One Lonely Bridge

by Milo_Chalks

Rating: teen
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Pipsqueak, Profanity, Slice of Life, Featherweight, Sad, Drama
Length: 4262

Pip reconnects with an old friend... but it doesn't go accordingly.

Part of the Pip and Rumble Anthology
[Prior reading of the first one is not required but does help]
It's been over two years since Pip moved out of Ponyville to study with his boyfriend Rumble, and he hadn't visited much in between. But after finally returning he gets a surprise from an old friend he completely forgot about.

Except his old friend hates him, and Pip has no idea why.

A fic on friendship and hardship.

Thank you so so so so much to the amazing people who helped edit and make my aussie drawl somewhat bareable Bumper, and Maxwell Edison ! You guys are the absolute bomb!

Published 2018-08-20 13:10:01 UTC
Last updated 2018-12-08 00:30:30 UTC

1: Anger

Pip readjusted the hoodie crawling up his barrel, threatening to expose his cold underside. He was beginning to get into the habit of it, seeing as the elastic at the bottom had almost given up after years of faithful service. ‘I won’t be able to wear this much longer. Rumble’s hoodie is falling apart, I might just keep it near the bed,’ Pip thought to himself as the cold, autumn wind once again bit through his boyfriend's frayed and paper thin hoodie all too easily.

Pip sighed and rested his duffle bag on the cobblestones of the bridge leading into ponyville. It was visceral, standing on the bridge that was both so cemented in his memory, so sturdy, so natural to stand on; But also strangely alien, different, and not quite right. He had trodden on almost every single stone of this structure, even the ones that made up the wall on either side, but standing on it felt… sacred. ‘I could have sworn it was bigger! Were the stones really this small?’ He leaned over the wall and peered over the edge, ‘was it really this shallow?’

He smiled, it had felt like seeing an old friend stepping back onto the old bridge just outside Ponyville, the gateway to his home. He grabbed his bag and shoved it against the wall, climbing over the safe side, and sat down, dangling his legs over the edge. The town in front of him glowed in the setting of the sun, just like he’d remembered; the buildings usual colours were softly highlighted by the light through the rapidly retiring streets. Pip felt a pang of nostalgia as he remembered how early everyone would go to bed here, compared to that of his new home where it seemed as if no-one was sleeping.

“Jeez… I kinda missed this” Pip looked over the rooftops, trying to find his own roof on the other side of the small river. It was like re-discovering a picture long thought forgotten, for the biggest change the town had seemed to have been renovations to his old schoolhouse propped on the hill past the town. He saw Big MacIntosh was still packing his stall ten minutes before the market closed, whilst Spike made a dash to get his groceries in time. A grin spread over Pip’s face as he looked on, everything was in place, like he’d never left.

‘I might have to pop in to see Mrs. Cheerilee and find out who’s the new class president,’ The wind blew across the bridge again, but much stronger. Pip threw his hood over his head in retaliation, bundling tighter and throwing his hooves into the pockets.

Clip clop clip clop….

The wind bit back, picking up once again. He leaned forward, determined not to let the cold win despite how close to the very edge of the wall he was getting.

Clip clop clip clop….

Pip finally heard the hoof steps on the bridge over the gusts billowing around him. He slowly turned to see who was behind him, slinging a hoof back over the bridge wall to reach around far enough. But the second he managed to see who was behind him he gasped. “Featherweight?!”

“Hello Pip! Miss me?” A vastly taller, deeper voiced, and, almost stocky Featherweight stood right behind Pip on the bridge, a frown wrinkling his face. But before Pip could get a word in Featherweight had moved towards him, faster than he could react Pip found himself off balance, his hooves giving little support in his now plummet from the bridge.

“WHAT THE FU-” was all he could get in before hitting the freezing river with a loud SMACK!

Water filled his nose and mouth, the cold tensed his muscles and sent him into shock. The whole world went black as he squeezed his eyes shut, blindly thrashing and writhing about until the longest two seconds of Pip’s life finally ticked by and his floundering body resurfaced. The shock of the impact had forced all the air out of his lungs, and the second his head broke through the water he was rasping for air, he was coughing and sputtering;the cold attacking his nose as the water burnt his nostrils. He scrambled upright and clambered his way to the muddy riverbank, smearing mud and dirt all over Rumble’s tattered hoodie. The hoodie was of little help against the freezing water, and even less so as Pip got back on the bank. The cold became a thousand times worse now that he was dripping wet.

“What the fuck! What the actual fuck! FEATHERWEIGHT! What the fuck!” Pip yelled, trying desperately to huddle away from the freezing wind.

“What are you doing back in Ponyville,” Featherweight glared down at Pip shivering uncontrollably next to the river.

“Excuse me? Fuck you! You just pushed me off a bridge, Featherweight!”

Featherweight turned, Pip could swear he saw a cocktail of emotions in the colt’s eyes. “No Pip, Fuck You…” and with that, he turned and left Pip lying on the river bed, sopping wet and scratching his head.

“I honestly can’t explain what happened.” Pip sat next to the radiator set to full blast, a towel wrapped around his waist and his jumper now hanging to dry amidst his mother’s various scarfs.

“What in Equestria could have gotten into him? I saw him with his dad yesterday! They were doing just fine as far as I could tell, they were just buying flowers,” Pip’s mum was busying herself with stitching the pocket of Pip’s University of Baltimare, Faculty of Law hoodie; Pip was distinctly glad it didn’t also take a swim with him an hour ago. “You can’t think of anything that may have happened between you two?” She asked, taking another sip from her ginseng.

“Well, that’s the thing, there’s literally nothing; no good, no bad, just.. Nothing. We’ve had basically no contact.”

“Mmph” Mrs. Squeak put her tea down quickly and gulped it down. “Well, maybe that’s it, you’ve lost touch, Maybe he’s bitter about it. Nonetheless, if I see his hide around town I’m gonna give him a piece of my mind. No-one pushes one of my cubs into a river without hearing from me. That jerk better watch out,” she growled, burying further down in her chair and getting back to stitching.

“Woah woah, stand down Mumma Bear. If I see him, I’m going to talk to him,” Pip frowned, and sniffed the air. “Jeez, why do you drink that stuff? It smells like toilet cleaner at nursing homes,” He wrinkled his nose and readjusted in his seat, snuggling into the towel wrapped around him.

“It’s medicinal, Pip. It tastes better than it smells, and it smells better than you did when you walked in,” She smirked, reaching for the cup again.

Pip opened his mouth in shock as he reached for his own tea, a far tamer black tea. “I’ll throw you in the river and we’ll see how you smell after!” He huffed, taking a very loud, and very ungraceful slurp of the hot tea.

Leaning against the bridge again Pip munched into his apple and wondered to himself if he really did want to see Featherweight again. Sure he wanted to buck the colt, but he also needed to know what the hell had gone on? Had he done something to piss him off? Or did he truly just feel abandoned, left behind and forgotten in this hick town? He never meant it, really, just being pen pals is so tough, and with uni, and Rumble, what could he realistically do?

Finally, just as Pip was getting to the core, he saw a cream coloured head bob up over the crest of the bridge. As Feather came into view he realised his old mate hadn’t noticed him yet, choosing to instead look over towards the Apple farm at the town limits.

“I see you got my letter” Pip called out, Feather’s head snapped around and locked and they locked eyes.

Feather looked shocked, pulling a contorted face and looking down at a piece of paper in his hoof. “Eugh” He grimaced, and went to turn around.

“Hey! Feather! Wait! What the fuck man?! Talk to me! What the hell is up with you?!” Pip shouted as he ran after Featherweight, already most of the way back over the bridge back.

“I didn’t do anything to you!” Pip cried out angrily, marching over to the top of the bridge and glaring down at Featherweight who was all but a step away from the end of the bridge.

Suddenly he stopped as Pip’s words were processed, and then slowly he turned back around again. From anywhere else in Ponyville the scene may have looked almost comical, a mexican standoff on that cheerful bridge, two lanky, teenage colts facing each other and waiting for the other to move. But no tools or weapons pervaded this fight, only stares and silence. The wind whistled around the bridge as leaves continued to join into a pile of discarded brown and yellow waste that littered the cracks and crevices. Pip took a step forward, the detritus crunching underneath his hooves.

“I didn’t do a single thing to you, Featherweight, why are you-”

“THAT’S THE POINT PIP!” Featherweight shouted as he marched forward, his muzzle twisted in anger as reached mere centimeters from Pip’s own. He looked up at Pip, holding his own despite standing the lower ground. Pip could only recoil and take a step back.

“You were my friend.” Featherweight sat down, the anger gone, replaced with sadness, almost desperation. “You were there for me, we looked out for each other! We were the scrawny kids, the little guys. But then you wracked off to Baltimare with Rumble once school finished and I never heard from you again. You were my closest friend, heck, I would have gone so far as to say one of my only friends. You and Rumble. Then you just shed me off… Like a leaf on a fucking tree,” Feather used his hoof to angrily sweep the cobblestones, lifting a small pile of leaves into the air. The wind quickly caught them and sent them fluttering away, to sink slowly towards their fate on the river below.

“Feather! I couldn’t keep living my life here, I needed to get away from Ponyville. Baltimare was that for both Rumble and I. We needed to get away, this place has been the cause of so much anxiety for both of us! Rumble still won’t come back. You didn’t even try to keep in touch Feather.”

“You think this is about Ponyville? You think I didn’t try to keep in touch? Pip! You didn’t even respond to my letters, for eight months I sent them to you! You and Rumble, but neither of you sent a single letter my way. I had to ask your Mum for contact details because you didn’t even tell me where you lived. You were my best friends! I felt like I had been betrayed… Can you even begin to imagine how that fucking felt? Can you even begin to imagine how I fucking felt?”

“This has everything to do with Ponyville! You expect me to just put my entire life on hold, my relationship with Rumble, my education, my job… just to slam a couple of beers with an old friend halfway across Equestria? We all had to move on, not just me and Rumble, everyone, all of our classmates. So why didn’t you? Huh?” Pip glared back, taking a step forward again. “You had plans, you were coming to Baltimare too. We even talked about it! Remember? Then you just vanished, and hid yourself away during our final holidays, and you have the absolute AUDACITY to call ME A JERK? The one that just abandoned everyone! I didn’t turn your back on you, Featherweight…” He spat. “You turned your back on us.”

Pip pushed past him violently, leaving the tall, lanky colt standing on the bridge in horror.

“You don’t know… do you…”

Pip stopped in his tracks. He found himself just as Featherweight had been just minutes ago, angry and about to storm off back to Ponyville. He caught his anger, and buried it away for now.

“What don’t I know, Featherweight?” He replied tentatively.

“Oh, so you didn’t bother to find out why after years of planning and talking about moving away with you guys, I decided to stay here in Ponyville? Why I let everyone move on without me? And why I put my entire life on hold.” Featherweight was now on the crest of the hill, Pip looked up at him as he stepped forward, a frown spread across his face.

“What are you talking about?” Pip replied, stepping closer.

“Pip… my dad had an aneurysm…”

Author's Note

This is only going to be a two-parter so stay tuned! Thanks so much for my editors and thank you for reading, please if you see anything or have anything to say drop it in the comments, I absolutely love to read them :twilightsheepish:

2: Coming down

“And then he just left… He threw that bombshell on me, and I froze. Rightfully so, might I add. I tried to think of something to say, but he just left. He huffed and heaved and told me his Dad had a freaking brain aneurysm, and then left.”

Pip’s mum had been diligently weeding away, listening to her son’s story as she ripped the pesky plants from their malicious roots. Pip leaned against the side of the house, holding the hose in the direction of the garden, looking dejected and confused. His Mum got up slowly, arching her back and tossing another cluster of weeds into the wheelbarrow nearby.

“I mean, how was I supposed to know? What was I supposed to do? Drop everything and just see him? What could I have done to make it better?” Pip continued, throwing the hose into the direction of another pile of plants along the side of the house this time. “And he could have just plonked him into a care home where he would be looked after. Feather should have thought about his future, he had options, and he should have used those options to come to me. I can’t believe he is guilt tripping me into thinking it’s my fault. I-”

“Pip.” His mother said curtly, ripping another weed from its roots. Pip may have been frustrated, he may have been angry and upset, but he knew never to play around when his mum was being sharp. “If you want to pin this argument on Featherweight, then take a good look at yourself first. You talk about this like he hasn’t just been through hell and back! Imagine being in his shoes, everyone is always around him, he has friends, a family that looks after him. Then he graduates and he loses both at once. How can you say that he could have just plonked him in a care home like he is a dog’s breakfast? Is that how you’d treat me?”

“No! Of course, I wouldn’t. why would I ever do that?” Pip whined.

“Well, why would Feather then? Stop looking at this from your perspective and start looking at it from his. I know you’re busy, and I know you just want to move on with your life and leave Ponyville behind, but don’t leave your friends with it,” Pip’s mum ripped up a dirty root and threw it at his face. Dirt and grit sprayed his face as the root smacked him square on his chest. “That’s for giving up on a friend.”

“Pfffbtth” Pip tried to spit the dirt out of his mouth, grimacing at the taste. “Alright! I’ll talk to him, just don’t send anymore dirt bombs my way.”

His mum smirked, and returned to the weeding, “good, but have a shower first, you’re dirty and stinky. Best to clean one mess before cleaning another.”

Wine. The perfect way to formalise an event. Whether that be a dress party, a corporate sprawl, or a teenager who wants to look like they have it together. Often found in some of the higher-end joints around town or for the particularly tasteful patrons of Berry’s bar. It was less likely to find the grape product sitting in a slightly raised clump of grass in one of Ponyville’s many parks. This one being the lakeside, with the glistening red water reflecting the late afternoon sun.

Pip gently poured the red liquid into the wine glass, filling it just over the mark, twisting the bottle and stopping the pour with an eloquent flick, before starting on the second glass. His hooves were crossed as he sat on the ground, looking out over the river and holding his glass with both hooves close to his chest.

“What do you want Pip,” Came a tired voice just behind his spot. Pip twisted his back and looked over his shoulder to see Featherweight, standing just a few meters away with what was almost a glare on his face. From what Pip could tell, it certainly wasn’t the face of amusement.

“You got my letter?” He asked, shuffling over and patting the spot on the grass next to him.

“Well… duh, I’m here aren’t I?” He retorted, walking up to Pip and standing above him. Pip rubbed his foreleg and put the wine beside him.

“Feather, I’m sorry… I didn’t know what was going on, and…” He trailed off, looking down to the ground. “I don’t know, I’m just sorry.”

Featherweight raised an eyebrow, and began turning around, “that was the shittiest apology ever, but whatever, just, have a good life Pip.”

“I was an idiot, I thought I was better than you, I thought I was better than Ponyville, that it wasn’t worth looking back at,” Feather stopped, and turned back around. “Sure, I was busy, but I could have visited, I could have written, I could have helped you. I lost contact on purpose. I thought because you didn’t leave that you were a nobody. I didn’t know about your dad, even if that hadn’t happened I was wrong.”

Featherweight came and sat beside Pip, grabbing the wine glass that Pip had laid for him earlier. He gazed off towards the lake and watched the leaves float gently into the water dyed purpley brown from the constant flow of leaves that rested in the water. “Yeah well, I’d like to say apology accepted. But you’ve been a bit of a shit head,” he replied, taking a sip of wine.

Pip sighed and turned to Feather. “I want to reconnect, y’know?”

“Yeah, well, that’s on both of us dude. I guess I could have at least made some time. Ever since I started looking after Dad I’ve been really hard on myself,” Feather put the glass down and laid back onto the grass, letting the blades scratch against his coat. “We had just finished school, I was young and ready to just leave. We were gonna have so much fun in the city together. The two scrawny kids, living big. It would have been the best. Then it all happened so fast. It was a big scare, they nearly lost him Pip...”

Pip sat silently, twirling what was in his glass and shuffling in his position awkwardly as he let Feather continue. The quiet ate away at him, thinking about all the things he could have done differently as to not abandon the one pony that needed him the most.

“Then he came out of the hospital, and it was like a whole new stallion. He just… He was gone, and I had to look after him. I still do, I’ve had to grow up so fast, and with everyone leaving, it was hard.”

Pip put down his own glass, turning back to face Featherweight looking up into the tree above them. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“What?” Feather lifted his head to look up at Pip.

“Why didn’t you tell Rumble and I about your dad? I still read your letters, even if I didn’t reply to them. You didn’t once tell us what had happened. We assumed you just didn’t want to be around us anymore. That you had changed plans on us last minute.”

Featherweight shrugged, lying back down in the grass, “I guess I felt like I had already lost you guys. Neither of us have been very transparent recently. I’m sorry to Pip.”

“You should have come to me man, I’m not heartless. I guess we were both in the wrong here. I lost touch, and you just didn’t communicate. If you got stuff going down, please, tell me, dude. I got your back from now on, and I’m sure my mum could have gone over for a couple of days and look after your dad whilst you came over and stayed with Pip and I,” Pip finished. Feather smiled looking over to his friend pouring both another glass.

“Hey, Pip?”

“Yeah Feather?”

Pip handed Feather his wine. He looked queasy for a second and put it to the side. “Firstly… how do you drink this stuff for the flavour? Secondly, did you ever miss this?”

Pip turned his head and frowned. “This? What do you mean?”

Feather made hurried gestures to the lake, fanning his forelegs out and looking around, “this, everything… Ponyville, school. Everything we used to have.”

Pip shifted uncomfortably, turning to face Feather and hunching his back. “I guess, there were bits. I missed you, that’s for sure. It’s complicated, like, when I’m in the city I just feel so free and happy and busy. I’m too busy to feel like I miss home, but then I come back and remember how much fun we had and long for that still. I do and I don’t, I’ve moved on but I still go back to it. It’s more nostalgic, I guess.”

The sat in silence for a while, feeling the shiver of the night. It was a cooling breeze, rustling the leaves that were scattered around the tree by the lake. Moving around it would have been fine, but the two colts still sat there, just beginning to shiver. The sun was now further down the sky, reaching the tip of the tree, it was gently slithering into early evening, sending the crisp blue sky into a slightly silkier, darker hue. The smell of rain hit their nostrils as clouds begin to gently drift in their direction from beyond the lake.

Feather turned back to Pip after “Do you remember when we went to that abandoned maze some guy tried to set up years ago?”

Pip frowned, straining his memory as he lowered the wine glass from his mouth. “Uhhh… OH! I think I do! It was really overgrown right?”

“Yeah! And Sweetie Belle shat herself when Rumble crawled out from under the maze bush,” Feather had a huge smile on his face now, Pip laughing along merrily.

“That’s right! She wouldn’t trot near large bushes for weeks. She was sure Rumble would be hiding in one of them. Or, what about the time we all got drunk down at Berry’s and went down to the bridge-” Pip cut off and looked over to Featherweight, who was now looking a bit more uncomfortable.

“Pip, I’m sorry about yesterday, I wasn’t thinking, I just saw you and went…” Featherweight began, bringing his legs up to his chest.

“It’s okay dude. Look, we both were stupid, and I say we forget it happened. But I reckon we need to sort out what we are gonna do moving forward.”

Featherweight began, idly playing with leaves on the ground. “Well, for starters, I’m gonna write every day. Who knows, I might even come up and visit you guys.”

Pip smiled, and screwed the lid back onto his wine, leaning back and laying onto the grass. “That sounds awesome! I’ll reply to all your mail, and you can totally stay with Rumble and I. We have a spare couch always; when Sweetie Belle isn’t hogging it.” He smirked. “My mum can look after your dad and You’ll be able to see the gang again! A lot of us moved there, so we still do stuff, we grew up in Ponyville, but we are still having a hell of an adventure. You’re more than welcome to join it,” He smiled, sitting up and extending his hoof.

Feather went in for a hug, slapping his friend on the back, “Sounds perfect. I’ll come around, soon. We can all go out and do something.”

“Sweet! But I’m beginning to freeze here, and this red isn’t helping much, wanna go back to mine or yours?” Pip asked, hugging himself in an attempt at getting warmth back.

“Good to see you recognising the difference between fortified port and red wine by the way,” he said, eliciting a groan from Pip.

“Shutuuuuuup dude! We were so cringey. I still have that stupid bottle of port. I kept it at Mum’s though I was never gonna drink that, anyway.”

Featherweight got back up and plucked the now full wine glass off the grass and took another sip. “You still have that? Well… I actually have a bottle of some crappy coconut rum, wanna go get drunk at my place?”

Pip smirked, getting up and lending a hoof to help Feather up, “I wouldn’t have it any other way..”