Stitches rocked softly with the breeze, sitting in her creaky old rocking chair, taut with the flayed flanks of various ponies, creating a collage of skin colours, tones, and cutiemarks. Adorned with the skulls of ponies as corners, the wing bones of pegasi as the backing and seat, and femurs or other thick bones shaping the frame of the chair, giving it the look of a many-headed skeletal pony, creeping back and forth, observing its prey. Which these days was the regular look of décor around this disturbing plot of land. The day was gloomy and mysterious, as was the norm around Stitches‘ cabin, deep within the Everfree Forest.
Once a heavenly glen, teeming with such life and beauty, not Celestia herself could compare, warding off all manner of evil, sinister creature that may lurk about in the dense, shadowy wood. Glistening waterfalls flow, and streams resulting from them, shone like polished diamond at high noon, many peaceful aquatic creatures darted about within. Bordering the glen were once the tallest spruce in the Everfree Forest, leaves golden as the sun, bark tough as iron. Centering the Glen were beautiful pink cherry blossoms, which seemed to be in bloom all year-round. Grass, the lightest shade of green, filled corner to corner with delicate wildflowers and rose bushes.
Now free of all life that once thrived here. The trees grow old, and crooked, white as ghosts, and with nothing to cover their branches but thorny vines intertwining throughout them, and drooping to the ground. No grass remains upon the scorched, unholy earth, only bones of those so unlucky as to wander into this desolate land. Not a flower has bloomed in years; all remaining of their once beautiful glory are bushes of razor sharp thorns ensnaring any life to waltz near them. The once majestic waterfalls and streams, naught but barren stone, dry as the bones that fill them. Larger than ever was the land though, for its cursed ground spread outside of its borders, carrying its sickly aura, and bringing no less than death or disease to ever form of life, each and every blade of grass, or crawling ant that now inhabited it’s new border.
I still remember being a filly. Trotting through my glen with my head held high, like a princess. I do not wish my fate to differ, though I’m not sure this was the path intended for me. Stitches thought to herself nearly every day. She’d take a seat on her chair, at what apparently only she could notice through the constant fog as to be the crack of dawn, and waste away in it, just thinking, constantly thinking. I don’t recall the sound of my voice, the tune of my childish laughter, the sorrow of my tears, the look of my smile. I have been deprived of nearly all emotion since her passing. Since being a filly she was all I had in life. And he took her from me, just as she took my last caretaker. I still remember that day, back when I was just a small filly, playing in the glen with my caretaker, for I never knew my parents, and she was all I had.
The shining sun glistened off the moist morning dew, still finding a way to snake its way through all of the Everfree Forest, to shine brightly as can be upon the tranquil glen. Birds sang songs of devout beauty to the open skies, and large animals clopped their hooves against the hard stepping stones leading to a cabin adding music to the songs of the birds as they crossed the glen. Beautiful flowers and hanging plants adorned the deck of the cabin, hiding it’s windows from the outside world behind a blanket of life. A large rocking chair made of tough tree bark rocked by the wind made not the slightest sound to disturb the wildlife, but instead just sat there, adding to the humble beauty of the cabin. A small creaking noise erupted as the oak door was pulled open by the young filly hiding inside.
“Auntie, let’s go play”, Stitches begged, “please please please please pleeeaasse!” Stitches ran out into the glen, hopping on the long grass and rolling around in its thick blades playfully. Her caretaker following, softly giggling at the young filly’s mirth and innocence. A strange thought then came into Stitches’ head, and it peaked her curiosity intensely. “Auntie, where’s my momma and papa?”, Stitches questioned, with a crumpled nose and one eyebrow raised, extremely confused. Not entirely sure how to go about this situation, her caretaker hesitated a response. Many times has she thought this scenario over in her head, always wondering how to break such horrid news to such a young filly. Should she tell stitches the fate of her mother? Perhaps not, but anyways, there’s still her father, who was forced to give her up for good reason, but a filly so young may struggle to understand.
“Stitches, your mother was an amazing pony. She was the fastest Pegasus in all of Equestria. In fact, your heavenly beautiful mother was my hero, and the mare I looked up to my entire life. You would have loved her so very much, just as she did for you”, Her caretaker continued to explain thinking over every word carefully as to not say the wrong thing to a filly so young, “Your father was a stallion just as stunning. He was the only stallion to ever win your mothers heart, and it was justly earned for sure, he was magnificent. The one strange thing was that he was blind, which made everypony think your mother would shun him, since she strived for perfection. But it was that key quality that she loved so much, for even in his blindness he could still manage to keep up to her standards in every aspect!”
“What are their names?”, Stitches asked, mirthfully, “I bet they are beautiful names!”
“Why yes they were Stitches, your mother had a name I could never live with forgetting. Even if I tried it matched her so perfectly, including her immense beauty, and your father’s was just as befitting of him”, trying to think of a way to continue this, without possibly telling the filly too much as to give away the fate of her mother, her caretaker chose to withhold the name,” the name Echo was your fathers. It’s said he earned that name because his eyes echoed the image of his pure soul. I can’t deny that claim, but I always thought it to be because of the peculiar mode of sight for him. He would beat his wings hard, causing a sound which would travel to anything nearby and bounce back, creating an echo which acted something like a bats ultrasonic radar, allowing him to envision each object the sound hit, and their location.”
“What about my mom, what is her name?”, Stitches pressed for the answer she really wanted to hear.
“I guess you are really intent on discovering the names of your parents, aren’t you?”, chuckling as she spoke, her caretaker tried to think of a way to avoid telling any more than she had to, “Well, you see, your mother’s name was …” Just as she spoke she heard a noise coming from the edge of the glen, peering out with her eyes squinted to attempt to make out what danger may lurk into her glen. Finally seeing the creature who sprung out of the trees to enter her glen, Stitches’ caretaker was shocked! “P-p-p”…
“Pinkiepie!”, exclaimed the bouncy fun-filled pink pony. Streamers and balloons flying high as she exclaimed it!
“Pinkie what in the hay are you doing way out here?!”, the caretaker was truly baffled, this horribly dangerous place containing such a playful upbeat pony, “And how did you find me?”
“Silly pony, I’ve been looking for you for ages! I need your help, I’m throwing a party for you and the other crusaders and it wouldn’t exactly be a crusaders party without the true leader!”, Pinkie exclaimed, flattering her to extremes, “especially considering how much you’ve become like her in your travels.”
“Y-y-you think I’ve become li-like, her?”, the caretaker stuttered, astonished by the claim, “with how well you knew her, that claim has made this the best day of my life! Thank you ever so much Pinkiepie!”
“So how bout that party then?”, Pinkie questioned, “Let’s get a move on, you don’t want to be late for your own party do you?” Giggling and hopping around, circling one particularly large cherry blossom tree.
“What of the filly? I don’t know if she’d be safe leaving this glen without more than just me and you to protect her”, the caretaker pondered, “I’ve not been her caretaker for this long had I been reckless with her safety.”
“Just leave her here, the party won’t take any longer than a half day! Pinkiepie promise!”, Pinkie exclaimed, clearly wanting this mare to follow her badly, “I have been putting this party together for the longest time. It’ll be my best yet!”
“Alright, that would be the safest thing to do”, the caretaker sighed, “I don’t want you to have wasted so much time planning such an amazing party, just to have me not go.” Kneeling down to the filly she began to whisper softly, and sincerely, “Hey stitches, this is a very good friend of your mother, I’m going to go with her for a bit okay?” Trying to sound as sincere and happy as possible leaving the pony, “It’ll be just like when I go into town for food. In fact, it may even be faster! You just stay here and play with your ball and maybe practise flying some more!” Now smiling widely at the mention of helping train this young filly, daughter of Equestrias greatest flyer, “remember just flap both wings at once as fast as you can and jump as high as possible! And if you are worried of falling, you can always wear my old purple helmet. Just stay here, and if you hear anything near the glen, run inside and lock the door”
“If you say so auntie, I will stay good”, Stitches proclaimed while nodding. Not knowing if she entirely trusts this pink ecstatic pony yet, or if she just likes her. Either way, she had a strange fascination with her, and wanted to see more of her, now.
