A Splash of Color
Prologue-
"Splashie! I'm home!" I hear a cheerful voice calling from the front room of my family's cloud mansion. I drop my crayon box as I run out of my room and to the kitchen, where I know my mom will be. "Mommy!" She wraps her wings and hooves around me in a hug. She loves me a lot. Well, she has to, because she is a mommy. She is making dinner, which is good. I skipped snack in daycare today because I was so busy drawing a picture for my mom. I run back to my room so I can keep drawing. In first today, I started drawing an awesome picture for my mommy. It's of our whole entire family, which is really big. So it's a big piece of paper.
Drawing my family is easy. We are all shades of white, whether really pale pink, or green, or blue, but those aren't crayon colors. So I just draw everypony with the white crayon. All I have to remember is who is a unicorn or a pegasus or an earth pony- and most of us are pegasi. When I'm done, the drawing looks drab. I mull over it for a while. Then, I realize what it's missing. Color! It's gotta have color, or else it violates my personal code of rules. So I grab some colors and make a huge rainbow over the top. "There." I say to myself. Then I hear our front door open again. I know that it's daddy and my sisters. I run from my room again and meet my dad. "Daddy!" He hugs me and tousles my already messy mane. "How's my favorite seven year old doing?" He always says that. I smile at my sisters, who are twins. Fluffy Puffs and Wispy Mist. They are three years older than me, which is, um, I think it's ten? Yeah, ten. But even though they are older, they don't boss me around because daddy gets mad at them if they do. I have the greatest family anypony could ask for. We all love each other very very much. And our family is so big too... Almost as large as the Merriweathers or the Apples. I am so grateful for everypony, I just don't know what I'd do without them. I don't think I could live without my mommy and daddy and sisters.
~~~the next day~~~
I got out of school early today because its Friday, or at least I think that's why. Mom was home today because her job is off on Fridays. I still have to wait for daddy though. He works at the Cloudsdale weather factory. I wait and wait. I really wanted him to come home because he promised me that he would take me down to the park and play some catch with me. Going down to the surface was a rare occasion. Daddy doesn't come. Finally, about two hours later, there's a knock on the door. I answer it, but it's not daddy. It's a wall-eyed gray pegasus with a blonde mane. And a letter. I can't read it yet, so I hand it to mommy and skip upstairs to finish off my drawing. I choose a bright pink crayon and a red one and draw hearts all over the paper. I sign my name on it like they taught me to in kindergarten. I take one step and hear a loud shriek. It must have been mommy! I run downstairs to find her crying. "Mommy, what's the matter?!" She shoos me away.
Later, she calmed down enough to call me from my room. I cautiously step down, holding my drawing in my mouth. Her eyes, usually so beautifully lined with mascara, thick and bold, are bloodshot from tears. The black makeup runs down as well, snaking and joining together with the salty tears that constantly spill from her now-dull green eyes. I drop my crayon drawing on the floor and approach her. "Mommy? Mommy, why are you crying?" She sniffs. "Splashie, your father is... In the hospital. He's very very sick and the doctors don't know if he is going to get better. They won't know until they fully examine him. But they want us to come visit him first... Get ready to go out." I was a little shocked. Wanting very much to see him, I get ready as fast as my tiny frame and stubby legs will allow. What I don't realize is that she was holding back something- not telling the complete truth.
The hospital is just the same as I remember it from last time, when I got my pony pox shots. Only, this time, it seems more menacing. When mommy and I reach daddy's room, I don't immediately recognize him. He is singed and smoking a bit, covered in different colors. He is weak, obviously, and can barely smile at us when we enter in. There is a high pitched beeping sound. Puffy and Misty are already there, crying silently. A doctor pony walks in and motions with his hoof for mommy to come closer. I cling closer to mommy as the doctor talks to her in hushed whispers. I am close enough to hear, but I don't understand it all. "He tripped and fell into the rainbow liquid reservoir. Magical liquids can screw around with bodies that are unprepared. Plus, he nearly drowned in it, so some of the concentrated rainbow is in his lungs. Only a unicorn could handle the liquid because their body tissues are laced with the same kind of magic. The delicate tissue can't handle the magical burn, and once the magical reside seeps into his bloodstream... His heart muscle will start to die. I'm afraid that he isn't going to make it. We've given him as much numbing stuff as we can. Please don't worry, for him it will be painless." Mommy starts to cry a bit more, but I don't know what the doctor meant or what is happening. I just know that I'm supposed to run over to him. Aaaand I do.
"Daddy! What happened?" He croaks a response out. "I- had- a bit of an- an accident. At the factory, and I am a bit hurt." I frown, but he smiles sadly. "I love you, you know. You and-" He pauses, to cough a bit. "You and your sisters and your mother, you mean-" More coughs, and his voice is steadily getting softer and, well, croakier. (If that's even a word.) "You mean more to me than- than anything else in this Celestia-damned world. I love you all so so much. Please forgive me for being so careless... I hope that-" A bigger series of coughs occurs, and I start to get worried. "I hope that everything will be alright afterwards." Afterwards? What does daddy mean by afterwards? "I want Cumulonimba to keep the house and money and leave it up to her to give it away when her time comes." Then, he calls mommy forward to whisper something in her ear, and then each of my sisters, and then, last, me. "Splashie... I want you to have my- my cloud-in-a-bottle. It has the power to grant a wish but only when the emotion is purest in its intent. It's in the box under the bed on my side. The key is hidden in the bathroom somewhere, but I can't recall." I shiver at the creepiness of this whole situation. "It's ok daddy, I'll find it somehow." He smiles. "Thank you. I always wanted you to have that magic item. I-" He pauses, his breaths becoming shallower and shallower by the minute. "I love you." I strain to hear it. "I-i l-love y-you, Cloud Splash." His breath takes on a rattle-y quality, like those rattlesnakes in my books. "I-i..." He gets no further before inhaling sharply and closing his eyes. The beeping machine changes rhythm from a mostly stable 'beep beep beep' to a single, long, scary 'beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep', and the little squiggly line goes flat. Then I notice that daddy isn't breathing. Mommy just propels us out of the room with her wings and sends us home. Later, when she returns, she is solemn, and looks on the verge of tears.
"Splashie, sweetie, remember how I explained to you how when Cirrus went to sleep and didn't wake up the next morning?" Cirrus was a beautiful cat, our family pet. She was really special because she had a pair of wings. That way, she could live with us. I loved her a lot. But then mommy and daddy said she got sick, and one morning...she didn't wake up. "Yes mommy... You said Cirrus became an angel and was in heaven, and she could never come back." My mother, Cumulonimba, the famous, rich, Cloudsdale hairstylist, whose composure was never broken, shattered. She collapsed on the floor, crying again. She looked over at me, taking my tiny hooves in hers. "Cloud Splash... Your father... Daddy..." She cut herself off, took a deep breath, and tried again. "Daddy is an angel, in heaven."
I don't really get why it's so serious at first. But suddenly, my seven year old brain finally clicks into place. He is in heaven just like Cirrus, which means he'll never wake up. That also means that I'll never see my daddy again. But I ask my mother, just in case, because I'm desperately hoping that its not true. But she nods her head. I try not to cry because I want to be strong for my mommy, but my head and eyes betray me. I try to maintain my strength, and put on as brave a face as I can muster given the circumstances. My eyes drop to the floor, drifting to the picture I dropped earlier. Maybe it will cheer her up. "Mommy, here. Maybe this special drawing I made for you will make you feel better." I hand her my beautiful picture, but she snarls. Taken aback, I cautiously continue to hold the drawing out. She takes the drawing and glares at me. I stare back at her, eyes wide. She fumes, and starts snapping at me. "Is this supposed to make it all better? Well once a pony dies, they never wake up. Do you actually think that a simple crayon drawing isn't going to fix my problems? Because it isn't going to, you know." Mommy's eyes glaze over, and she seems to forget that she's talking to a seven year old. In fact, it's like she is yelling at no one at all. Her pupils slide apart and her mane becomes disheveled. "This drawing, while having our entire family, which by the way, is mostly your late father's family because I just happened to be the right color and personality so I was inducted into this miserable bunch! Only your daddy wasn't a poor excuse for a pony. He's wonderful. Oh wait, he was wonderful. But not anymore, and his presence on this drawing isn't helping." I start to tear up a bit, and I run out of the room as she starts ripping it in half. I run to my sisters' large shared room, where they are on Wispy's bed, hugging and crying. They beckon for me to join them, but instead I look up at them with large pleading eyes, and I also tug impatiently on Misty's tail. They reluctantly follow me, and stop in shock when they hear mommy talking on about whatever she is rambling about. Misty looks at me questioningly, but I just shake my head sadly and go back to their room. I collapse on the soft cloud floor and curl up into a tiny ball. My sisters lift me onto a bed and curl up beside me.
Outside, the sun is slowly going down. It's really dark in my sisters' room now, but that's not anything anypony here wants to change. Right now, dark suits our moods. I numbly rest my head on my hooves. Thoughts run across my brain, like the fact that he'll never again brush my teeth for me, or tousle my mane, or sing me a lullaby. One tear slips out. Also, he'll never play chess or Monopony or checkers with me ever again. Before I know it, I'm sobbing my cyan eyes out. "B-b-but why?" I shakily ask my sisters. "I love daddy! W-why did he have to go to heaven? I-I j-just want him to come back!" Their eyes brim with tears as they embrace me. We all stay in that room and cry together. We do every night for a long time. But eventually, we don't. Loud sobs at night are replaced with a sullen silence resting over the house that seems so empty now. Mommy took down any evidence of color in the house. She even stormed in one day and took away most of the crayons in my box, leaving only the white, black, and grey ones. I have the cloud-in-a-jar in my room. I'm waiting for the right opportunity to use the wish. I don't even feel any feelings right now. I feel like an empty shell... Ready to crumble into dust at a moments notice. Well, I guess I feel like a tired empty crumbly shell. Tired... I am so tired. With that thought, I begin to sink into sleep's welcome embrace.
A Splash of Color
Chapter 1-
"Splaaaaaaaashiiiiiieeeeeee..."
I spin around.
"Splaaaaaaaaaaaaaashiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeee."
I shiver.
"D-daddy?" A silhouette of a stallion shows on the wall, but there is no other pony besides me. I feel a breeze on my mane. It smells like my father's favorite cologne.
"Splashie... Come and sit with me."
I walk towards his silhouette, and he appears. But not whole. He is burned and smoking, singed and raggedy. I reach out to him, but my hoof passes right through him.
"But daddy... You're not here." He vanishes, leaving behind only his scent and his voice.
"But of course I'm not. I'm gone."
I recoil, and images flash across my brain. I see my father fall into a pit filled with rainbow liquid, and hear his screams of agony even though I wasn't there. I am almost to the point where I jump in after him, but his screams are replaced with a pained gargling sound. Oh yeah. This is the part where he drowns. I can't bear it, I leap in after him, blah blah blah. Same old, same old. But instead of reaching the rainbow liquid, I keep falling. And falling. The rainbow and the tortured yells of my father disappear, and I fall forever and ever through a dark and bottomless pit.
~~~~~
I wake up, trembling and sweaty. The odd sensation of falling left over from that particularly vivid dream is still plaguing me relentlessly.
Woah... What a dream. I think to myself.
Of course, it's nothing new. I have a dream to a similar effect every night. I have for the past six years, ever since my father died. Directly underneath my cloud bed is the floor of my bedroom, obviously. But I know that there's something there. I reach my hoof down, and into a hidden nook where I keep my most special possessions. Among them is my beautiful cloud-in-a-jar. It's the last reminder I have of my daddy. I talk to it sometimes because its the only thing that will listen.
Puffy, one of my sisters, became really weird after dad died. She wears lots of makeup and is always in trouble at school and with the law. Not at home, though, because mommy doesn't care. She never comes out of her room. Misty brings her food and cooks and cares for the rest of us. Even so, she has problems too. She acts cheerful, but late at night, I have caught her using a knife to make tiny cuts on her left forehoof. It looks painful, but I guess that's how she deals with the sadness. As for me, Misty says I'm depressed. I guess I am. I'm also mute, or that's the nice word for it that Misty calls me. I only ever speak in my dreams. Puffy has some not-very-nice words for it, and she calls me them because she knows I won't say anything back. Misty tries to calm her down, but never really tries to comfort me, because she can't. The few times she tried I either pushed her away or got sadder. Nopony in this broken family can be happy again, or at least that's my opinion. Misty acts happy but it's only an act. She doesn't really feel happy inside.
I watch the sentient cloud swirl away from my hoof's shadow. I know that if the emotion is pure then I can write a wish on a slip of paper and drop it in. I sigh, and tuck the jar under my wing. I trot out to the balcony, where the bright morning sun is beating down. I squint, not having been exposed to bright light for a few years. I look down sadly into the misty abyss, barely covering the thick and dark trees of the infamous Everfree Forest. I wonder what it's like down there, among the spooky trees and mysterious plants. I heard rumors one that a zebra lives down there. A zebra. I've always wanted to meet a zebra, but now I probably won't. I'm not allowed to leave and I don't really want to. And yet I do. I want to leave this city, this house, this family. It's all broken and full of bad memories that spill out through the filthy cracks.
I look down at my cloud-in-a-jar, and contemplate what the wish would be. I glance around and especially behind me, and am not surprised by the results. Mommy never comes out of her room. Misty does most of the work around here, which saps a lot of her energy, so she takes naps at this time of day. And Puffy is out doing whatever illegal stuff she does. So I'm alone. Checking one more time just to be sure, and flapping my wings experimentally, I fly around a little bit, savoring the fresh air. The weather is beautiful, the clouds anything but sparse, but not unpleasantly so. They are all small, and fluffy, and the purest white I have ever seen. I wish that daddy could be here to see it. Then, I know what I want to wish. I zip inside and grab a piece of paper and a pencil. I carefully print the words on it, and through the tip of the pencil I pour all of my sorrow and grief and regret. As I drop the paper into the jar, a single tear falls from my dull blue eyes. It's not a tear of sorrow, but a tear of hope.
The jar glows, and suddenly, I feel... Nothing at all? The jar didn't do anything! I run back out to the balcony and throw the jar as far off away as I can. I wished to see my father again, but I guess you can't bring ponies back from the dead because daddy is definitely not here. I feel a sudden, heavy sense of grief. It's as intense as if I'm watching him die all over again, watching mom slip away into her dark and lonely world of grief, watch my beloved sisters become different ponies. It's horrible and choking. It's also creepily like my dream, only this time it's real and I can't wake up at command. I try everything, but the images flash through my head nonetheless. I curl up into a shivering little ball on the soft cloud balcony, trembling as fresh tears run down my cheeks. The images fade slowly, as I am left with the last one, of my father's tortured screams and final breath. I sob quietly, overcome with sadness. I stumble my way over to the balcony's edge and look down. It's a long way down. A little voice in my head pipes up, quiet but firm.
Good.
I pause and contemplate the possibility of it, of jumping off of the balcony. Wherever I went afterwards, I'd probably see daddy again. That would be the happiest moment of my life, even if it was in death.
Well, too late to choose. Best just stop thinking about it before you change your mind.
I smile sadly and go inside to get another paper. I scribble a quick note to my family and leave it on my bed. It's likely that only Misty will see it. I trot back to the balcony. Before I can stop myself, I leap off. I know that I'm now doomed to die, my fate now sealed in superglue and wax. The feeling of free fall envelopes me and I close my eyes, awaiting the sensation of death.
As I fall to my death, I could swear I hear my father's voice.
"Splashie. Don't do this."
I think a response back because I won't speak.
It's too late, daddy. It's already done.
His voice is not hesitant to respond.
"Splashie, I can't let you throw your life away. I love you but I don't want you to join me for a long time. It's not your time."
I can almost smell his cologne in the wind. His voice fades away as he tells me he loves me dearly. Tears fall from my eyes, being pulled up by the speed of my fall. As I plummet closer and closer towards the Everfree Forest, I become aware of a shimmering magical aura around me. It shimmers with all the colors of the rainbow, and yet, I don't care. I'm so close to the ground now that I can feel it. I feel death creeping up on me. The forest rapidly approaches, and suddenly I smack into a hard surface. It hurts really bad, and I heard my wing crack. I slowly sink into the substance of the surface, feeling like I'm enveloped in liquid silk, and I have time to think one word before I fall happily into unconciousness.
Color.
