slowly pulled the door open, and nearly had a heart attack when I saw the small, powder-blue horse sitting away from me barely three yards away, or, more accurately, the very sharp horn on its head. Immediately, images of various art forms depicting the savage nature of unicorns flashed into my head, all of them using that horn to gore some unsuspecting fool, and I had to forcefully calm myself to keep from hyperventilating and alerting the creature to my presence.
I carefully peeked out the door, using the frame as support, and looked for where the little girl may have been taken. Luckily, there only seemed to be one other closed door in this section of the hospital, or what I assumed was a hospital, and I prayed that that was her room. Unluckily, the unicorn seemed to be watching it very intently. I cursed my luck as I examined the situation. The unicorn was small, barely even half my height, and it seemed cute, like it’d be weak, but looks can be very deceiving. The unicorns I’d read about in fairy tales were beautiful, majestic, and looked nearly harmless, but, instead of wishes and rainbows, all they brought upon those they met was death.
No, it seemed cute, but there was no way that I could fight it. My mind raced; if I couldn’t fight it, then what? Maybe I could knock it out with something? I looked around, hoping to find something large and heavy, but all I found was a small, wooden pencil laid out neatly on the desk. I could probably stab it, using that pencil, but if it didn’t die... I’d be done for. I looked around more, wishing that something else would come by as my saving grace, anything that could distract that horse, when I thought of it.
Moving as quietly as I could, I crept up to the count, holding my breath for good measure, and grabbed the little piece of wood to hold against my chest. I waited for a moment, building up what little courage I had remaining while I waited for the blue unicorn to make some move. I could just barely see it in the rounded mirror on the ceiling, staring blearily at the closed door, occasionally blinking as if it was trying to stay awake. For a moment, I thought I wouldn’t have to even distract it, this cliche tactic probably wouldn’t even work, but it finally stood and turned away, its hooves clopping noisily against the hospital tiles.
Taking my chance, I chucked the pencil down the opposite hall and, almost comically, the pony spun around. “What was that? Nurse Redheart, is that you?” She eyed the hallway carefully before trotting towards where I’d tossed the pencil. “This isn’t funny, guys! You know I get scared easily!”
To say I wasn't surprised to hear the unicorn talk would have been a lie, even if it was a strange, foreign language. I guess it made a little sense, unicorns were magical creatures, after all, but it was still alarming to hear something other than a whinny, almost enough to make me forget I had to sneak past it. I waited just long enough for her to get out of sight before scrabbling along the tiled floor on all fours. I reached the door, praying that it would be as well-oiled as mine had been, and rushed through the opening as soon as I had enough room.
The door closed behind me with a soft click and I held my breath, the hairs on my arms standing on end, hoping that the unicorn hadn't heard me. After an eternity, my nerves calmed back down enough for me to breathe again and I took that moment to peer through the darkness. I couldn't see anything with the measly light from under the doorframe, but I could just barely make out the sound of breathing from the other side of the room. That, or I hadn't calmed down nearly as much as I had thought.
Slowly, carefully, I crept towards where I assumed the girl was. I hoped that it wasn't just another unicorn; my heart couldn't take another jolt like that. As I drew closer, and my eyes adjusted to the darkness, the little girl's form took shape under the pristine, white hospital sheets. She looked just like she had before the accident, no signs of damage outside of a small bruise on the side of her face. She was sleeping so peacefully, too, like she was at home in her own bed after a nice bedtime story from her father; I almost didn't want to wake her up, but there were more pressing matters at hand.
"Hey. Hey, wake up." She didn't move other than to turn away from me and pull the blankets further over her shoulder. I wanted to scream at her. How could she be sleeping at a time like this? Just like a kid to sleep through a disaster. Of course, though, I couldn't yell, I could barely whisper, and I knew it wasn't her fault. I may not like kids, but there wasn't any reason for my anger; I was just scared, and who wouldn't be?
I was in an unknown hospital, all the staff were gone and probably dead, and there were bloodthirsty horned horses roaming the halls ready to murder us at any given moment. If it wasn't for the slowly fading needling sensation in my legs and how lucid I am, I'd say it was all a crazy dream and I'd wake up and I'd be in South Memorial hospital with my family and the girl's family and everything would be fine. But this wasn't a dream; there wasn't any way it could be.
I sighed and frowned down at the kid I'd rescued. I wanted to blame her for all of this, but I knew I was the one that had to act the hero. Hell, I couldn't have even saw myself doing that had I not already done so. Regardless, this was neither the time, nor the place, for hesitation. I gently grabbed the girl's shoulder and shook her. "Hey. Wake up!"
"I don't wanna wake up, Mommy. Still sleepy...."
I almost screamed. She was just like my sister and it bothered me to no end, but, again, there wasn't any reason to be angry at her, so I simply redoubled my efforts until she cracked her eyes open. "Finally! Do you know how hard you sleep?"
Of course, I should have known better than to greet her with sarcasm, especially in this situation. I could see the confusion, and then fear, play across her face as she realized she wasn't at home and I wasn't her mom. She opened her mouth to scream and I reacted purely on instinct, clamping my hand over her mouth before she could make any noise that would alert the unicorn.
The screech was thankfully muffled, but it didn't stop her from trying harder and adding kicks and trying to bite me. I had to force myself not to strangle her as I stared pleadingly into her eyes with one finger pressed against my lips. It took her a moment, but eventually she calmed down enough for me to talk. "Try not to scream, okay? It's not exactly safe here." I flashed her the friendliest smile I possibly could, which was probably more akin to a serial killer's grin given my shot nerves, and lightened my hold over her mouth. "If I let you go, you won't scream, will you? It's very important that you don't scream." She nodded slowly, obviously still terrified of the stranger in her room, but it was enough for me. Scream or not, we had to leave, even if I had to drag her through the halls.
As I lowered my hand, a thought occurred to me. Why was I even bothering with her? I didn't know her. She doesn't know me. Was it some sense of valor that I didn't know I had? An attachment after having saved her life once at the risk of my own? I shrugged it off. Whatever it was, it didn't matter now; I'd already dove in headfirst and the shore was miles off.
"You're nak-!" I slapped my hand back over her mouth and shh'd her a bit more forcefully than I would have preferred, but I didn't need her talking so loudly. I watched the door with wide eyes, my heartbeat thundering in my ear, and only when I was sure that, miraculously, nothing had heard her did I look back down at her.
"Don't talk so loud, okay?"
Another nod, this one paired with the least menacing glare possible, and I let her go again. "Mommy told me not to talk to strangers."
I almost chuckled at that. It was so cliche that I should have expected it. "Well, my name's Sarah. What's yours?"
"'lizabeth."
"Well, Elizabeth, we know each other's names, so now we're not strangers." I smiled at her while I mentally beat myself with a hammer. I couldn't have sounded like more of a pedophile if I tried.
"I guess.... Where's Mommy? I wanna home."
"I'm not sure, Elizabeth, but we'll find her, okay? First, we need to get out of here." I glanced around the room, peering through the darkness for a window, but there was nothing other than the blue walls and Elizabeth's bed.
"Why?"
"Because it's dangerous." She gave me that inquisitive look, the same one my sister always gave me whenever she was on a 'Why?' spree, but I silenced her with a stern glare. "Look, I know that you don't know me and that you're probably scared-"
"I'm not scared. I just want my mommy. Where are we?"
"We're in the hospital. Don't you remember the car accident?" She nodded and stared down at the sheets she had bunched up in her hands. I understood the look; if I wasn't so concerned for our imminent safety, I'd probably be just as scared. That accident should have killed us, but here we are with barely a scratch on us. "Come on, Lizzie." I held out my hand and she warily took it. "Let's get out of here and try to find some help, okay? You just have to be really quiet, got it? There are some dangerous animals outside the door." I picked her up, grunting as she shifted her weight off the bed and onto my chest, and wrapped the bedspread around us. Was she always this heavy? I remember her being much lighter when I grabbed her out of the street. "Just... hold onto me, alright? We may have to run."
She nodded and tightened her grip on me, nearly squeezing my head from my neck as she trembled against me. I guess she was terrified and it's not like my warning about the unicorns helped calm her down either. I bounced her up higher in my arms and pressed up against the door, trying to listen to the horse just outside. "Please be looking the other way...."
With a shaky hand, I turned the door handle, peeked an eye out into the hallway, and heaved a sigh of relief when I couldn't see the unicorn. I had no idea where the exit would be and hoped that I'd be able to follow some signage out, but the coast was clear for now. I really didn't have anything to worry about for the mom-
"Hey! You're awake! I'm glad; we were worried that you might not make it."
My heart skipped a beat and I spun to see the unicorn walking towards us, head held high and deadly horn glinting in the fluorescent lights. I had suddenly lost all control of my body as if my will was being sapped away by the horse's magic. "It's so pretty!"
Elizabeth's voice shocked me out of my stupor, reminding me that it wasn't just my own life on the line, and I took that moment to launch into a sprint down the opposite hall. "I know it's pretty, but that unicorn is dangerous!"
"Where are you going!? You shouldn't be running in your condition. Come back!"
I listened as the unicorn gave chase, her hooves clacking loudly against the tiled floor. I chanced a glance behind me, looking over my right shoulder as my own fear left Elizabeth screaming over my left, and immediately regretted the decision. The horse was galloping towards us, slowly gaining ground despite my longer legs, with her head down and sharpened horn aimed right at my back. I caught a glimmer of light from the appendage and felt that needling sensation from before run up my spine, but, before she could close in on us and unleash whatever hell she was planning on, I turned abruptly down a conjoining hall.
Ahead stood a pair of swinging wooden doors with bright, hopefully natural light shining through the tall, thin windows. My lungs burned, arms ached from running with Elizabeth's not insubstantial weight, and I was certain that whatever other unreal creatures resided in this hospital were certainly aware of us with her screaming in my ear, but we were almost to safety. We just had to make it through these next two doors and we'd find somebody to help us figure out just what was going on, but, just as I was got ready to plow open the swinging doors, another unicorn, this one a light pink, pushed it inwards.
"What is all that ruck-?"
I didn't have the time, nor the care, to slow down and rushed past it only to cut my arm open on its horn. I hissed in pain and hoped that I'd stunned it, but kept running towards the gradually warming light streaming in through the lobby windows. I braced myself, holding one hand out to twist the handle and supporting the still screeching Elizabeth with the other, and burst through the door into the blinding daylight sun. "Please! Somebody, help..." I froze in my tracks and squinted out across the small group of horses gathered outside the front door. There were more horns among them, wings, too, and I could just make out an entire town full of them in the background. I swallowed the lump that in my throat and glanced back to see the two unicorns, dressed in their mockingly cliche nursing caps. "...us?"
Chapter 02 - Our Ending
To say that I was surprised would have been a bit of an understatement, and if I told you that I wasn't absolutely stricken with terror, then I'd be outright lying. The entire situation was playing out like some cruel nightmare; the unicorns hadn't just taken over the hospital, but seemed to inhabit wherever it was that I had been sent. Added on top of it, there seemed to be pegasi and... normal horses, if only by their lack of wings and horns. Nothing else; just horses.
They all watched us like we were some alien creatures and, if I wasn't sure they were all ready to murder us, I'd have thought they were just as afraid as we were. The unicorns closed in on Elizabeth and I, their horns glowing and sending shivers down my back, but I swung a fist at the closest and, thankfully, they all took a step back. "Stay away! Leave us alone!"
"What happened, Cotton? They're acting crazy!"
"I don't know. One moment both of them were half-dead in their rooms and the next they're running like something was after them. I think they're scared."
I glared at the group as I slowly crept away, taking however much distance from those pointy horns as they would let me. It was strange that they hadn't attacked yet, but I didn't want to look a gift... horse... in the mouth; it was only a matter of time before they changed their minds. "Maybe they don't know where they are. Has anybody tried talking to them yet and, maybe told them to not run ponies over? That still hurts."
"What do you think I tried first? They just ran off screaming!"
"I-I think they're not mean, Sarah." I nearly jumped out of my skin when Elizabeth whispered in my ear. She had been screaming the entire time that I had barely noticed she'd calmed down with the ringing still jarring my hearing. I gave her an incredulous look, almost ready to tell her that she was crazy, when she pointed to the horse I'd cut my arm on. "Look. You hurt her."
I hesitated. Of course I hurt it; I wasn't trying to be nice when I plowed past it. Still, I couldn't understand why she was being so sympathetic. Isn't she as scared as I am? "How do you know?"
"She said so. They say that you're crazy."
I gave her a deadpan look as she giggled at what, apparently, the horses were saying. "You can seriously understand them?" She grinned and nodded, obviously having forgotten entirely about our situation in light of the talking horses. I still wasn't convinced, however, that they were friendly, but if the kid believed otherwise, then I'd at least play along until I could get us out of here and on our way back home. "Well... what are they saying now? Can they understand us?"
"Dunno. You could ask, yannow. Hey horsies!" I wanted to stop her, the unicorns were distracted by their own chatter at the moment and weren't paying us any attention, but would she have even listened? "Can you hear me?"
The mare I had bulldozed glanced back up to Lizzie and the look she gave her answered what the gibberish they were speaking couldn't. "What? Of course we can. Such a strange kid.” She turned back to the others and nodded her head in my direction.“Do you think we should get the princess? That one might be dangerous."
“I think the poor thing is just scared. I mean, look at how much it’s shaking.” One of the ponies from the crowd, this one lacking any additional appendages, stepped up beside the others and smiled at me. “Are you alright? You’re bleeding pretty badly.” She tried to step towards me, but I backpedaled into the wall, still unsure if any of these things were friendly. It wasn’t easy trusting a kid’s judgement, even if it seemed like she could understand them. “It’s definitely scared. Cotton, could you go fetch Princess Twilight? I’m going to try and calm her down.”
“Lizzie, what are they saying?” I hoped it was them planning on leaving us alone; my whole body, and not just the gash in my was sore, something about this place was making my skin sting like no tomorrow, and my arms were straining to keep from dropping Elizabeth. On top of it all, I was feeling woozy, like I was about ready to pass out, and my adrenaline high was wearing off. Luckily, as one of them turned and ran down the path from the hospital, they started backing away to leave the white mare that had tried to get close to me.
“Let me help to at least stop the bleeding, okay? You look like you’re about to faint.” She took another step closer, but my back was against the wall and I didn’t expect any of them to let me bum rush them a second time. “I won’t hurt you.”
“She wants to fix your arm. You should. You look sick and we won’t find mommy if you’re sick.” I shook my head and regretted it for a moment later. My stomach churned and the world spun as I staggered and fell to the ground before my vision went black.
~{E}~{w}~{b}~{F}~
I woke with a scream as the intense needling sensation from before rippled through my body and centered on my right arm and rolled away to land on the cold floor. All at once, the pain slipped away to the more concentrated burning of a reopened wound and a light tingling in my skin, but my shaking lingered as I looked frantically about the room. I watched from behind the short hospital bed I had fallen from as two horses, both of them horned and winged, stepped around it. They were both larger than the half dozen I had already seen, one more reminiscent of the horses I had seen when I was younger, but, strangely, neither of them scared me nearly as much as the others and I felt myself slowly calming in their presence.
The smaller one, her coat a soft lavender, had a look of worry, almost as if she had done something wrong, and kept glancing between me and the larger horse. “I’m sorry, Princess. I didn’t mean to scare her. I just wanted to help.”
The mare with the pristine white coat smiled at her smaller compatriot and it felt like the stress in my body eased from the gesture alone. “It’s fine, Twilight. You couldn’t have known what would happen. I don’t think anybody would have known. For now, why don’t you wait outside with Elizabeth? I’m certain she would be more than happy to tell you all about herself.” She turned back to me, directing that comforting smile my way, and waited as the other horse bowed and trotted out, the door opening in glow of purple.
“You can understand me, right?” I nodded, too dumbfounded by the entire situation to respond otherwise, and she nodded back. “Were you able to understand my friend?” A quick jerk of my head, no, and she nodded again, her smile slipping just slightly. “I thought not. It seems she still has some growing left.” She replaced her radiant expression and gently reclined into a sitting position on the tile in front of me. “You must be rather shaken by this whole experience and I can not blame you; it’s not often that we get outsiders here. It can be a trying experience.”
She paused and watched me for a moment, and I took that time to find my wits and ask the question that had festering in my mind since the accident. “Where am I?” I felt kinda guilty that I hadn’t asked if Elizabeth was okay, but the way she had casually mentioned the kid earlier somehow set my worry to rest.
She chuckled, a melodious sound that made my heart race, and her horn lit up to throw open the curtains behind my bed. “I assumed that would be the first question you asked, and I was not disappointed, but I do not expect the answer is something that you would easily accept.” She motioned towards the window with a leg, never losing that warming grin. “This isn’t any land that you would know the name of, even in passing, but its residents like to call it Equestria.”
“Equestria?” I frowned, my skepticism hopefully showing in my expression. “Like horse? This isn’t earth?”
“Equestria, like horse.” Another chuckle rang out as she shook her head, causing her undulating mane to waver like a disturbed puddle. It was almost mesmerizing, how it moved, and I was surprised that I hadn’t noticed it before; it wasn’t inconspicuous. “I don’t quite remember when my little ponies started calling this place as such, nor can I remember its original name, but it just stuck one day. They can be rather silly at times.”
“So, not earth....” I looked down at myself, just barely catching the shake of her head, at my bare, dark-skinned body contrasting against the white tiles, tiles that could have easily been from any manufacturer back home, and thought about it for a moment. Equestria? How did this even happen? Nothing was making sense and, were it not for the oddly relaxing presence of this horse, I’d have probably started freaking out by now. Just the thought of it made my chest clench and it made me fear the moment either she or I left. “Th- then what is this place? A world full of horses?”
“Among other things, yes. Equestria is not quite like what you’re thinking, I believe. It’s not simply another world with ponies instead of humans.” Her smile shifted, almost imperceptibly, into a look of consolation, or, rather, a smile of pity. “If you wish, I can explain everything to you, but I have two conditions. I must ask if you are truly ready for the knowledge. If you do not wish to know, that is fine, but you must at least realize that you can never return to your home, at least in this lifetime. The other, and this is the most important, is that I must require you to never tell anybody of what I say. Is this acceptable?”
I almost nodded right away, anything would be better than being left in the dark, but her tone gave me reason to pause and wonder. It wasn’t the soothing voice she had used moments ago, but stern and reminiscent of my mother when she needed to keep my attention. It made me question my eagerness to know. Would I really be better off knowing about this Equestria, especially knowing that Elizabeth and I were stuck here? Maybe I should politely decline and just learn to adjust. It seemed like the most convenient route, more so since I wouldn’t have some secret I needed to maintain, but I was curious. Who doesn’t want to know other people’s secrets? “I... think I want to know.” I admit that I was worried, too. It was troubling for such a serene being to switch into a rather imposing voice, but I had to know.
“I must have an exact answer. This is not information to be taken lightly, I’m afraid.”
I steadied myself and finally looked back up into her eyes to find a trace of sadness in them. For a moment, it unsettled my resolve, but I felt I needed to know. “I want to know.I swear that I’ll never tell a soul about what you’re about to tell me.”
Her sad, pitying smile returned as she nodded and motioned towards the bed. “Please, lay back down.” She waited as I climbed up onto the hospital bed, crinkling the plastic mattress as I moved, and turned to face me when I had finally situated myself on the sheets. “Never tell a soul....” I looked up at her, surprised that, for a moment, I couldn’t understand what she was saying, but she simply shook her head and closed her eyes. “It was nothing. Just an old mare lost in her thoughts. Now....”
~{E}~{w}~{b}~{F}~
My hands trembled as I walked under the fluorescent lighting of the hospital’s halls, only aware of the alicorn beside me from the wing she was using to guide me along. My whole body felt numb, but it wasn’t something I was concerned about. How could I be? It was hardly an issue anymore and I knew what was causing it. Of course, I wasn’t really worried at all, not with the princess beside me, but how long would that last?
She led me towards a familiar door, it was where I cut my arm on that unicorn’s horn, and a feeling of dread washed over me. Elizabeth was out there. What would I tell her? How would she react? I silently hoped that Celestia would talk for me, but I didn’t feel that I could ask her to. It had to be me. The doors were enveloped in the soft, golden glow of her magic and opened, slowly, to reveal the lavender mare from before sitting in front of Elizabeth and eating up everything she was spouting.
I managed to crack a smile, even as Celestia released me and stepped towards the pair, drawing the younger pony’s attention. She stopped before fully stepping away from me, however, and spoke just loud enough so only I could hear. “If you wish, we will be more than willing to find a home for the child. I know that she is not yours, and don’t wish to unnecessarily burden you with a task you are not up to, but know that you will be provided everything you require regardless of your choice.”
I jerked my head, keeping my eyes on the little girl. “No. I-I’ll do it.”
“Very well. Twilight, follow me for a moment. We need to find miss Sarah a place to stay for a while.”
“Yes, princess!” Twilight jumped to her hooves and rushed after the regal mare as she made her way towards the exit, but not before pausing to address her newest friend. “You’ll have to tell me more about these airplanes later, okay?”
“Yup! I promise!”
The pair giggled and I felt my smile widen, even as the princess’ comforting presence faded away. Elizabeth seemed so innocent just then, and I took a moment to watch her. She turned to me, her bright, childish eyes homing in on mine as if they were a beacon, and I swear I saw them flash with worry. She stood from her spot on the ground, holding the slightly-bloodied blanket I’d wrapped us in earlier around herself, and rushed over to latch onto my waist. I jumped at the sudden contact, but rested my hand on her head, still keeping up the stupid smile I knew was plastered on my face. “What’s wrong, Lizzie? Are you okay?”
She shook her head and squeezed me tighter. “You’re sad.”
I chuckled, and ruffled her hair as she looked back up into my eyes. “What do you mean? I’m not s-” I paused as a drop of moisture landed on my breast, and watched as another fell to splash against Elizabeth’s forehead. “Wha-?” Slowly, the tears increased in volume, trickling down my cheeks against my will.
“What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
I glanced back down at her, my smile wavering as I fought back against the feeling of helplessness welling in my chest. “I’m....” I’m fine, I tried to say. I wanted to say it. I tried nodding my head, but, no matter how hard I worked to keep the motion going, all I could do was shake it weakly, back and forth. I choked back a sob, trying to keep what little composure I had left, but it was pointless. I fell to my knees, cupping my face in my hands, and bawled like I had back when I was just a child.
Barely even a second passed before Elizabeth’s arms were back around me and she, too, was crying, but this time, I hugged her back.
