It had been a long trip coming home. I was deep in the Griffon Empire when I received the letter from mom.

To My Dearest Daughter Shifting Winds

I know you're out on another adventure and how much you love exploring, but something terrible has happened. You know how your older brother Gale joined Cloudsdale's Guard, or you should if you've been receiving my letters. He's gone. I'm sorry you had to receive the news this way. I would have told you my self, but with the war and I never know where you are. I'd say it's a miracle if these letters get to you, but the mail service is reliable enough even with all the fighting. We need you home now. His funeral is in a couple of weeks. I was able to delay it so you could attend so please come home. With your brother gone now too and the war going on I worry for your safety and your little brother's. I'm getting old and won't be able to care for him myself much longer and with Gale gone I need you more then ever. Please for my sake and your little brother's please come home. Gust misses you too, he's gotten much better at flying and really wants you to see. I'm waiting to tell him Gale won't be around anymore until you get home, you know I've never been good at giving bad news to ponies.

With love

Mom

Mom always did say she was no good with letters or bad news, but her tear stains on the paper gave me all the emotion she was trying to convey. I wish she would have wrote how he was killed, but I knew I would find out when I returned home.

It was surprisingly overcast in Cloudsdale when I arrived. Before I left it was always clear and sunny, but now even the clouds the city was made of were gray. The whole city seemed depressed. I remember passing several airships on my way into the city, almost all of them looked battle worn and scarred. Only one seemed to really stand out. In the port under repairs was a monster of a ship, it must have had at least sixty or seventy guns per side. What caught my attention is it was here in Cloudsdale. When I left only two years ago Cloudsdale only had a few frigates, never anything like a full battleship! It's presence concerned me and raised questions. I had heard the war had heated up, but a battleship? How bad was it here?

I flew to my mother's home. In a big city, a small house stands out. As I landed on the porch of the cloud house I used to call home, I waited. How should I say hello? What would I say? Before I could think of what to say the door opened. Seeing mom in front of me anypony could tell where I got my coat from, her coat was a white as snow just like when I left home, I guess my blue mane came from my father who left before I was born (could be where my adventure lust came from too). She looked me in the eyes and smiled.

“I'm so glad you could make it,” she said as she gave me a near lung crushing hug. “I was worried you didn't receive my letters! Why didn't you ever write back?”

“Mom, I'm sorry, I just never remembered to I guess.”

“You guess? You leave on a dangerous journey leaving all of us behind and never write back, and you guess you forgot is the best excuse you could think of? Honestly, I raised you better than that! If you're going to avoid your family you could at least come up with a better excuse than that!”

Yep, that's the loving mom I remember. She was right though, I never wrote back. I think I just wanted to pretend like I didn't have responsibilities at home I would have to go back to someday.

“I'm sorry it's the truth mom, I just never remembered.”

“Well, I'm just glad you're home now,” Mom answered me with a smile.

I thought to my self, She bought it!

“But you're going to have to learn to lie better than that to get out of answering me. You're lucky Gust wants to see you so badly or I'd give you a lecture you on lying to me and teach you how to actually lie to somepony. I read you like a deck of cards.”

Or not. Looking back on it with a mom like her and a deadbeat dad it's no wonder I chose to adventure instead of staying at home doing normal girly things.

I decided maybe it was time to change the subject. It was bad enough she was right that I lied about why I never wrote. I decided next time my letters where just going to get lost in the mail, she'd buy that for sure.

"So where is little Gust anyway?" I finally asked.

"He's inside playing in his room, I'll go get him. Why don't you make yourself at home, after all you are at home."

"Okay mom, I'll just wait in the living room."

Alright now try to imagine the most boring living room you've ever seen, good, now double it by the bore factor. I'm fine with spartan accommodations, but there was only a couch! No pictures, no tables, no TV, dear Celestia no TV! I travel over a hundred miles to set my rump on the most boring couch in history with out even a Television to distract me from that fact. Infomercials would have been okay after this. Not to forget everything was that same shade of depressing gray the outside was. I didn't even see the couch at first. After what seemed like an hour my mother brought Gust down stairs.

"Shifty!" He yelled at the top of his little lungs. "You're back! Wait until Gale hears about this! He's gonna be so happy!" He flew straight into me and gave my a rather rough hug for somepony his size. "Mommy, mommy, she's back!"

"Alright calm down," mom pulled him off me and set him down next to me on the couch. "Gust, do you remember what I said before about not jumping on everypony who comes in? You're a Pegasus not a dog. Now there's something your sister has to tell you about Gale."

Wow mom, way to throw this on me. I can't believe you sometimes ask why I left in your letters.

"Well," I began. "You see, Gale's umm, not going to be around anymore." As I said that he looked at me with the biggest eyes I'd ever seen on anything, ever. I could see tears building up in them as I spoke those words. It's like he knew what was coming and was still unprepared, or at least willing to make me feel like garbage saying this. I hate you mom.

"Wh-where is he? Why-why won't he be back. Shifty where is he? He promised he'd come home!" Tears began flowing down his face, I hadn't even said he died, just that he wouldn't be around anymore. I knew I shouldn't lie to him about something like this, but...

"He's out on an adventure like I was."

"Really?" The tears stopped, but only barely.

"Yes really, would I lie to you Gust?" I could feel my mother's gaze even though she was behind me. What was I supposed to say? 'Hey gust I'm home, by the way our brothers dead!' No, this was her fault for pushing it on me.

"Well, okay," Gust finally calmed down. "I'm gonna write him a letter just like I wrote to you! He'll be so happy I can't wait to hear back from him like I did from you!" I'm going to hell aren't I? Wait, I never wrote back to home. After I sent Gust up to his room to play I asked mom.

"Where you giving him fake letters from me?"

"Yes, it's not like you were going to send any anytime soon."

For the first time in a long time I found myself speechless. I had no witty comeback and no smart remark, I was just avoiding my family. Sure we never exactly had the best relationship as a mother and daughter but I should have wrote back for Gust and Gale's sake. I was about to apologize, then I remembered my mom had just asked me to break the news that my older brother died to my younger brother with no time to prepare, hell in the letter she said she's do it. Guilt was replaced by anger and then I made perhaps one of the worst decisions of my life.

"Well if you weren't such a bitch I would have wrote back! I would have visited more! I could have seen Gale again before he died!"

That's right, I shouted for everyone in my house (meaning only my mom and little brother to hear) that I never wrote back, and Gale was dead. It was less than ten seconds before I could hear running down the stairs and crying. My mother turned to me speechless. I'm not sure if it was because I had shouted in her face that she's a bitch or because she also realized both of our lies had just been revealed to my little brother, her son. He came running down the stairs crying his eyes out barely able to speak.

"You..you said he was adventuring and, and, and th-that you'd never lie to me! He's dead? How could you lie to me about that! He, he, he's gone, and you were gonna lie to me about it!"

Now whoever said words can't hurt you was a lair. Each word, each stuttered syllable felt like a bullet to the chest. A colt shaped rifle firing bullets of guilt and regret with a primer made from sadness and betrayal. I was about to start crying myself. No matter how I looked at it or tried to blame my mom, we where both to blame, not just her. My mom tried to calm him down to no avail.

"Now Gust, look it's-" She was cut off by Gust.

"No, you lied too! You said she was writing to me! You made up all of her letters! Why would you do that to me!" He choked out between sobs.

"I just wanted to do what I thought was best for you, you're too young to understand."

"I'm too young to understand? At least I'm young enough to know good from bad. I don't want to be old enough that lying is good. Lying is bad, my teacher said so."

With that he ran up the stairs crying. My mom turned to me.

"Now look what you did," I couldn't believe it when she said that!

"What I did? Like you're free from guilt here."

"I'm not, but I wanted to explain it to him when he was older. Now I'm going to have to try and fix all of this. Look, Gale's funeral is in a few days, I was going to hire a foalsitter for Gust, but I won't have to now. Just try and rest up until then, oh and don't cause anymore trouble for me."

The next few days went smoothly, turns out a sad betrayed colt can forgive just about anything for ice cream and a new video game. I'm sure you've heard enough about my rather dysfunctional family anyway. After the few days had passed of "bonding with family" and catching up with old friends and other family, it was time for the funeral. That funeral would change my life more than I could have ever imagined.

Author's Note

Please give me your honest opinion in the comments and point out any errors you see so I can fix them. More of this story is coming soon. Thank you to all of my proofreaders for your help. I understand there's not much that's steampunky in this chapter, but trust me that will all come soon. If you didn't like the story please tell me why in the comments as to help me improve on my writing.