My laughter echoed her giggling, even as the end credits rolled on the television, and a voiceover cut into the theme song to announce the next show. Wiping a tear from my eye, I got up from the couch where my sister, Melissa, or Mel as I often call her, and I had just finished watching another great episode of My Little Pony. She looked up at me, dressed in her Mane 6 pjs, a huge smile on her face.
"Rarity is best pony!" She stated matter-of-factly. I leaned toward her, my face serious for a moment.
"Silly Pony, That's not how you spell Applejack." I scooped her up, causing her to squeal once more with laughter, as we made our way down the hallway toward the kitchen. Setting her down at the threshold, I continued in, pausing to pull out some breakfast supplies and utensils. As I set a skillet on one of the burners on the range, I looked up as Mel pulled herself up to the 'bar' counter.
"So, Mel, what do you want for your birthday breakfast?" Mel put a hand to her chin, a clear imitation of the classic pony thinking pose, before speaking.
"CUPCAKES!"
A thin shiver Dashed down my spine at the mention of the tasty baked confectionary treat, if only because I couldn't shake the memory of the infamous work of fiction. Smiling, I quickly offered up an alternative.
"Those take a long time to make. How about pancakes instead?"
Mel's eyes lit up. "With blueberries?"
"Naturally."
Her eyes brightened more, and I figured she would try to take it one step further. "And chocolate chips?"
I thought for a moment, thought I had already made up my mind on the matter. "Sure, why not? It's your birthday after all." I returned to the pantry to get the chips, though I also had an ulterior motive as well. I took a few moments to 'search' for the remaining breakfast ingredient, but I was merely stalling. "That's funny. I don't remember this being here before." I pulled down a package wrapped in generic prancing ponies, which kind of broke my heart; I hadn't been able, for the life of me, to find MLP wrapping paper ANYWHERE! I know...Bad Brother.
I returned to the counter, bag of chips in one hand, the 'mysterious' package in the other. Mel looked at the package, a confused look covering her face.
"What is it, Will?"
I set the box down in front of her, fighting hard to keep down the smile that was brewing just under my face. "I'm not sure. It does have your name on it though."
With timid hands, she took hold of the box and looked it over. Sure enough, "To Melissa" was written boldly upon the paper. I turned away to start breakfast, though more to hide the smile that threatened to consume my face. After a few moments, I hear the ripping of paper followed quickly by a loud gasp.
"Happy Birthday, Mel." She looked up at me, mouth agape, speechless. MasterCard, Eat your heart out.
As I set a small stack of pancakes in front of my sister, who was brushing the strawberry blond mane of the Fluttershy pony that I had gotten her, there came a knock from the front door, followed closely by the doorbell. Mel and I both smiled. There was only one person we knew that would do that. Mel jumped out of her chair, grabbed her present and took off down the hall. Rainbow Dash would have been impressed. Chuckling, I went back to the stove to prep some more pancakes. "SARAH!" came from the foyer, followed by a mixture of giggles and laughter. I heard their voices move down the hallway, closing in on the kitchen.
"Morning Will."
I glanced back to the doorway, waved the spatula that I was holding in greeting and focused my attention on the new set of pancakes to keep them from burning. "Morning Sarah." I had noticed that she had been wearing light blue nursing scrubs, meaning that she was going to the vet clinic were she and I both worked, right after she got through here of course. "Care to join us for breakfast?"
I heard a deep sigh and I knew the answer. "Sorry Will. I wish I could, but there's a lot that needs to be done over at the clinic." I heard Mel groan in disappointment. It was no secret that Mel really liked Sarah…as did I."Sorry Mel. Oh, no…not the Look…anything but the Look." I turned to see what was going on, and smiled in spite of myself. Mel was looking at Sarah, doing a spot-on repeat of Applebloom's pleading look to Twilight from The Mare in the Moon, part 1…only better.
Like The Stare, one would eventually lose to the Look. Thankfully, Sarah knew better then to resist. A better part of the morning was spent laughing about the latest episode and enjoying breakfast. As things were winding down, I noticed that Mel kept rubbing her right eyebrow rather forcefully. Sarah noticed it as well.
"You alright, Mel?"
She shook her head. "No, Will. My head hurts."
Sarah frowned and felt Mel's forehead. "Oh my. You're warm. Come on. Let's get you something for that." She held out her hand to Mel, who took it. I smiled at Sarah.
"Thanks Sarah." The duo set off down the hall.
As I set the first load of plates in the sink, the phone rang. Muttering a silent curse to Murphy, I crossed the kitchen and answered on the third ring.
"Hart Residence. William speaking"
"Morning Honey."
"Oh, Good morning Mom. How's work?" I made my way back across the kitchen and started the dishes.
"Same old, same old. Is the birthday girl up?"
I chuckled. "Yeah, though she seems to have a headache."
"Oh no, poor baby. Did you get her some aspirin?"
"Actually, Sarah's taking care of it now." At that moment, Sarah walked in, alone. I raised an eyebrow questioningly. She pointed upstairs, indicating that she had sent Mel to get dress. I nodded in thanks.
"Sarah's there? Please tell her thank you."
I paused and turned to her. "Mom says 'Thanks'."
Sarah smiled and spoke up. "You're quite welcome, Mrs. Hart." I heard my mother laugh over the phone.
"Well, I need to get back to work. Tell Melissa I said 'Happy Birthday', and I'll see her this afternoon."
"Will do, Mom. Love you"
"Love you too, honey. Bye"
"Bye Mom."
As I hung up the phone, I noticed Sarah looking over the box that had contained my gift to Mel. It was a limited edition Fluttershy doll made to commemorate the sixth season of My Little Pony. Only Six hundred were ever made, one hundred for each of the Mane 6. While I would have liked to have gotten one of each, at $175 each, I had to settle for Fluttershy and Applejack. I guess she felt my gaze, as she set the box down and looked up.
"Man, I can't believe you gave it to her." I merely shrugged, though the Brony inside me was yelling in agreement.
"What can I say? I'm like Rarity."
Sarah laughed."Only not as skilled in fashion."
I cringed. "Ow. Crash. Burned."
Shaking her head, Sarah stood up, her eyes locking onto mine. "So, you going to be coming by the clinic later for the party?"
I let the question hang in the air for a moment, grabbing the pan and utensils from breakfast off the stove and setting them in the sink.
"Of course we'll be there."
Sarah nodded, her face clearly stating the unspoken words of 'Rrrrrrrriiiiiiiiight'. I laughed.
"We'll be there, don't worry. Besides, they really can't start without us."
She threw her hands up in a defeated manner. "Alright, I'll take your word for it."
Laughing, I turned back to the sink. Just as I was turning on the faucet, I heard a loud but muffled *THHNNK* come from upstairs. I immediately shut off the water and looked up. Somewhere in the back of my head, alarms were going off.
"Did you hear that?"
Sarah tilted her head, clearly confused. "Hear what?"
A bud of unease started to take root in my chest. Something definitely wasn't right, but I couldn't put my finger on it at that moment. Drying off my hands, I moved to the hallway and stuck my head out.
"Mel, You okay?" I waited long enough for her to give an answer, but none came. The ticking of the kitchen clock was the only sound. I moved down the hallway and paused at the bottom of the stairs and called out again.
"Mel? Everything alright?" No answer, which caused the unease to blossom more. I glanced at Sarah who had followed me out of the kitchen, a look of concern now gracing her face. Taking a deep breath, I climbed the stairs and turned the corner toward Mel's room. I paused in front of it.
"Mel? This had better not be a joke." Still nothing. I knocked, one hand resting on the doorknob. "Mel, I'm coming in." Carefully, I opened the door, and was greeted by the sight of Ponies…but Mel no where in sight. "Mel?" I stepped into her room, casting my gaze around. It was then that I noticed something on her floor, but it was blocked by her bed. "Mel?" I stepped closer…and my eyes went wide. "MEL!"
/ / / \ \ \
The last three weeks have been a living hell. Spending time at the hospital was something akin to torture, but considering it was where my sister now found herself, I had to endure. I sat in our family physician's office, Mom's hand holding tight to my own. Sarah had been kind enough to come with us, and was currently upstairs visiting with Mel. Somewhere inside me, I felt a chill seep into my core, like my heart knew what was wrong, but my mind had yet to catch up. After what felt like an eternity, but really ten minutes, the doctor came in, a rather thick manila folder in her hand…and a rather troubling look on her face. Apparently something about the look in my eyes gave me away, as she quickly recomposed her face and sat down, the file in front of her, a bitter smile now adorning her face. Mom must have noticed the change, as I felt her grip tighten almost to the point of pain before it relaxed.
After greeting us, Stonewell (our physician's actual name) decide to try and make some same talk to ease into the news. I listened half heartedly, though a pot of anger started to slowly come to a boil. Why couldn't she get to the point? I thought. I'm not a kid anymore, and this isn't Dad we're dealing with here…It's my sister. As if on cue, Stonewell let out a sigh.
"Now, as to why I asked you here…"She opened the file that rested on her desk and took a moment to read it over and pulled out several x-ray and CT films. She started to explain the rather odd string of Mel's headaches over the months and placed one of the films onto a lightboard behind her desk. I noticed a rather large off-color portion of my sister's brain. My mind went numb with realization just as my hand was all but crushed by my mother.
My Little Sister had Brain Cancer.
/ / / \ \ \
The last five months had turned into a blur. To be honest, I don't think I'd come to terms with my sister's illness. Work, staying at the hospital when Mel does chemo during my days off, keeping people up to date on her condition, I tried to find someway to keep from cracking. Thankfully, the outpouring of support from my friends on Ponychan, FimFiction, Bronynet, and other MLP sites that I was part of, helped, in a way. Then there was the Show itself. Every Saturday, I would show up with my laptop and the latest episode, and Mel and I would watch it together. Out of everything that had changed, this was the one thing that had not, and I was thankful for that.
One Friday, I lay beside Mel on her hospital bed, her head resting on my chest as we reviewed the second to last episode of the season, my arm around her, the Fluttershy doll I had gotten her was resting with us. I heard her sigh. I gently pulled her into a hug. "What's wrong Mel?" She shifted and looked up at me.
"Well, it's almost over."
I nodded, not understanding what she meant. "I know. The last episode is tomorrow."
She smiled lightly. "Yeah..."
I glanced up at that clock, and groaned. "Ahw man..." I powered down the laptop and slid off the bed. "Sorry Mel. Almost time for me to go." Mel seemed a bit down.
"I know."
As I packed up, I noticed that Mel seemed a bit put out, her gaze focused on Fluttershy. I sat down on the edge of her bed and hugged her. "Hey, chin up. I'll be back in the morning." Mel's gaze never left Fluttershy.
Suddenly, she handed me the toy. "Will, do you mind taking her to your house. It's been awhile since she's been outside." Needless to say, I was a bit take back. It had never once been out of her reach since she gotten here.
"Um...s-sure. Sure. I'm sure Shy would like a change of scenery for a night." I stood up and slung my backpack over my shoulder before holding out my hand for Fluttershy. "Shall we, miss Shy?" I smiled as Mel handed me her gift.
After saying my goodbyes to the nurses on station, I stepped out of the ward, Fluttershy safe in my hand. I had barely made it five feet down the hall when...
"CODE BLUE. PEDIATRICS.CODE BLUE. PEDIATRICS."
I stopped and turned around. I had just left there. I quickly returned and entered the visitor's lounge. Through the door on the far side, I noticed a flood of nurses and several doctors rush past.
"WHICH ROOM?"
"Fourteen!"
My heart lept to my throat. That was my sister's room. My body went numb and I lost my grip on Fluttershy, who swiftly fell.
Fluttershy rested quietly on the floor, her eyes now filled with sorrow, watching as two hearts stopped moving.