SNAP!
I flinched and lifted up my hoof, staring at the broken remains of the twig under it.
“Horseapples…” I muttered to myself, and quickened my pace into the woods.
I crept as silently as I could towards a large deadfall up ahead, the broken trees covered in moss and spiderwebs. I shuddered and crawled under the first fallen tree, wriggling through the half-rotted leaves.
A few minutes and half a dozen scrapes and bruises later, I emerged on the other side of the rotting mass, panting heavily. I quickly glanced around and found myself in a fog-drenched clearing, trees looming out of the mist like obelisks of pure evil. A loud crunch sounded in front of me, and my coat stood on end as my entire body whipped to attention. I stared intently ahead, trying to make out any movement.
As I stared, I caught a flash of white on my left. I slowly turned my head, witnessing a muzzle full of grinning teeth.
“Ah hayseed...” I whispered, and the teeth lunged.
“Ah ha ha ha ha! You should’ve… Oh, you should’ve seen your face!” My sister laughed as she walked alongside me, back towards the entrance to the woods. She mockingly gnashed her teeth at me, and I rolled my eyes.
“Yeah, yeah…” I muttered as I continued walking, shaking stray leaves out of my mane.
“I mean, all I had to do was smile, and you nearly jumped out of your coat!” She patted my head condescendingly, earning herself a few under-the-breath expletives.
She didn’t notice. “I still can’t believe you went under that disgusting deadfall! You should’ve just walked around, like I did!” I eyed her coat, unmarred except for a few specks of mud on her hooves. I looked down at myself, and at the leaves, mud, and twigs stuck to the tousled hair.
“Yeah, well… Whatever! I totally would’ve gotten away if you would’ve given me a fair head start!” I replied hastily, brushing away the debris with a sweep of magic.
“I did give you a head start. You just weren’t using the time I so graciously gave you.” Her haughty tone made me groan in frustration.
“Look, y’know what? You won. There! I said it! Happy?”
“Very.” Her smirk afterwards was unbearable. I’ve never truly known a pony as cruel as Spring Shade.
We continued in silence until we reached the end of the trees, before stopping out into the vast gardens behind Shade Manor, the sun blinding me for a few seconds.
Blinking the spots out of my eyes, I shook my head and took in the sights. The Shady Gardens still managed to blow me away from time to time. Trellises covered in thick ivy and azaleas wound through maze-like rows of bushes, dotted with roses of colors ranging from red to white to blue.
The gardens led up an incline to the top of a small hill, upon which sat the Shade Manor itself. The sun was bidding farewell to the sky and greeting the horizon below. At this time of day, the manor’s shadow would cover the town below, watching over it as the family itself had for generations. Its structure was archaic, but it had withstood the tests of time ever since my great-great-etc.-great grandfather and his family had it built here ages ago.
It stood short in stature, at least compared to the mansions in Canterlot, which had nowhere to go but up. It sprawled over the top of the hill like a cat in a sunbeam, limbs splayed every which way. Columns and chimneys sprung out of the structure, denoting the haphazard interior. Windows, covered in latticework, poked holes into almost every room of the place.
“Hey! Spring! Light!” I snapped to attention as a cheerful voice called over the gardens.
I relaxed and watched in amusement as my youngest cousin, Shady Meadow, galloped up to us, grinning like a maniac.
“Look at what I made!” She held out a crumpled piece of paper in her hoof. My sister scoffed at it.
“That’s pathetic. What even is that?” she asked, her overbearing attitude showing clearly.
“It’s supposed to be a crane, but I’m not sure if I did it right…” My cousin always had the eye of a creative, and right now, she was really into that neighponese paper-folding thing. Origami, I think it was called? However, I was never really sure she got the concept of “folding” down. “What do you think, Light?”
I gave myself a second to puzzle over what I would say. “It’s, uh--”
“N-nevermind that,” she stammered, pulling the papercraft behind her. “Aunty’s been looking for you two.”
Spring ceased her scowling for a moment. “What? Mother’s been looking for us? Why would she- Oh no. Nononononononono!” My sister pranced nervously in place, glancing around for some unseen entity.
“What? What is it?” I asked, unimpressed with her theatrics.
“Don’t you remember? Mother told us to be back two hours before sunset for dinner, and it’s sunset right now!” Her prancing quickened in pace, and her teeth started chattering noisily.
I sighed and turned my head up to the sky, eyes closed. “Look, if we sit out here any longer, we’re going to be no better off than if we entered now. Might as well get the scolding over with.”
Spring, however, had other ideas.
“MOOOOOM! LIGHT GOT LOST AND MADE ME LAAAAAATE!”
A sharp “WHAT?!” echoed from the manor, and I knew her manipulative charm had worked. She sneered at me as she trotted up to the house, happy to have escaped our mother’s shrill wrath.
I spluttered and ran after her. “W-wait! Spring! Playing extreme tag was your idea!”
“No, I suggested roque. You were the one who wanted to go traipsing through the woods like, like, oh, I don’t know, some common ruffian!”
“Well you were the one who wanted to, and I’m quoting here, ‘make it more interesting’!”
We continued bickering until we reached the open gate between the small yard and the gardens, a slight breeze making the hinges squeak horribly, sending a stab of pain into my ears. The noise made me lose sight of where I was going, and I accidentally ran straight into Kimblewick, one of the family butlers, as Spring rushed ahead.
“Master Light, I would highly suggest wiping your hooves off before entering. Wouldn’t want to be lectured about that again, would we?” He raised an eyebrow at me, waiting for my response.
“As if I wasn’t in enough trouble already…” I sighed and pouted.
“Then let’s just make it one less thing you’ll have to be reminded of in the, ah, delightful conversation with your mother you’ll soon be having.” he said. As always, he was right. I quickly cleaned my hooves on the mat before stepping inside. I could already hear bits and pieces of my sister’s sob-story echoing down the corridor, sure to get her out of trouble.
I trudged down the corridor, head low to the ground, listening as the melodramatics grew steadily louder. As I came to the door leading into my mother’s study, Spring’s sobbing reached a crescendo.
“Oh, it was so horrible, Mother! I… I... “ She sniffled a little bit. “I told Light to not go into those dreadful woods, but he just wouldn’t listen! I was forced to chase after him, to make sure my poor baby brother didn’t get hu-hu-hurt!” She bawled.
“I’m only three years younger than you...” I murmured under my breath.
“Well, Spring, it seems I must have another chat with young Light!” I heard my mother stomp for emphasis. I balked, and began stepping carefully backwards, before the door swung open, revealing my mother’s scowling muzzle. Flames seem to flicker along the lenses of her horn-rimmed glasses, and her eyes narrowed to slits.
Then came the barrage of questions.
“Young colt, you are in a lot of trouble! Why would you run off on your own? Was it to make your sister upset? What were you even trying to do out there? What were you thinking?!”
“But I didn’t--”
“Say you’re sorry, right now!” she demanded. My sister’s smug look made it harder and harder to keep myself in check.
“I’m sorry,” I said in a tone that suggested the opposite.
“Sorry for what now?” she asked, savoring the moment while she could.
“I’m sorry for making you go into the woods after me,” I said, trying hard not to grind my teeth after I said it.
“Apology accepted,” she said, finally letting it go.
“Good,” my mother said. “Now, go to your room.”
“What?!” I protested. “But I just apol--”
“GO. NOW.”
I stood there with a face full of rage for a moment, then I went straight to my room without another word.
Once I was there, I flopped down on my bed and shouted into my pillow, punching and kicking it until I felt calmer. I sat on the side of my bed and waited for the world to stop looking blurry.
The door clicked open and I heard the light hoofsteps of Kimblewick.
“I see that your pillow has suddenly become a blanket,” he noted, lifting the cover up and letting a few feathers fall out of the brand-new hole in the side.
“What do you want, Kimbley?” I asked, wiping the liquefied anger from my eyes.
“You’re all riled up by your sister again,” he diagnosed.
“Yeah.” I leaned forward and rested my head on my hooves.
He sat down next to me. “You know, one day, your sister will see the consequences of her actions. You’ve just got to be the better pony until then.”
“Hmph. That’s what you always say.”
“And it isn’t any less true than the first time I told you.”
He paused for a moment and stood up quickly, as if he had heard something I didn’t and got jumpy.
“You missed dinner, didn’t you?”
“Yeah.”
He patted me on the back. “It’s all right. Are you hungry?”
I sniffled like a foal. “Kind of.”
“I could have the cook get you something.” He paused for a moment. “How about some soup?”
“Sure.” I was feeling very dehydrated. Soup sounded nice.
“Very well. Right away, Master Light.” He quietly shut the door behind him.
I sighed again, pushing my head under the broken pillow. It was far less comfortable than it was before. I thought about all the things my sister did to me over the years. This was somewhere near the twenty millionth time she’d intentionally gotten me in trouble. Her manipulation of my mother made it impossible for me to do anything except what she wanted to do. And, like this time, when something she wanted to do would get her in trouble, she would twist the tale and I would be in my room before you knew it.
There was a knock on the door. I didn’t want to raise my head from the broken pillow.
“Just leave it on the table,” I moaned. I’m never comfortable eating right after something like this, yet every time, I’m hungry. Waiting’s usually the part of this process that fixes that.
I heard the door creak open slowly and slow hoofsteps move to the table, put something down, then more hoofsteps back out. The door clicked shut.
But only a little bit later, the door opened again.
“Who is it?” I asked, sitting up.
Kimblewick trotted in holding small platter with a bowl and crackers on the side. “Your soup, Master Light.”
“What? You already--”
I froze up. If that wasn’t Kimblewick before, who was it? I looked at the table. On it sat a small needle, with a length of thread the exact color of my pillow trailing behind it. A crude drawing of blue flames was on a small scrap of paper next to it. I stared at it, blinking a few times.
“Nevermind,” I said. “Just put the soup on the table.”
“Something the matter?” Kimblewick asked, detecting my uneasiness.
“It’s nothing.” I put on a calm appearance until he nodded understandingly and left the room.I ate the alfalfa noodle soup, savoring the warm feeling and delightful aftertaste. I soon found my head on my mangled pillow, eyes slowly closing. The last thing I saw before I fell asleep was the sharp glint of the sewing needle in the moonlight.
Author's Note
Uff da. Finally publishing a story! Any constructive criticism would be appreciated, and I hope you enjoy the upcoming chapters!