The Journey From West Artax

Breeze followed Butter Crème inside the cottage, her hoof steps fell gently onto the soft wooden floor: the feeling of which felt like that of a thousand steps wearing them. The house itself was very aromatic: a smell like a mix of honeysuckles, various teas, and perhaps even a little bit of icing generously filled the air.

Breeze took a deep breath inward whilst sautering into the building before stopping for a moment; gently relaxing herself with a soulfully given exhale and smile.

Breeze stepped further into the house following Butter Crème again, this time noting her surroundings with each step. As her eyes began adjusting to the room's lighting, she found herself in what came to be a small living room: with a set of stairs to her right parallel to the wall, and a kitchen in the far back, which she identified by a colorful array of pans and skillets hanging off hooks connected to the bottom of cabinets.

Breeze looked back into the living room examining the room's decor. The room's decorations were less than sparce: only being an ancient looking coffee table, a faded couch, and an entire wall covered with black, white, and brown colored photos: the walls behind them were colored an elegant yellow floral pattern. Though the design itself felt practically ancient she found a familiarity in it, like that of a memory from long ago. Ironically in the context of Butter Crème's house, the wallpaper felt strangely modern amongst the other older looking furnishings.

Amidst all the outwardly démodé interior, the kitchen stood out to Breeze the most. The cottage's wood floor shifted to a yellow and white tiling, and the walls changed from its floral design to a drab stone-ish brick look.

In the center of the kitchen sat an island, and above it were the cabinets lined with various pans and skillets, however the island itself was seemingly desolate, save for a single jade-colored kettle and a spice rack uniquely stocked with a variety of different types of tea. Towards the back of the kitchen there was a counter accompanied by a silver colored sink and stove. In the silence of the room, you could hear the slight dripping of the tap: In a way each part of the house felt extremely cozy, like stepping into it blessed whomever with a radiant warmth not unlike that of a childhood memory.

Butter Crème walked towards a nearby coat rack, before taking off her scarf, and wrapping it neatly around one of its four empty hooks. She then turned back to Breeze with a smile and asked "So? What do you think?"

Breeze drew her gaze away from the kitchen, giving a smile back to Butter Crème, before responding "It's... it's so lovely here". Breeze laughed nervously before continuing "It's just really cozy, I mean, we don't have anything like this in my hometown, we all live in clouds: you really can't do much with that."

Butter Crème's face went to shock as she began hopping in place excitedly shouting "oh my Celestia! That is just so cool! Pegasi actually live in clouds‽ Are they soft‽ are they bouncy‽ Can I taste one‽"

Breeze rolled her eyes and laughed "come on now, don't get all 'hyper-weirdo' again." She watched Butter Crème's eager excitement, still awaiting for her to answer. Breeze rolled her eyes before responding "yes, yes, depends on the cloud, and no clouds do not taste good".

Butter Crème nodded her head and desperately tried to get as still as possible while giggling out "okay I promise I will not 'get all hyper-weirdo' or however you called it".

Breeze watched Butter Crème's attempt at calming her excitement for a moment with a smile, before letting it ease into a questioning gaze. "Say, Butter Crème, you really haven't seen any Pegasi before have you"?

Butter Crème shook her head before simply saying "no" her face seeming like a mix of somberness and embarrassment "I have never left West Artax, dear. I was raised here by my mother, and her friend"

Breeze thought for a second before looking at the photos on the wall: she carefully examined them one by one, after a moment she realized none of them had any reference to Butter Crème at all. Each picture or painting being a different set of ponies entirely: The only consistency being a single brown coated pegasus, wearing a scarf. Breeze stared at the pegasus for a moment, seeing a strong resemblance to Butter Crème in her face. She looked back at Butter Crème who had now cantered her way to sit on the couch. "What about all those ponies in the photos? Didn't they help?"

Butter Crème smiled and laughed a bit before responding "Oh heavens no, I have no idea who any of those ponies even are. It was mostly just my mother's friend and I whenever I was a young filly, love".

Breeze persisted on with her confusion "but then why have the pictures of them up, if you don't know who they are"?

Butter Crème's smile slowly faded as she began thinking before she quietly responded "just... just how my mother had it, I suppose"

Breeze moved to sit down on the couch next to Butter Crème before asking, questioning "What was that, Daisy"?

Butter Crème looked away from Breeze before responding a little louder this time "it's... just how my mother had it..."

Breeze looked down at Butter Crème with an eager smile, saying "Is your mother anywhere around? I'd love to meet her".

Butter Crème's posture suddenly became very rigid: any semblance of a smile fading completely. "N-no... she is not".

Breeze's smile faded into confusion as she asked once more "what was that"?

Butter Crème shook slightly before shouting "No! She is not"!

Breeze felt the guilt overwhelm her as she silently sat watching over Butter Crème, who was now shaking with her face planted firmly into the couch. She felt the cold tension in the air as it harshly contrasted with the warmth of the cottage. She couldn't help but to start shaking as well, Though she considered herself a strong-willed mare there was one weakness she knew she had "confrontation". She sat for a moment feeling the agonizingly painful silence, whilst carefully watching Butter Crème's shaking before jolting up to her hooves in sudden realization like that of a candle lighting, and quickly offering "h- hey! Why don't I make us some tea?"

Butter Crème looked up at her quietly with a plethora of tears showing, before nodding her head in a simple "yes" fashion, and quietly laying it back down on the couch, still shaking slightly in the process.

Breeze hesitantly stepped away from Butter Crème whilst whispering to herself "Way to go Moonlight, one of the first friends you make other than your sister, or your insane mother and you ask her about her bereaved mother". Breeze stepped into the kitchen while letting out a sigh of self-frustration before continuing "I mean, come on! It's so obvious that something happened to her-" Breeze stopped suddenly in the kitchen, casting her gaze to her right and looking into what seemed to be another room, a dining room. In the center of the room sat a table dawned carefully in a vanilla colored cloth, bound by ribbons around its edges, on the top of the table sat only a empty plate accompanied only by a similarly lonely set of silverware. At the center most point of the table sat an empty vase; curiously being the only thing in the room coated in a thick layer of dust. The outer walls of the room had a similar wallpaper to the living room, however instead of the pictures that coated the living room, The dining room had a plethora of paintings: fields of flowers, forests, and farm lands found their way via "brush-stroke" to each of them.

The room itself didn't seem very special from an outside view. Infact to anypony else they'd probably cast their gazes right past it and back to whatever it was they were doing, but Breeze found that she couldn't help but gaze longingly into the room: she found herself entirely overcome with an overbearing feeling of nostalgia. Though she wasn't too sure why, the feeling ran through her over and over like a mighty flurry of kicks from a seasoned Earthpony, but nonetheless even with the pain it brought she couldn't even fathom a reason for making herself look away. She gazed into the quietness of the dining room, silently until in her head she met herself with a gutting sadness as she was presented with a plethora of memories: Her mind spiraled in a mass growth of moments like that of trees, they sprawled out in vine like motions ahead of her. One memory stood out to her feeling ever-present in her mind, a small one, seeming so forgettable: She found herself as a little filly again, happily helping her Grandmare in the kitchen before rushing to her Grandmare's dining room in excitement. The look of which held a very similar look to Butter Crème's. She watched her filly self sit down, but as she did, Breeze found the memory fading back into the fog of her mind. She slowly felt herself drift back to her body, still staring into the dining room: she felt a single tear drop from her eye as she once more inhaled the scent of the house.

Breeze questioned how many years it had been since she had last seen her Grandmare, since she had last tasted any of her cooking, or felt the gentle embrace that she was once offered in times of worry. she tried to think back to the last time she ever sat with her Grandmare. Breeze pondered if in that moment she really could have imagined it being the last time they'd ever speak, or if in her head did she believe they would truly meet again. Breeze remembered the lovely scent of oats and cinnamon that at one point filled the air wherever her Grandmare had went. She remembered how nice it felt to cook her Grandmare the pie recipe she had been making her since she was a filly. Breeze smiled slightly, trying to fight the abrupt wave of bitter sentimentality that suddenly bombarded her: she fought hard in vain to keep her eyes open, each blink causing her to reimagine every memory her brain could find. Giving into her eyes she felt a few tears building as she remembered the loving smile her Grandmare had given towards her as she bashfully walked into her hospital room. She could remember her Grandmare's gentle voice as she carefully brushed Breeze's middle part out of her face, looking Breeze in the eyes, and telling her "how much she loved her". She remembered the paramedic's rushing into the room as her Grandmare's hoof went limp. She remembered getting grabbed by a few different ponies as she screamed, dropping the pie in the midst of the chaos. She remembered her wailing cries for them to "just let go" and her painful screams for her Grandmare as she was pulled out of the room.

Breeze's tears burned deeply, now pouring from each eye. She could still feel the pain of her throat going raw from the screams. She couldn't help but remember each painful memory at once as though each had been blocked away by her mind, but all at once they were unleashed. Though in the rush of negativity she noticed one returning memory that she couldn't help but focus on, her Grandmare whispering a simple "I love you, Moonie", it seemed to replay in her head like some outside force willed it to do so. In the middle of the influx of memories that almost completely overwhelmed her, she abruptly met one final memory: Breeze saw herself once more in the kitchen as a filly, listening carefully to her Grandmare's soft speaking: gently guiding Breeze through the directions of baking her pie, before smiling and ending off with "I only make this pie for those who are special to me, like you, Moonie my dear child, and Maybe one day you'll get to make it for someone special for you too". Her Grandmare hugged her one last time, before even this memory faded out too.

Slowly Breeze opened her eyes once more before calmly wiping away her tears. Still Breeze couldn't help but smile even though she was in pain: in that moment it was almost like she could feel her Grandmare's gentle embrace still wrapped around her, the comfort of which blessed her with an idea of how she could cheer up Butter Crème. Breeze thought back carefully to her Grandmare's explanation of the recipe, before beginning to venture through the kitchen cabinets in search for each ingredient.

After a little while of rummaging, Breeze let out a happy sigh of a job well done, as she looked down at the meticulously obtained ingredients. She separated each into individual steps of the recipe before carefully grabbing a pie tin. She began mixing the dry and wet ingredients independently, finally pressing out a crust into the pie tin and generously pouring the pie mix into it.

Breeze patiently watched the mix settle down into the tin before carefully dipping a spoon into the mix to taste it. Almost immediately after she tasted it, she began coughing violently. Breeze fought desperately to stay quiet, as to not alarm Butter Crème, who was still silently laying on the couch: after a moment of coughing she slowly recollected herself, before letting out another deep sigh, rolling her eyes in the process, and laughing out "Sweet Celestia, I knew I forgot something." She reached back onto the counter grabbing a white bag simply labeled "Sugar" before dousing the mixture in a fragrant layer and mixing it in with a spoon.

Breeze stepped back looking over the counter and the unbaked pie. She took a half second of a deep breath, once more thinking back to her Grandmare: she now truly appreciated the fact she could actually remember her Grandmare, previously each time a thought of her had found its way into her head, it was met with a cloud of mist that dulled even the sharpest of details. As she stood there she had a strange feeling in the back of her head, like that of somepony impersonating her in her own head, the voice of which was whispering each memory back into her mind. Breeze found the feeling seemingly unnatural in nature, but reasoned that she isn't being caused any harm from it, so it's probably fine.

Breeze thought for a moment, suddenly remembering that she had taken that book from the library, she bit her lip in anxiousness; realizing the fact that she basically just stole from her new friend. She carefully reached under her wing, pulling the book out with a sigh of relief over the fact it was still there. She cascaded her vision over it, analyzing its cover fully now, looking for any semblance of a title: she embraced it gently with the tip of her wing, feeling each crevasses and fault carved into its crimson red face. Though she had originally been searching for the title of the strange book, she found it vain to even try: the book's face was scarred till it was almost unrecognizable, with countless instances of wear, dents, and a variety of different gashes cut into its flesh. The cause of each cut seemed to be different in origin, but each one seemed to deliberately focus where the title seemed to have been, like each cut was done on purpose: the only thing left of the title was a single lonesome word colored brilliantly out of a scuffed up gold color: The word presented itself brightly, shouting out "kingdom".

Below the title at the bottom of the book was an insignia, seeming to be left practically untouched: the insignia was printed in the same bold gold color as the word above, however it's luster was ever-present and seemingly unaged against the roughed up book. The insignia looked to be an oval with two infinity signs overlapped on each axes. Breeze tried to think of any possible reference she had seen of the strange symbol, however she couldn't think of any moment of her life where that symbol existed to her. Breeze carefully ran her wing over the cover one last time before placing the book back under her wing. She reasoned with herself that "it'll be fine", promising she'd tell Butter Crème about the book soon.

Breeze refocused herself on the pie before eagerly placing it into the oven, grabbing a kitchen timer, and setting it to an hour and forty minutes. Breeze turned back to the island and grabbed the tea kettle, before swiftly filling it with water from a nearby tap, placing it on a stove eye, and clicking it to life.

Breeze turned back to the island once more to look at the assorted rack of teas: she didn't quite understand what exactly she was looking at, but figured "well Butter Crème wouldn't have it if she didn't like it." Taking a half second to look over the teas; she grabbed the one with the most fancy name. Breeze moved the tea bag off the rack, carefully inspecting it, before chuckling to herself "well I suppose 'Jardeering tea' doesn't sound too terrible".

Many a moment passed of waiting, before the timer for the pie screamed to life. In response Breeze swiftly opened the oven door, while simultaneously taking an oven mitt off the nearby counter and using it to lift the pie. She gently placed the pie down and paused: she looked down at the oven mitt she had put onto her wing, then back to where Butter Crème was laying, and then back to the mitt once more. She began to speak out to Butter Crème, but decided it was best to just let her recover and not to question her further right now. She continued to gaze at the mitt for a moment while wondering to herself "Why does Butter Crème have an oven mitt if she's a Unicorn? I wonder if it was also her mother's?" She found herself reminded of the brown pegasus from the pictures, but eventually pushed the image out her mind reasoning it to be vaguely possible for a pony to forget their mother was a pegasus. She thought to herself "I wonder if Butter Crème's mother was an earth pony then". Breeze stopped her mind before rolling her eyes, reminding herself "Butter Crème's still sitting in there all alone and sad because of me." She then took a small container of cinnamon and gave the pie a light coat. Almost like magic, the smell of oats and cinnamon filled the air; Breeze carefully took in the smell, and as she did she felt her tears once more crawl their way to the surface of her eyes. Amongst the quietness of the house, she felt as though her Grandmare stood beside her. She let her small voice carry out through tears: a small gentle broken up whisper so soft a mouse couldn't hear it "I- I did it... I really did it this time Gran. I- just wish you could have been here for it". For a moment she once more closed her eyes, in doing so she felt the gentle embrace of her Grandmare once more, and with it a overflow of her tears washed down her face.

Opening her eyes slowly, she took a moment to get her emotions under control. Breeze carefully cut out two slices of the pie and placed them onto two individual plates. She slowly walked back to the couch, where Butter Crème was now gently snoring; still laying in the same spot. Breeze smiled down warmly at Butter Crème, before gently placing the plates on the nearby coffee table. She quietly turned to look at Butter Crème before stirring her awake with an easy hoof tap, whilst whispering "wake up sleepy head"

Butter Crème slowly fluttered her eyes awake before looking up at Breeze slowly. She spoke with her eyes half-open, the sleep showing strongly in her voice "Did- Did I fall asleep"?

Breeze giggled a little before rolling her eyes and saying with a smile "yeah, just a little bit"

Butter Crème shot up and began frantically apologizing "oh my Celestia, I am so sorry that is so rude of-" before getting cut off abruptly by Breeze, playfully punching her front leg.

Breeze giggled again as she turned around "It's alright, it gave me time to do this".

Butter Crème began to say "Do wha-" Before stopping suddenly: smelling the cinnamon in the air, she quickly began trying to look around Breeze to see the source of the smell, looking like that of a mouse catching a fresh whiff of cheese. Butter Crème eagerly questioned "What is that? it smells so good"!

Breeze looked back at Butter Crème still smiling before responding once more with a giggle "well I hope you like how it tastes, because I made plenty". She turned her full body back around, holding a plate in her hoof, and handing Butter Crème the other with her wing.

Butter Crème took the pie carefully with her hooves, looking down at it with large pupils, and trying to hide her watering mouth. Suddenly she graciously began chomping down on the pie, not even stopping to breathe.

Breeze watched in horror as Butter Crème continued mutilating the slice of pie before simply rolling her eyes. She carefully sat down on the couch next to her, carefully enjoying her slice at a more moderate pace.

A few moments passed before Butter Crème finished the pie with an accomplished "Ahhh". She happily turned towards Breeze, giggling a bit before all at once hopping onto Breeze's arm, hugging her, and exclaiming "Thank you, that was amazing"!

Breeze looked at Butter Crème in shock nearly choking on the bit of pie she was eating. She responded slowly to Butter Crème with "It's... no problem, you looked like you needed it". She laughed a little bit out of embarrassment before continuing on "and besides the whole thing... kinda helped me too".

Butter Crème tilted her head slightly, backing away in the process before asking "how so"?

Breeze gave Butter Crème's hair a gentle pat, letting out a laugh of sentimentality in the process. She began speaking "the pie was an old recipe my Grandmare gave me to make for somepony special one day." She stopped for a moment her face turning red, realizing how that sounded. She quickly continued speaking, trying to brush past what she said prior "Seeing you struggling a bit with your umm... loss... reminded me of her." Breeze nervously looked down towards Butter Crème to make sure she wasn't sad again: she sat next to her looking up with an expression of bewilderment, seemingly entranced by her speaking. Before continuing, Breeze rolled her eyes once more, feeling her embarrassment slowly fade as she went on "She would always make me a pie when I was sad so... you know... um and you were uh... sad... so and yeah." She laughed nervously before turning away sulkingly "sorry, I- I know it's dumb".

Butter Crème wrapped herself around Breeze tightly, smiling out "Well I think it was sweet, and it definitely made me feel a great deal better, dear! Your Grandmare sure knew how to make a pie!" She once more backed away from the hug, now resting her head against Breeze's shoulder grinning brightly up towards her.

Breeze looked back to Butter Crème in response to the sudden embrace, now slightly surprised and obviously blushing: she felt her heart skip slightly. She quickly looked back away letting her middle part hide her now red face before nervously patting Butter Crème on the head.

Butter Crème giggled a bit before releasing her smile briefly, apologizing "I am very sorry about earlier, dear. I get broken up over my mother sometimes. It is not your fault, in fact not to overimpose upon you, but you asking about her... it made me realize how long it truly had been since anypony had actually asked. It had been so long, even I had forgotten about her... my own mother. It makes me feel like such a horrible daughter".

Breeze's face shifted to a empathetic pout as she turned back to face Butter Crème and began to speak "aww I'm sorry, Daisy, I know how you feel. It's really hard for me to remember my Grandmare at times." She looked up into space and continued "It's... not necessarily a bad thing though, sometimes we just get so caught up in life we get distracted: don't beat yourself up over it, it's not your fault." Breeze waited a moment for a response, but was met with a soft silence.

She carefully looked down to Butter Crème in confusion: To her surprise, Butter Crème who was was still laying up against her shoulder, now had her her eyes shut gently and was snoring ever so silently. Breeze's embarrassment peaked as she felt her face begin to blush stronger than before, she hesitantly began patting Butter Crème's hair once more. Breeze watched her for a moment; watching her body move up in down rhythmically with each breath. She swallowed gently before hesitantly reaching out her wing next to Butter Crème, her heart beating rapidly as she slowly wrapped it around her. As Breeze sat there, now embraced with Butter Crème, she couldn't help but roll her eyes with a smile before giving into the comfort and deciding to join Butter Crème: she laid her head against Butter Crème's soft hair and slowly closed her eyes. In the darkness of her own mind she thought to herself "I have no idea how anypony could ever fall asleep that fast, but I guess a nap wouldn't hurt, after all today was a long day".

Breeze let the light of the world around her fade into nothing more than a black mass: the feeling of the couch mixed into a swirling motion like that of floating aloft in space. The only thing holding her to the waking world being the gentle breathing of Butter Crème beside her, along with her radiant warmth against Breeze's body. As Breeze drifted to sleep she let out one final relaxing sigh: the comfort of the world around her gently cascading her into a deep sleep, with her lullaby being the gentle snores of her new friend.