I lulled over my cup of coffee, feeling my dry, cracked lips stick together unpleasantly. The aches and pains across my bruised body pulsate with each breath. I couldn't help but feel as if it were all my fault. It hadn't even been an hour, the royal guard had probably already noticed it. I obviously wasn't going anywhere, and to top it all off, this coffee was too damn hot to drink.

I sighed and glanced out the window. Darkness had fallen on the snow covered streets. The snow still falling was thick enough to limit vision to no more than twenty feet in any direction. The nearest street lamps were visible but beyond them stood a wall of blackened snow.

They were bound to find me within a few hours and they will find that I'm innocent. I glanced down into my cup. The first and only thing I could see within the steaming cup was my own reflection.

My reflection wore a torn, bloodstained, white hoodie that clung to my wet fur. My neon blue mane hid beneath its blue trimmed hood. I didn't recognize the mare in my coffee.

My glasses were broken and one red eye shone through when I confessed that I had no money, the owner of this place had to grant me the booth. They had to... Because this booth was where she and I had first met. The owner of this coffee shop knew who we were and anyone with eyes could tell that something very bad had happened.

A tear dropped from my cheek and broke the calm surface I gazed so intently on. As the ripple thinned and the surface became calm, her face had replaced mine. Her black mane and charcoal coat. Gleaming as if she had just brushed and groomed herself.

It was how she started her day. Ten years had taught us what we now knew. She knew me better than I knew me, and I knew her better then she claimed I did. But she was never in black and white. She had very little white on her, except her eyes.

I know they say the eyes are the windows to ones soul... She had the brightest soul I'd ever seen, no matter how much black and gray she had. Her soul was as pure as Celestia.

That's why I love her, at least, that's why I will always love her.

I glanced back up and out the window. The owner of the coffee house had taken a seat across from me. "In all the years I've known you, I've never seen you cry."

I nearly choked as every memory of our times spent here flashed through my mind. I couldn't speak to him. I just couldn't... Without looking away from the window, I lit my horn and raised my cup to my shaking lips.

Hopefully a small sip will help...

"I can't believe. It's been ten years since the two of you met here, In this very booth, on Hearths Warming Eve. Listen, I know you think whatever happened is your fault, but I'm willing to stake my life on it that it wasn't at all your fault.

I accidently took a big drink of coffee, struggling as pain-filled tears surged from my squeezed eyelids. I slammed the coffee down on the table, before finally breaking down and sobbing into my blood stained hooves.

The stallion stood and patted my shoulder twice before quietly walking away.

I cried, I sobbed, I screamed, and coughed. The coffee that didn't splash from the cup upon its brutal landing had been drank, refilled and drank again. Nearly five hours had passed and the snowstorm ceased to exist.

I had laid my forehead against the edge of the table, feeling much too out of it to move. I allowed my head to roll to one side before I jumped, bolting to an upright position. The old stallion was sitting caddy corner to me at the booth. "About damn time you woke up. You've been laying there silently sobbing for nearly three hours."

"Thank you, for allowing me to stay a little while... And for the coffee." I said, letting her eyelids droop with new found drowsiness. My whole body felt heavy and my mind felt tired.

"You alright? Sorry, but you have some company here to speak to you." He said before standing up.

Two guard ponies stood from a nearby table. "Ma’am.” The stallion bowed before me. “Captain Featherflight and this is Private Jewel. I’m sorry to report that your friend was found without a pulse and even after being treated and operated on, she could not recover from her injuries."

Their faces turned to wavy lines and liquid colors as she heard someone somewhere begin to scream. They sounded as if their whole world had just been destroyed. It was blood curdling, filled with anger and sadness. It was only after the screams stopped that I had realized my throat had gone raw and I began to cough up small droplets of blood.

The guards removed their helmets and bowed to me. I had finally rubbed my sore red eyes dry and raw. My heart ached at the pain that fed the hole in my heart. A hatred, festering for the ones who attacked us and stole more from me than a bag of bits.

A hatred had begun to take its shape, in the form of the two thieves who had robbed us on our way here... The pegasus and unicorn who had beaten us down for our valuables, and had taken my wife from me for the pleasure of it.

"I can't believe... They took her from me..." I finally said quietly sniffling just before my eyes rolled back and everything went silent.

Author's Note

(Editors note!) I've had comments and pms about this story regarding it's final line. The reason she passed out is because she's been exhausted this entire time. She's just finally reached her point and passes out. No one can stay awake forever especially after a brutal attack and seemlessly endless hours of painful thoughts. It's overwhelming...

This didn't take very long to write, though I feel as though here lately I've been unable to write simply because I overthink ever little detail before even beginning to write. This is just something I thought about and decided to start writing. I tried not to focus on how I wrote it but rather what I wrote. I feel it's a habit I fall into from time to time.

-Sigh-
Anyways, I hope you've enjoyed this tragic little tale. ^^ feel free to say whatever you may think of it. Oh and this took roughly an hour to write and roughly 45minutes to rewrite/edit. So I don't expect much to come from it. :)