Keep your head up, princess
Keep your head up, princess
The lights on the inside of the house slowly turned off one by one. The pony inside getting ready for bed. She moved slowly, her hooves hardly making any sound as they hit the floor. Her eyes held in front of her, dull and tired. Swollen and red. The fur on her cheeks was stained a little from the tears.
She finally got the last light off, letting her dog go in front of her to the bedroom. She stopped by the bathroom, turning the light on. She looked at herself in the mirror. Her red main was a mess, her eyes were red and swollen, her fur a mess. She sighed and straightened her fur out some before turning the light out and climbing into bed.
Once she pulled the covers over her, she felt that sting again. That deep cut she knew would never heal. She thought she was done crying, she thought she had no more tears left, but here they are. Falling like a waterfall. Her breathing shaky, her heart rate crazy, her stomach in knots. She tried to get words out but it was difficult. What happened? What caused all this hurt? The one she loved broke her. She felt like her heart had been ripped out, that it had been torn into a million pieces.
This other mare was everything Solstice could have wanted. She lit up a room just by being there, she made Solstice laugh, smile, made her heart skip a beat. This mare was the entire world to Solstice, and it all crumbled. Came crashing down like a good rain after a long summer. Like lightning destroying a tree.
Solstice let out a shaky breath through her mouth, her eyes clenched shut tight. She could feel her whole body shaking, her head was pounding. Once she opened her eyes everything was blurry and hazy from her tear-soaked eyes. She wiped her eyes with her hoof and tried to calm herself. Nothing was working though. She groaned and shot up out of bed, her dog raising her head and looking at her. Solstice lit her horn and turned on her bedroom light, and walked out of her bedroom. Solstice walked to her backdoor and out to her backyard, her dog close behind. She walked over to her fire pit, lit her horn again, and lit a fire to keep her warm. Solstice sat down by it and looked up at the stars. It was like they knew when she needed them because they have seemed to shine brighter this past week.
Solstice sighed and looked down to the fire, how the flames danced. Her mind was a wheel constantly spinning with no end in sight. "Why?" She finally whispered to the fire. "Why when I gave you everything I had to give? You have every last inch of me." Solstice closed her eyes again, tears starting to fall again.
The sound of laughter could be heard from behind the bedroom door. Inside were two ponies, an alicorn and a unicorn. The unicorn had a bright orange coat with a bright green Maine and tail. Her cutie mark a golf club and ball. The alicorn had a teal coat with a red Maine and tail. They both lay on the bed, the alicorn wrapped up in the unicorn's front legs. "This is nice, right?" Asked Solstice. "Of course." The unicorn smiled, placing a kiss right under Solstice's horn. Solstice giggled a little and snuggled into the unicorn more.
Solstice shook at the memory. Her stomach churned, her heart sunk. "Do you remember?" Solstice asked, opening her eyes. Her heart sank again, seeing herself alone. "I don't know why it still hurts. It's been almost 3 weeks. Why? Why does it still sting when I open my eyes to still be alone?"
Solstice came in the door from work, closing it behind her. "Hey." She said walking over to find the unicorn laying on the couch. "Hi." That was all the unicorn said.
"Okay, well hi to you too." Solstice rolled her eyes a little as she walked to the bedroom.
The unicorn sighed and got up and followed her. "Solstice wait. I'm sorry."
"Nothing to be sorry for. You just don't have to be short." Solstice said, turning to face the unicorn. "What's wrong? You've been weird all day. I know I was at work, but normally I still hear from you some and you've just been weird."
The unicorn sighed and looked down, fighting back her own tears. "I... I don't think I'm ready for this."
Solstice cocked her head a little, she could feel her heart starting to break. "What do you mean?"
"This, Solstice. Us. You and me. There is a part of me that loves you, and I do have feelings for you, but I just don't know." The unicorn choked out.
Solstice backed up a little, her heartbreaking. "But... We built for for months, we went slow with everything. I let you go at your own pace, I gave you all the time you could have wanted. I-- I gave you everything." Tears starting to fall hard, Solstice could feel her body starting to shake.
"Solstice, please don't cry. I never wanted to hurt you."
Solstice finally let herself just sob. The hard sob she had been holding in for weeks. She laid down on the ground and just wailed. Not only was her heart shattered, but all of her was also. Her life had been flipped upside down, every plan she had, everything she thought she had, everything she wanted was gone. Gone up in smoke. She thought the love was real, she thought everything was so easy. It was so effortless to fall for her with everything Solstice had. Everything felt so magical and then it was all just gone. She had finally felt like she was enough, like someone was fighting for her the way she fought for everyone else. "But that's not how it really is." Solstice finally choked out. Her breathing was all over the place, but she was slowing it down a little.
Once Solstice calmed down a little more, she sat up from the ground and stood up. Her dog started going crazy happy when she did. "Calm down, I'm fine." She whispered.
"Are you though?" Came a voice from behind her.
Solstice's ears perked up and her eyes widened. She told herself she was just hearing things, that this wasn't happening. She finally turned around and stopped in her tracks. Her tears started flowing again. "What?" She asked.
"Hi." Was the only thing the unicorn said.