Walking On Broken Glassby TheTiredQuillChaptersIIIIIII “Hey, Juniper, look at this one.” A light blue pegasus colt giggled as something small and long with far too many legs to count scurried up and down his forelegs. “Cut it out Whirlwind. You know I hate bugs!” “Would you quit being such a baby.” The colt said, extending the terrifying looking creature in her direction. “It’s not gonna hurt you.” The orange pegasus let out a terrified shriek and crawled further up the rock she’d been perched on. “Ew, get that thing away from me!.” The colt frowned and retracted his hoof, allowing the creature to scurry over the rest of his body. “Geez, you’re no fun.” “And you’re gross. Seriously, how can you let that thing just crawl all over you like that?” “I like it. It tickles.” The filly wrinkled her nose at him. “Whatever, just get it away from me.” The colt blew her a raspberry in return. “Scaredy cat.” “Weirdo.” “Crybaby.” “Creep.” The colt offered the filly a sinister smile, fluttering up and thrusting the creature into the filly’s headspace, just inches from her nose. “You hurt his feelings.” The colt said, donning his best fake pout. “Say you’re sorry.” . The filly screeched, shooting up into the air and putting as much distance between herself and the disgusting colt as possible. “Celestia, I cannot stand you sometimes.” Not about to let his prey escape so easily, Whirlwind took off after her, the same impish smile on his face. Juniper struggled through the canopy, fighting valiantly with the dense leaves and branches before she was finally able to break through. Whirlwind emerged hot on her hooves, zeroing in on the filly’s position and tearing off in her direction. The two foals raced through the bright afternoon sky, Juniper flying nearly as hard as she could while Whirlwind casually fluttered after her. The pair covered another generous bit of open sky before Whirlwind finally caught up to the filly, pulling up beside her and giving her a smile that was so cheeky that she could practically count his teeth. “C’mon June. You know I always was the better flier.” “Leave me alone!” “Not until you apologize.” “In your dreams.” “C’mon, June.” he smirked, offering the centipede to her again. “Kiss and make-up.” Juniper made an ugly face at the insect, nearly falling out of the sky as her disgust overpowered her concentration “Ugh, why do you have to be so gross.” “C’mon. Just one little smooch.” “Seriously, go away!” Peeling her disgusted sneer off her brother, June gave the ground whizzing by underneath her a thorough inspection, spotting a small checkered flag sticking out of the foliage, she abruptly broke off from her flight path and dove back down into the canopy. Another grueling bout with the forest’s particularly obstinate branches and leaves awaited her, and she fought with every last ounce of her strength to fend them off. After carving herself a well-earned path and breaking through the other side she immediately spread her wings, reducing the beat of her wings to a measured flap as she gently eased herself toward the ground. It was only once she heard the angry rustle of leaves and branches immediately behind her that she began to lose her composure, her steady descent quickly turning to a panicked race to get herself to the sanctity of solid ground. When she was but a hoof’s length away from the forest floor, something slammed hard into her back, sending both her and the unknown entity crashing into the ground in a jumbled heap. Taking a moment to shake the stars from her eyes after her less than graceful landing, Juniper tried to get to her hooves but found there was something heavy pinning her down. Staring down her nose at the light-blue coated, white maned nuisance reeling on top of her, Juniper let out a scoff and roughly pushed the other foal off of her and into the dirt. Getting to her hooves, Juniper threw one last scornful scoff at the pegasus colt lying beside her before making her way away from the crash site toward a colorful break in the trees. Upon passing through them she came upon a clearing with a little wooden house sitting smack dab in the middle. She unfurled her wings and was prepared to try the field in one leap when she heard the bramble behind her rustle. She didn’t even have time to react before the terrifying creature she’d been trying so hard to escape from peered down into her eyes from the part in her hair. She screeched as though she were on fire, leaping into the air and clearing the field in one terrified burst of speed. She didn’t even bother fully landing before she took hold of the door-handle, throwing it open and zipping into the house. She skidded a bit as she whipped around to face the open door, her brother’s cackling body swaying in wide arcs as he flew toward the house. She blew him the biggest raspberry her hungry lungs would allow before slamming the door in his face and turning sharply on her hooves, shuddering at the fact that it had been on her — that it had actually touched her mane. “Oh my Celestia.” Immediately her hooves were roving every inch of her body, trying to find any traces of any bugs or gross insects Whirlwind had decided to leave her with. After doing at least two or three good passes — and one last one just to be completely sure — she had deemed herself sufficiently bug free and allowed herself to slump against the door in relief. Her relief didn’t last long, as the furious clopping of hooves quickly stole her attention. Just then, a pegasus mare with a yellow coat and three groups of butterflies for a cutie mark came scuttling around the corner, her pearlescent pink hair falling in front of her face. “Oh my, what’s going on out here?” Juniper’s face contorted and she leapt at the larger pegasus, forelegs and wings outstretched as she collided with one of the mare’s rear legs. “WhirlwindwasplayingwithbugsandthenhewasshovingitinmyfaceandthenhethrewitONMEand-” The larger of the two pegasi smiled down at the little foal clamped to her leg. “Slow down, honey. Tell me what happened. Slowly this time.” “I went on a hike with Whirlwind and he started playing with bugs again like he always does.” The older pegasus nodded. “And then what happened?” “He kept on putting it in my face and everything.” “And then?” “I screamed and flew back here and then he crashed into me and then right before I got home he put it IN MY MANE!” “Oh my.” “It was so gross!” The older mare gently slipped the frantic filly off her leg before making her way across the kitchen toward the door. “Alright, I’ll go have a talk with him. Why don’t you go upstairs and take a shower, okay?” The filly nodded before waddling her way into the other room and out of sight. Turning toward the door, the bright yellow mare grabbed the handle and eased it open. Stepping out onto the porch of the solitary little house, she found the other pegasus foal buzzing around the second story window, making faces at the filly in the window as she did her best to ignore him. “Whirlwind,” the older pegasus began, making the sky blue colt flinch. “Were you picking on your sister again?” “No.” “Are you sure?” “Yes.” “Because she told me you were.” The colt went back to making faces at his sister in the window again. The mare moved in front of him to block his line of sight. “Whirlwind. Why do you always pick on your sister so much?” “Maybe if she wasn’t such a baby about everything.” “Honey, you know your sister is sensitive.” Whirlwind craned his neck to further taunt his sister, the older pony frowned and moved to block him again. “Could you maybe try being a bit nicer to your sister? For me?” Whirlwind managed to once again find a way around the older pony, to which the mare responded by gently grabbing him by the shoulders. “Whirlwind…” The colt refused to meet the older pony’s eyes. “Come on sweetie. Let’s go inside and have some sassafras, okay?” “Fine.” II“June, mom said you have to get out of the shower.” Whirlwind shouted over the noisy spray of the faucet. “I’m not done yet.” Juniper growled. “You’re gonna waste all the hot water.” “No, I’m not.” Whirlwind sighed irritably. “When are you gonna be done?” Whirlwind waited a long moment for a response. He pressed his ear up to the door, trying to separate the noise of the faucet from his sister’s voice. After a moment of protracted silence, a spiteful, sing-songed “I don’t know” rang out amongst the running water, making Whirlwind growl lightly under his breath as he stomped away toward the kitchen. “Mom,” the colt whined as he stomped into the kitchen. “Juniper won’t get out of the shower.” “Let your sister have as much time as she needs. We need to go and collect more firewood before winter gets here anyway.” The mare turned back around, humming quietly to herself. Whirlwind fluttered up to counter level, staring quizzically at her as she worked. “What are you doing?” He asked as she watched her knife slice through a carrot. “Making dinner.” She replied sweetly. The colt’s eyes immediately lit up. “Can I help?” The pegasus mare giggled, setting down her knife and smiling at him. “Alright, why don’t you go outside and see if we have any that we can still use? I’m making soup for dinner.” “Again? We had soup two days ago” “That was lentil soup, dear. This is tomato bisque.” Whirlwind grumbled as he went over beside the door and began pulling on his snow-shoes. “And be careful. I don’t want you getting a splinter or something.” “Okay, mom” Whirlwind said as he stumbled into his final snowshoe and flung the door open. Taking an immediate left, Whirlwind marched over to the shed next to the house and snaked around it to the back where they kept their pile of firewood for the winter. Sizing up the pathetic bundle of tinder that greeted him, Whirlwind noticed a particularly plump log sticking out amongst the dregs of the pile. Grabbing it firmly around the end, he gave a few experimental tugs, grunting as he found that it opted to remain exactly where it was. Huffing and planting his back legs firmly in the dirt, Whirlwind reared up and tugged at it again; but even with the added leverage, the log remained firmly stuck underneath all of the other dreck. Undeterred, Whirlwind continued to pull, intent to dislodge the firewood by sheer force of will if that was what it took. However, after nearly a minute of effort, he was forced to abandon his sisyphean task when the dirt underneath him — that had been churned to mud by his excessive tugging — finally gave way and swiftly set him on his back. “Darn it,” Whirlwind panted, getting to his hooves and wincing as he realized his entire back was now caked with mud. Feeling like he needed that warm shower more than ever, Whirlwind marched back to the front of the shed, struggling with the door before he was finally able to push it open enough so that he could squeeze in. The inside was dark and musty, caked in layers of old dirt and dust. Whirlwind fluttered up onto one of the nearby tables, careful not to step on the carelessly lain about tools as he searched for something usable. His eyes scanned every wall and table he could see well enough until he spotted a fire axe hanging on the back wall. Whirlwind fluttered over to it and grabbed the handle in his teeth. He could feel it bear down on his jaw immediately so he tensed up the muscles in his back, flapping his wings as hard as he could to try and lift it from its hook. However, just as trying to dislodge the firewood had left him panting and breathless, after a full two minutes of exertion, this would prove to leave him similarly so. Gritting his teeth and spitting out of the grubby handle, Whirlwind returned to the ground and squeezed back out of the shed. Turning and sighing as he realized he would have to shut the door behind himself, Whirlwind reared up and prepared to push until it suddenly creaked forward and shut as if by its own accord. Confused, Whirlwind glanced back behind him to find his mother standing over him, smiling down at him from over the rim of her scarf. “I finished chopping the vegetables and I thought I would give you a hand.” Whirlwind glowered at her before stalking off toward the back of the shed again. “I can do it myself.” The pegasus colt groused as he flew back over to the unimpressive pile of tinder hiding the stubborn log. Steeling himself, he planted his back hooves in the ditch he’d carved earlier and his front hooves on either side of the obstinate piece of wood. Then, with what must have been every last ounce of strength he could conjure up, he began to pull; but even though he had newfound determination driving him forward, he was still unable to dislodge it from the pile. Just as he’d been about to kick his pulling into maximum output, he began to feel the log slide out before it eventually popped free and he once again found himself on his back in the mud. He heard a soft giggling and he looked up to see his mother giggling at him, holding the piece of firewood in her hoof. “I’m sorry, sweetie,” she cooed, putting the firewood down before picking up her son and dusting him off as best she could. “Why don’t you go inside and take a shower before lunch. Juniper got out right after you left so the bathroom’s all yours now, okay? I’m gonna grab a couple more logs for dinner before I come back in.” Whirlwind sighed as she patted him on the head, grumbling under his breath all the way back to the house. IIIJuniper hummed idly to herself as she meticulously smoothed the snow in front of her, slowly turning the turgid block of snow a more circular shape. She’d just rounded off the final corner of her snowman’s head and was prepared to stick on his nose when something struck her smack dab in the back of the head. Her vision began to blur as fresh tears began to spill from her eyes, running down her face and quickly freezing to the fur on her cheeks. Curious to see what had struck her, Juniper whirled around just in time to see her brother keel over from laughter next to a generously sized mountain of snowballs. Upon seeing this, her face contorted into a pout, her eyes still pricked with tears. “Ow, Whirlwind, that hurt!” Whirlwind wiggled his tongue at his sister, who’s teary eyed pout quickly turned vicious as she collected some snow in her hooves and launched it at her brother. Juniper’s aim was truer than she’d anticipated, the ball of snow sailing a considerable distance and striking her brother right on the nose. Whirlwind’s manic laughter was immediately reduced to a surprised gurgle as he was struck, causing him to fall backward in the snow. Bolting upright, the unicorn colt wiped the snow out of his eyes, his face turning serious as he noticed his sister sticking out her tongue at him. Not even waiting to retort, Whirlwind snapped to his stock of ammo and grabbed as many as he could. Realizing what was happening, Juniper scrambled to find cover. Theorizing the house was her best bet, she took to the air, diving behind the edge of the house just in time to dodge a flurry of snowballs. Juniper didn’t dare move, staying perfectly still lest she expose herself to a face full of freezing snow. However, her brother was more deviously clever than she gave him credit for, and as she sat there with her ears flicking atop her head, she picked up the taunting voice of her brother from out in front of the house. “You have ten seconds to come out or the snowman gets it!” “No!” Juniper shouted, leaping out from her hiding place. “Don’t!” Juniper realized her mistake too late as, as soon as she stuck her head out, she was utterly bombarded by a rain of tightly packed snowballs. The pegasus filly screamed as her head, neck, chest, and forelegs all received a blast of wet, icy chill; and for the second time that morning, Juniper felt her eyes filling up with tears. “Whirlwind!” She wailed, plopping down into the snow. Her infantile wailing was ineffective on her brother, however, and as she continued to cry her eyes out, he was gathering snow for a third assault. But, before he could even throw a single snowball, a tired yet familiar sounding voice completely stole his attention. “Whirlwind...honey...” The voice that turned out to be his mother panted, looking unsteady on her hooves. “What...have we...talked...about?” The pegasus colt’s face twisted in horror as he watched his mother grimace and stumble her way toward the house. His petty vendetta forgotten, Whirlwind immediately dropped the snowball in his hooves and raced to his mother’s side. “Mom, what happened?!” “I’m...fine,” she insisted trying her best to smile but halfway across her face it slid into an agonized grimace. “Mommy!” Juniper exclaimed as she bounded over, still sniffling. “Are you okay?” “I’m...fine honey,” she panted, corralling her daughter in her forelegs. “Just need to...lie down...and rest.” The pegasus mare made it another couple steps before gasping and nearly falling into the snow. “C’mon, June,” Whirlwind said, moving to support his mother’s left side while Juniper took up the right side. Together, the three pegasi made it into the house, steering their unsteady mother past the kitchen, down the hall and into her bedroom. The two foals helped their mother to the edge of the bed where she immediately collapsed, chest heaving and limbs shaking. Both Whirlwind and Juniper stared down at the older pegasus, their faces wrought with fear and confusion. “Mom, what happened?” Whirlwind started, the fear evident in his voice. “I’m alright…” Their mother huffed, her already soft voice unusually quiet and frail, causing her foals to become all the more frantic. Whirlwind stared at his mother at a loss as to what would be making her act so strangely until he heard his sister gasp. “Whirlwind, look!” Following his sister’s eyes, Whirlwind noticed a trail of blood leading from where their mother lay to the hallway outside the bedroom. “Mom…” He began, the corners of his eyes beginning to fill with tears. But despite the grim situation and the way her kids were panicking, the pegasus mare smiled. “My...sweet...children…” She breathed, her voice barely above a whisper. “Please...don’t be...scared…” With that, the pegasus mare’s eyes fluttered closed and her breathing quickened, her chest rising and falling almost as though she were struggling to breathe. “Mommy…” Whirlwind asked, prodding her shoulder. The pegasus mare let out an agonized cry, startling Whirlwind so badly that he stumbled off the bed and onto the floor. Both Whirlwind and Juniper looked on in horror as their mother continued to cry out, her back arching as she writhed on the bed. Then, in the midst of her fit, she cracked an eye open to look at her children, a solitary tear slipping out of her eyes and rolling down her cheek. “I’m sorry. I love you both so very much.” Whirlwind and Juniper gasped as their mother was surrounded by what looked to be fire, stumbling backward slightly as it erupted through the roof of the bedroom and continued on into the bright morning sky. As the flames died down, the two foals stared on, horrified as a sickly green aura took hold of their mother’s limbs, enveloping each of her outer extremities in its light. Inch by inch they watched as the normally pristine yellow shine of their mother’s coat was replaced with hard brittle looking chitin. Next were her wings, the sleek, velvety soft looking feathers being easily swallowed up by the aura before going still and falling out, being replaced with the thin, translucent wings of an insect. Finally, the aura enveloped her head. Twisting her once beautiful face into a visage that, to her children, was utterly unrecognizable.The creepy, eldritch magic finally finished its transformation at the tip of the mare’s tail before fizzling out and disappearing completely. Whirlwind and Juniper — who’d been hiding in the bathroom connected to their mother’s room — peeked out from the other side of the door frame once they saw the terrifying green glow recede from the room. Whirlwind was the first to move, cravenly slinking back into the room but still giving the bed a wide berth. Juniper remained where she was, looking like she was just moments from passing out from the sheer shock of it all. Whirlwind made it to the door leading to the hallway before motioning Juniper toward him. Juniper shook her head, her eyes wide with fear. Whirlwind danced on his hooves impatiently, waving her forward more insistently than before. Still, Juniper refused to move, her eyes darting between him and the unknown entity lying on their mother’s bed. Whirlwind realized he needed to use a more direct approach, crawling back over toward the bathroom and grabbing his sister’s hoof. It took a few hard tugs to get her to finally move with him, and even as she did, she never once took her eyes off the strange creature now taking up residence in their mother’s bedroom. They made it halfway back to the other door before they heard something stirring on the bed. Whirlwind immediately stopped in his tracks, turning his head ever so slowly toward the bed to meet with a pair of beady, blue eyes. “Whirl...wind…” The creature wheezed. “Juni...i...per…” Whirlwind felt stale fear seize his limbs as the unknown creature addressed him by name. Giving a hard tug on his sister’s hoof, Whirlwind tried to get her to move faster but when he glanced over his shoulder he could see her standing there, frozen in fear as she stared at the abomination. “June, quit staring at it we gotta go find mom!” Whirlwind demanded, tugging on his sister. But the pegasus filly found herself unable to move. Just then, something crashed through the bedroom window, startling Whirlwind and successfully breaking Juniper out of her stupefied state. Whirlwind’s head ping ponged from the brick lying near the wall to the broken window and back again as he tried to make sense of what exactly was going on. Then another object flew through the newly broken window, this one exploding once it hit the wall, coating everything it touched in flames. Whirlwind had managed to shove his sister up against the wall just in time to shield her from the shock of the explosion, however, it wasn’t long before the flames spread, turing the carefully crafted foundation into acrid, suffocating smoke. As Whirlwind and Juniper tried to regain their senses, a loud bang echoed from somewhere near the kitchen immediately followed by the hurried stomping of hooves. Panic and desperation filled the young colt’s eyes as they zipped around the bedroom in search of an escape. HIs eyes fell upon the broken window and he took to the air, zipping over to it and preparing to pull him and his sister through before the stocky hooves of an angry looking earth pony and jabbed at them from the other side. Flitting back toward the middle of the room, Whirlwind considered the hallway again, his head whipping around the doorframe to meet the eyes of more angry looking earth ponies. “There it is!” One of them shouted, prompting the rest of the group to begin charging down the hallway. At a loss, the pegasus foal looked back toward the being on the bed, its gaze meeting his before its eyes flicked up to the hole in the ceiling. Whirlwind didn’t need to be told twice, taking a firm grip on his sister’s hoof as the two foals zipped out through the roof and into the air. "Wait!" Juniper yelled, her voice fading as she was shepherded away. The changeling lying on the bed watched the two foals escape through the hole in the ceiling, a wide, happy smile on her face as she watched their silhouettes until they disappeared completely. “I love you both, so very much.”
I “Hey, Juniper, look at this one.” A light blue pegasus colt giggled as something small and long with far too many legs to count scurried up and down his forelegs. “Cut it out Whirlwind. You know I hate bugs!” “Would you quit being such a baby.” The colt said, extending the terrifying looking creature in her direction. “It’s not gonna hurt you.” The orange pegasus let out a terrified shriek and crawled further up the rock she’d been perched on. “Ew, get that thing away from me!.” The colt frowned and retracted his hoof, allowing the creature to scurry over the rest of his body. “Geez, you’re no fun.” “And you’re gross. Seriously, how can you let that thing just crawl all over you like that?” “I like it. It tickles.” The filly wrinkled her nose at him. “Whatever, just get it away from me.” The colt blew her a raspberry in return. “Scaredy cat.” “Weirdo.” “Crybaby.” “Creep.” The colt offered the filly a sinister smile, fluttering up and thrusting the creature into the filly’s headspace, just inches from her nose. “You hurt his feelings.” The colt said, donning his best fake pout. “Say you’re sorry.” . The filly screeched, shooting up into the air and putting as much distance between herself and the disgusting colt as possible. “Celestia, I cannot stand you sometimes.” Not about to let his prey escape so easily, Whirlwind took off after her, the same impish smile on his face. Juniper struggled through the canopy, fighting valiantly with the dense leaves and branches before she was finally able to break through. Whirlwind emerged hot on her hooves, zeroing in on the filly’s position and tearing off in her direction. The two foals raced through the bright afternoon sky, Juniper flying nearly as hard as she could while Whirlwind casually fluttered after her. The pair covered another generous bit of open sky before Whirlwind finally caught up to the filly, pulling up beside her and giving her a smile that was so cheeky that she could practically count his teeth. “C’mon June. You know I always was the better flier.” “Leave me alone!” “Not until you apologize.” “In your dreams.” “C’mon, June.” he smirked, offering the centipede to her again. “Kiss and make-up.” Juniper made an ugly face at the insect, nearly falling out of the sky as her disgust overpowered her concentration “Ugh, why do you have to be so gross.” “C’mon. Just one little smooch.” “Seriously, go away!” Peeling her disgusted sneer off her brother, June gave the ground whizzing by underneath her a thorough inspection, spotting a small checkered flag sticking out of the foliage, she abruptly broke off from her flight path and dove back down into the canopy. Another grueling bout with the forest’s particularly obstinate branches and leaves awaited her, and she fought with every last ounce of her strength to fend them off. After carving herself a well-earned path and breaking through the other side she immediately spread her wings, reducing the beat of her wings to a measured flap as she gently eased herself toward the ground. It was only once she heard the angry rustle of leaves and branches immediately behind her that she began to lose her composure, her steady descent quickly turning to a panicked race to get herself to the sanctity of solid ground. When she was but a hoof’s length away from the forest floor, something slammed hard into her back, sending both her and the unknown entity crashing into the ground in a jumbled heap. Taking a moment to shake the stars from her eyes after her less than graceful landing, Juniper tried to get to her hooves but found there was something heavy pinning her down. Staring down her nose at the light-blue coated, white maned nuisance reeling on top of her, Juniper let out a scoff and roughly pushed the other foal off of her and into the dirt. Getting to her hooves, Juniper threw one last scornful scoff at the pegasus colt lying beside her before making her way away from the crash site toward a colorful break in the trees. Upon passing through them she came upon a clearing with a little wooden house sitting smack dab in the middle. She unfurled her wings and was prepared to try the field in one leap when she heard the bramble behind her rustle. She didn’t even have time to react before the terrifying creature she’d been trying so hard to escape from peered down into her eyes from the part in her hair. She screeched as though she were on fire, leaping into the air and clearing the field in one terrified burst of speed. She didn’t even bother fully landing before she took hold of the door-handle, throwing it open and zipping into the house. She skidded a bit as she whipped around to face the open door, her brother’s cackling body swaying in wide arcs as he flew toward the house. She blew him the biggest raspberry her hungry lungs would allow before slamming the door in his face and turning sharply on her hooves, shuddering at the fact that it had been on her — that it had actually touched her mane. “Oh my Celestia.” Immediately her hooves were roving every inch of her body, trying to find any traces of any bugs or gross insects Whirlwind had decided to leave her with. After doing at least two or three good passes — and one last one just to be completely sure — she had deemed herself sufficiently bug free and allowed herself to slump against the door in relief. Her relief didn’t last long, as the furious clopping of hooves quickly stole her attention. Just then, a pegasus mare with a yellow coat and three groups of butterflies for a cutie mark came scuttling around the corner, her pearlescent pink hair falling in front of her face. “Oh my, what’s going on out here?” Juniper’s face contorted and she leapt at the larger pegasus, forelegs and wings outstretched as she collided with one of the mare’s rear legs. “WhirlwindwasplayingwithbugsandthenhewasshovingitinmyfaceandthenhethrewitONMEand-” The larger of the two pegasi smiled down at the little foal clamped to her leg. “Slow down, honey. Tell me what happened. Slowly this time.” “I went on a hike with Whirlwind and he started playing with bugs again like he always does.” The older pegasus nodded. “And then what happened?” “He kept on putting it in my face and everything.” “And then?” “I screamed and flew back here and then he crashed into me and then right before I got home he put it IN MY MANE!” “Oh my.” “It was so gross!” The older mare gently slipped the frantic filly off her leg before making her way across the kitchen toward the door. “Alright, I’ll go have a talk with him. Why don’t you go upstairs and take a shower, okay?” The filly nodded before waddling her way into the other room and out of sight. Turning toward the door, the bright yellow mare grabbed the handle and eased it open. Stepping out onto the porch of the solitary little house, she found the other pegasus foal buzzing around the second story window, making faces at the filly in the window as she did her best to ignore him. “Whirlwind,” the older pegasus began, making the sky blue colt flinch. “Were you picking on your sister again?” “No.” “Are you sure?” “Yes.” “Because she told me you were.” The colt went back to making faces at his sister in the window again. The mare moved in front of him to block his line of sight. “Whirlwind. Why do you always pick on your sister so much?” “Maybe if she wasn’t such a baby about everything.” “Honey, you know your sister is sensitive.” Whirlwind craned his neck to further taunt his sister, the older pony frowned and moved to block him again. “Could you maybe try being a bit nicer to your sister? For me?” Whirlwind managed to once again find a way around the older pony, to which the mare responded by gently grabbing him by the shoulders. “Whirlwind…” The colt refused to meet the older pony’s eyes. “Come on sweetie. Let’s go inside and have some sassafras, okay?” “Fine.”
II“June, mom said you have to get out of the shower.” Whirlwind shouted over the noisy spray of the faucet. “I’m not done yet.” Juniper growled. “You’re gonna waste all the hot water.” “No, I’m not.” Whirlwind sighed irritably. “When are you gonna be done?” Whirlwind waited a long moment for a response. He pressed his ear up to the door, trying to separate the noise of the faucet from his sister’s voice. After a moment of protracted silence, a spiteful, sing-songed “I don’t know” rang out amongst the running water, making Whirlwind growl lightly under his breath as he stomped away toward the kitchen. “Mom,” the colt whined as he stomped into the kitchen. “Juniper won’t get out of the shower.” “Let your sister have as much time as she needs. We need to go and collect more firewood before winter gets here anyway.” The mare turned back around, humming quietly to herself. Whirlwind fluttered up to counter level, staring quizzically at her as she worked. “What are you doing?” He asked as she watched her knife slice through a carrot. “Making dinner.” She replied sweetly. The colt’s eyes immediately lit up. “Can I help?” The pegasus mare giggled, setting down her knife and smiling at him. “Alright, why don’t you go outside and see if we have any that we can still use? I’m making soup for dinner.” “Again? We had soup two days ago” “That was lentil soup, dear. This is tomato bisque.” Whirlwind grumbled as he went over beside the door and began pulling on his snow-shoes. “And be careful. I don’t want you getting a splinter or something.” “Okay, mom” Whirlwind said as he stumbled into his final snowshoe and flung the door open. Taking an immediate left, Whirlwind marched over to the shed next to the house and snaked around it to the back where they kept their pile of firewood for the winter. Sizing up the pathetic bundle of tinder that greeted him, Whirlwind noticed a particularly plump log sticking out amongst the dregs of the pile. Grabbing it firmly around the end, he gave a few experimental tugs, grunting as he found that it opted to remain exactly where it was. Huffing and planting his back legs firmly in the dirt, Whirlwind reared up and tugged at it again; but even with the added leverage, the log remained firmly stuck underneath all of the other dreck. Undeterred, Whirlwind continued to pull, intent to dislodge the firewood by sheer force of will if that was what it took. However, after nearly a minute of effort, he was forced to abandon his sisyphean task when the dirt underneath him — that had been churned to mud by his excessive tugging — finally gave way and swiftly set him on his back. “Darn it,” Whirlwind panted, getting to his hooves and wincing as he realized his entire back was now caked with mud. Feeling like he needed that warm shower more than ever, Whirlwind marched back to the front of the shed, struggling with the door before he was finally able to push it open enough so that he could squeeze in. The inside was dark and musty, caked in layers of old dirt and dust. Whirlwind fluttered up onto one of the nearby tables, careful not to step on the carelessly lain about tools as he searched for something usable. His eyes scanned every wall and table he could see well enough until he spotted a fire axe hanging on the back wall. Whirlwind fluttered over to it and grabbed the handle in his teeth. He could feel it bear down on his jaw immediately so he tensed up the muscles in his back, flapping his wings as hard as he could to try and lift it from its hook. However, just as trying to dislodge the firewood had left him panting and breathless, after a full two minutes of exertion, this would prove to leave him similarly so. Gritting his teeth and spitting out of the grubby handle, Whirlwind returned to the ground and squeezed back out of the shed. Turning and sighing as he realized he would have to shut the door behind himself, Whirlwind reared up and prepared to push until it suddenly creaked forward and shut as if by its own accord. Confused, Whirlwind glanced back behind him to find his mother standing over him, smiling down at him from over the rim of her scarf. “I finished chopping the vegetables and I thought I would give you a hand.” Whirlwind glowered at her before stalking off toward the back of the shed again. “I can do it myself.” The pegasus colt groused as he flew back over to the unimpressive pile of tinder hiding the stubborn log. Steeling himself, he planted his back hooves in the ditch he’d carved earlier and his front hooves on either side of the obstinate piece of wood. Then, with what must have been every last ounce of strength he could conjure up, he began to pull; but even though he had newfound determination driving him forward, he was still unable to dislodge it from the pile. Just as he’d been about to kick his pulling into maximum output, he began to feel the log slide out before it eventually popped free and he once again found himself on his back in the mud. He heard a soft giggling and he looked up to see his mother giggling at him, holding the piece of firewood in her hoof. “I’m sorry, sweetie,” she cooed, putting the firewood down before picking up her son and dusting him off as best she could. “Why don’t you go inside and take a shower before lunch. Juniper got out right after you left so the bathroom’s all yours now, okay? I’m gonna grab a couple more logs for dinner before I come back in.” Whirlwind sighed as she patted him on the head, grumbling under his breath all the way back to the house.
IIIJuniper hummed idly to herself as she meticulously smoothed the snow in front of her, slowly turning the turgid block of snow a more circular shape. She’d just rounded off the final corner of her snowman’s head and was prepared to stick on his nose when something struck her smack dab in the back of the head. Her vision began to blur as fresh tears began to spill from her eyes, running down her face and quickly freezing to the fur on her cheeks. Curious to see what had struck her, Juniper whirled around just in time to see her brother keel over from laughter next to a generously sized mountain of snowballs. Upon seeing this, her face contorted into a pout, her eyes still pricked with tears. “Ow, Whirlwind, that hurt!” Whirlwind wiggled his tongue at his sister, who’s teary eyed pout quickly turned vicious as she collected some snow in her hooves and launched it at her brother. Juniper’s aim was truer than she’d anticipated, the ball of snow sailing a considerable distance and striking her brother right on the nose. Whirlwind’s manic laughter was immediately reduced to a surprised gurgle as he was struck, causing him to fall backward in the snow. Bolting upright, the unicorn colt wiped the snow out of his eyes, his face turning serious as he noticed his sister sticking out her tongue at him. Not even waiting to retort, Whirlwind snapped to his stock of ammo and grabbed as many as he could. Realizing what was happening, Juniper scrambled to find cover. Theorizing the house was her best bet, she took to the air, diving behind the edge of the house just in time to dodge a flurry of snowballs. Juniper didn’t dare move, staying perfectly still lest she expose herself to a face full of freezing snow. However, her brother was more deviously clever than she gave him credit for, and as she sat there with her ears flicking atop her head, she picked up the taunting voice of her brother from out in front of the house. “You have ten seconds to come out or the snowman gets it!” “No!” Juniper shouted, leaping out from her hiding place. “Don’t!” Juniper realized her mistake too late as, as soon as she stuck her head out, she was utterly bombarded by a rain of tightly packed snowballs. The pegasus filly screamed as her head, neck, chest, and forelegs all received a blast of wet, icy chill; and for the second time that morning, Juniper felt her eyes filling up with tears. “Whirlwind!” She wailed, plopping down into the snow. Her infantile wailing was ineffective on her brother, however, and as she continued to cry her eyes out, he was gathering snow for a third assault. But, before he could even throw a single snowball, a tired yet familiar sounding voice completely stole his attention. “Whirlwind...honey...” The voice that turned out to be his mother panted, looking unsteady on her hooves. “What...have we...talked...about?” The pegasus colt’s face twisted in horror as he watched his mother grimace and stumble her way toward the house. His petty vendetta forgotten, Whirlwind immediately dropped the snowball in his hooves and raced to his mother’s side. “Mom, what happened?!” “I’m...fine,” she insisted trying her best to smile but halfway across her face it slid into an agonized grimace. “Mommy!” Juniper exclaimed as she bounded over, still sniffling. “Are you okay?” “I’m...fine honey,” she panted, corralling her daughter in her forelegs. “Just need to...lie down...and rest.” The pegasus mare made it another couple steps before gasping and nearly falling into the snow. “C’mon, June,” Whirlwind said, moving to support his mother’s left side while Juniper took up the right side. Together, the three pegasi made it into the house, steering their unsteady mother past the kitchen, down the hall and into her bedroom. The two foals helped their mother to the edge of the bed where she immediately collapsed, chest heaving and limbs shaking. Both Whirlwind and Juniper stared down at the older pegasus, their faces wrought with fear and confusion. “Mom, what happened?” Whirlwind started, the fear evident in his voice. “I’m alright…” Their mother huffed, her already soft voice unusually quiet and frail, causing her foals to become all the more frantic. Whirlwind stared at his mother at a loss as to what would be making her act so strangely until he heard his sister gasp. “Whirlwind, look!” Following his sister’s eyes, Whirlwind noticed a trail of blood leading from where their mother lay to the hallway outside the bedroom. “Mom…” He began, the corners of his eyes beginning to fill with tears. But despite the grim situation and the way her kids were panicking, the pegasus mare smiled. “My...sweet...children…” She breathed, her voice barely above a whisper. “Please...don’t be...scared…” With that, the pegasus mare’s eyes fluttered closed and her breathing quickened, her chest rising and falling almost as though she were struggling to breathe. “Mommy…” Whirlwind asked, prodding her shoulder. The pegasus mare let out an agonized cry, startling Whirlwind so badly that he stumbled off the bed and onto the floor. Both Whirlwind and Juniper looked on in horror as their mother continued to cry out, her back arching as she writhed on the bed. Then, in the midst of her fit, she cracked an eye open to look at her children, a solitary tear slipping out of her eyes and rolling down her cheek. “I’m sorry. I love you both so very much.” Whirlwind and Juniper gasped as their mother was surrounded by what looked to be fire, stumbling backward slightly as it erupted through the roof of the bedroom and continued on into the bright morning sky. As the flames died down, the two foals stared on, horrified as a sickly green aura took hold of their mother’s limbs, enveloping each of her outer extremities in its light. Inch by inch they watched as the normally pristine yellow shine of their mother’s coat was replaced with hard brittle looking chitin. Next were her wings, the sleek, velvety soft looking feathers being easily swallowed up by the aura before going still and falling out, being replaced with the thin, translucent wings of an insect. Finally, the aura enveloped her head. Twisting her once beautiful face into a visage that, to her children, was utterly unrecognizable.The creepy, eldritch magic finally finished its transformation at the tip of the mare’s tail before fizzling out and disappearing completely. Whirlwind and Juniper — who’d been hiding in the bathroom connected to their mother’s room — peeked out from the other side of the door frame once they saw the terrifying green glow recede from the room. Whirlwind was the first to move, cravenly slinking back into the room but still giving the bed a wide berth. Juniper remained where she was, looking like she was just moments from passing out from the sheer shock of it all. Whirlwind made it to the door leading to the hallway before motioning Juniper toward him. Juniper shook her head, her eyes wide with fear. Whirlwind danced on his hooves impatiently, waving her forward more insistently than before. Still, Juniper refused to move, her eyes darting between him and the unknown entity lying on their mother’s bed. Whirlwind realized he needed to use a more direct approach, crawling back over toward the bathroom and grabbing his sister’s hoof. It took a few hard tugs to get her to finally move with him, and even as she did, she never once took her eyes off the strange creature now taking up residence in their mother’s bedroom. They made it halfway back to the other door before they heard something stirring on the bed. Whirlwind immediately stopped in his tracks, turning his head ever so slowly toward the bed to meet with a pair of beady, blue eyes. “Whirl...wind…” The creature wheezed. “Juni...i...per…” Whirlwind felt stale fear seize his limbs as the unknown creature addressed him by name. Giving a hard tug on his sister’s hoof, Whirlwind tried to get her to move faster but when he glanced over his shoulder he could see her standing there, frozen in fear as she stared at the abomination. “June, quit staring at it we gotta go find mom!” Whirlwind demanded, tugging on his sister. But the pegasus filly found herself unable to move. Just then, something crashed through the bedroom window, startling Whirlwind and successfully breaking Juniper out of her stupefied state. Whirlwind’s head ping ponged from the brick lying near the wall to the broken window and back again as he tried to make sense of what exactly was going on. Then another object flew through the newly broken window, this one exploding once it hit the wall, coating everything it touched in flames. Whirlwind had managed to shove his sister up against the wall just in time to shield her from the shock of the explosion, however, it wasn’t long before the flames spread, turing the carefully crafted foundation into acrid, suffocating smoke. As Whirlwind and Juniper tried to regain their senses, a loud bang echoed from somewhere near the kitchen immediately followed by the hurried stomping of hooves. Panic and desperation filled the young colt’s eyes as they zipped around the bedroom in search of an escape. HIs eyes fell upon the broken window and he took to the air, zipping over to it and preparing to pull him and his sister through before the stocky hooves of an angry looking earth pony and jabbed at them from the other side. Flitting back toward the middle of the room, Whirlwind considered the hallway again, his head whipping around the doorframe to meet the eyes of more angry looking earth ponies. “There it is!” One of them shouted, prompting the rest of the group to begin charging down the hallway. At a loss, the pegasus foal looked back toward the being on the bed, its gaze meeting his before its eyes flicked up to the hole in the ceiling. Whirlwind didn’t need to be told twice, taking a firm grip on his sister’s hoof as the two foals zipped out through the roof and into the air. "Wait!" Juniper yelled, her voice fading as she was shepherded away. The changeling lying on the bed watched the two foals escape through the hole in the ceiling, a wide, happy smile on her face as she watched their silhouettes until they disappeared completely. “I love you both, so very much.”
