Paradise Inn

Marr and Zephyr had gone flying.

This was something the older half griffon had only enjoyed in passing, usually to busy running from something to actually find any time to use the skill recreationaly, and even when she wasn't fleeing, she had more often then not found herself grounded by her own actions.

Lately, however, she found herself focusing on other things as opposed to how horrid she was.

Things like how her and Zeph both had soared through the sky, skimming over clouds in the early spring afternoons. She enjoyed the feel of the warm, sun heated air over her feathers, and was giddy with joy over how stunning she looked with the pegasai's donor feathers, finding the byzantium colour mesmerizing as the sun danced off the glossy plumage.

The weather was been fine for the time of year, the sparse cloud cover keeping it warm enough at night to stop the rains from becoming snow.

It did, however, come with the problem of getting rained on when you went flying, which may be why Zephyr was currently sniffling as they flew over the town.

"I'm sorry, I've gotta land," Zephyr sneezed, losing a couple of feet of altitude, groaning a little. "Just feel terrible."

Marr pouted as she nodded, adjusting course to stay near the pegasus as they wrapped around to land by Zephyrs house, the purple pony trotting over to her door, slumping against the frame as she pulled it open.

"I'll see you later?"

The byzantium mare nodded before shutting herself inside, leaving the griffon to return to the sky.

The next day, and a half bird was practically dancing on Zephyrs doorstep until the door opened. A tired looking muzzle stuck itself out, eyes a bit dull. "I'm sorry Marr, I feel terrible, I can't come flying today."

The griffoness nodded and smiled. "It's all right, just eat and sleep and get better, ok?"

Marr and Zephyr sat at the cafe, the griffon munching on a honey and sesame cake.

"Anything on your mind?"

The byzantium mare blinked, glancing away from the window to look at the ruddy griffon. "No, just a bit... Out of it."

"I can do anything to help?" The rough voice was full of concern, the griffons eyes mirroring that emotion, a far cry from her normal disaffected stare.

The pegasai sighed, shaking her head and wincing. "Got a huge headache."

Marr placed a talon on the purple pony's shoulder. "Maybe you should go lay down."

Zephyr nodded slowly.

The pegasai's smile was a bit shaky as she opened the door, cringing a little.

Marrs face flashed with concern. "Are you okay?"

"No, huge headache..."

Marr gave her friend a hug, the large griffoness being careful. "You'd better rest then."

Another day, another headache. Marr was getting worried and, resisting the urge to maul herself, had taken to flying laps around town to calm down. She was much more stable in the air now, even attempting a few rolls and dives, trying her very best to match some of the more agile pegasai's maneuvers from before.

On one spin, she swore she saw byzantium and white dart into the the local cafe. She frowned.

Weeks, It had been weeks. Marr had been routinely flying laps around the town, regardless of the weather, the feeling of flying itself relaxing, the wind and the crisp air above the cloud level taking off the edge.

Between that, she had taken back some of the nights at Paradise, and had started telling stories again, though she wasn't as happy with them as she had been before. Really, everything seemed a bit deader when Zephyr wasn't around.

So she had been flying the line between the forest and the town, always starting and ending at Paradise.

Today though, her head was fuzzy, her balance a bit off. Today was not a day for flying.

Marr shivered in the sun as a cool breeze blew in from the forest. Unseasonably warm as the day had been, the wind was enough to make one pause. She just needed to walk for a while, clear her head. Everything would be okay, Zeph just hadn't been feeling well. She'd get her rest and then feel fine and it would all be fine. Zeph had even said she'd be back at the Inn and they'd do another night of stories today, no matter what.

As if the world was taunting her, Sanguine Blaze's voice floated over to the ruddy coloured griffon. "What the heck is up with Zeph anyways? She's been acting off for a while."

She shouldn't listen in, she knew that even as her body froze momentarily before ducking into an alleyway. The frosty breeze tickled at her ears as it spun the words from across the street to them, making sure they reached her as Night spoke up, "It's Marr."

She shuddered. They where talking about her. Marrs heart hammered as the wind continued to feed her the conversation, the dole smell of the Everfree on the word dressed winds, Rapoza speaking up next, confusion apparent. "I thought they liked each other?"

A grunt followed as Night shifted, apparently lounging back. "No, she's just afraid the griffon is crazy and that she will crack apart."

Marr shuddered, a talon punching through her skin as the wind ruffled her auxiliaries. She'd fucked up again, hadn't she?

"Wait, so Marr is still after Zephyr?" She could feel the blood running down her shoulder as she listened, her pulse seeming to punctuate each word as Sang continued, "She does know Zeph doesn't swing that way, right?" Blood was dripping on the cobblestones, the wind making their impacts long, trailing like falling rain.

Rapoza sounded confused. "I thought Zephyr was actually sick. She seemed pretty out of it when she came by a few days ago."

"Like I said," Came Nights voice, the wind kicking up again. "Zeph is afraid that Marr will crack. Pretty sure she's afraid she'll get hurt and worrying about it is making her feel like crap. On top of it, she doesn't want to hurt Marr either, so she's hiding from her."

Marr couldn't feel her talons anymore, mind racing as the conversation continued, her mind anywhere but on the words even as the Everfree born wind kept feeding them to her. She'd fucked up. She always fucked up. She was hurting Zephyr. The pegasus was scared of her. She didn't want to have anything to do with a dumb bird that had a crush on her. The wind ruffled her feather crest as she numbly stumbled down the alleyways back to the now familiar green door of Paradise.

They where right. Why did she ever try? She was defective, broken, adherent, and most likely crazy. She stumbled, talons slick with her own blood. She ruined everything. She opened her beak and ruined everything. She wasn't allowed anything nice, anything she said would come out twisted and wrong and she'd lose whatever she had. And it was all her fault. She was worthless. The griffon lurched down the hallways of Paradise, head spinning like a windmill in a monsoon.

Zephyr was there. Marr barely registered the look of concern on her face as she tried to pass by her.

"Are you ok?"

The simple question and the gentle hoof to her chest made Marrs head pulse, the wind outside whispering through a gap in the window seemingly echoing in the griffonesses head, the empty noise stretching and muddling words. She stared at Zeph for a moment, beak half open. She wanted to hug her and cry. She wanted to snuggle close to the mare and let it all out and have the wonderful byzantium pegasus make her feel safe again. She wanted to tell her what she had heard and have all her fears dispelled with that smile. And she hated herself for it.

She couldn't stay, she had to leave. Zephyr was just afraid she'd get hurt if she disappointed Marr. Lies, all the moments, all the kind words, everything was just lies. Hadn't Rapoza mentioned that the pegasus had gone out to see him? Zeph was avoiding her. She was scared of her. The only reason she was being nice was because she was face to face with the griffon and was afraid.

Marr slowly nodded her head. Zeph frowned, pushing her white mane out of her eyes as the darted over the griffons form. "Are you bleeding?"

"It's nothing. D-Don't worry." The griffoness looked to the side as she tried to continue on past, shrugging off the mares hoof, body numbly moving forwards.

"Are you sure? I worry about you."

The words cut through the haze of Marrs mind, slamming themselves into place hastily, everything that the others had said coming together in a sudden jumbled mess, bits of mutterings and worries and everything that could have ever possibly gone wrong slamming themselves to the forefront of the mental assault. Guilt and fear welled up as the griffoness shuddered to a halt, nearly falling.

She forced a smile to her beak as she mechanically turned, trying to pull off that mask that she had prided herself on. "I'm fine. Just a bit fuzzy headed," She forced her legs to behave, flicked her tail and moved down the hallways to her borrowed room. "Just gonna lay down for a while."

She could feel the mares eyes on her back the whole way to her room and would swear Zeph had been staring at the door as it closed.

The late midday sun shone brightly outside in the cloudless sky, and young foals played in the days dying warmth, the unseasonably warm streak continuing. The day had been perfect, a pristine example of weather ponies going above and beyond their call. For most of the town, nothing could mar the day.

Marr was screaming.

The ruddy feathered griffoness stood, glaring in the eyes of the one she hated, the one she despised as she brought every insult, every moment of disgrace, every last thing that she had ever done to wrong Marr up and out in a salvo of hate. She had been screaming for the last half hour and her victim screamed back, voice hoarse and cracked as she balled her talon in a fist and brought it forwards hard.

There was a great crash and a brilliant explosion as light seemed to dance around her for a second in a fragmented cloud, odd pinpoints sparkling wildly as the ruined fragments of the mirror lashed out through the air. There was a torrent of smaller explosions, glass tinkling on the ground as the reflective shrapnel landed.

All that could be heard for what seemed like hours was ragged breathing.

Then came the rain. At first it was byzantium and red-brown feathers, sliced loose by the multitude of shards. Then came a soft pitter-patter of drops hitting the scarred flooring as red stained tears fell, each drop painting the wood, flowing through the rough scratches like small tributaries fed by the heavens.

She slammed her balled talon into the empty frame, knocking what glass remained free as the wood splintered, a large chunk lashing back at her, slicing straight into her wing, feathers, both hers and Zeph's imped donors, floating towards the floorboards to join their brethren.

Marrs blood joined her tears and feathers in force, the storm of liquid coating the floor, spraying over the nearby bedding with each violent swing as she ripped the vanity to shreds, curved maple mutating into a jagged mass, dripping with crimson as it was tossed against the door.

She swore, making a move to release her rage on it before tripping, landing splayed out on the flowerbed of mirrors, tiny thorns of glass cutting into her.

Marrs eyes darted across the floor, each fragment showing her face. Her horrible face. She screamed, a primal raw sound before, sobbing as she tried to scramble to her paws, bleeding from numerous lacerations even as her own distorted reflection taunted her with how pathetic she was.

She was terrible.

She ruined everything she ever touched.

She failed everyone she ever met.

It would be easier if they never met her, then she couldn't hurt them.

It would be easier, simpler, better if they just hated her outright.

She laid there, sobbing, as the mid-day sun danced in through the window, turning half the reflections into motes of light, some tinged red. Time lost all meaning a she stared at the shards until a biting wind pushed through her window, smaller shards and byzantium feather fragments sliding over the hardwood.

With dull eyes she looked out the window, locking onto the source of the wind. The Everfree loomed over the panorama, murky tendrils of stunted willows waving softly to Marr, seeming to beckon her.

She came here from there. She crawled though that damned, melancholy forest. And she brought it's corruption with her. She was tainted, twisted , a bringer of pain and confusion. She was, in fact, terrible.

She should go back.

She could go back there. The thought snapped into her mind with burning clarity. She should leave. She was hurting everyone. She was hurting Zeph. Bringing harm to the everyone that she loved. She should leave so that the pegasus could stop hurting. She had to go. Disappear.

She had stretched this as far as she could, had made it last as long as it could. Had done her best to just be connected, to make it all work and Marr had failed. She had failed Zephyr. It would take everything to make this right and to start she had to leave.

Bloody talons gripped the floor, large splinters of wood coming up form the tortured boards as Marr struggled to her paws, imped feathers falling out in ragged chunks as she limped over to her desk unevenly as though fighting a crosswind, . The griffoness grabbed her messenger bag as she regarded the damaged furniture. She had to make this right.

She upended her messenger bag, frozen in thought for a moment before shaking her head, leaving almost everything on the desk as she cracked open the battered book, shaky talons working over the page as she scrawled one last sentence.

Marr left everything of value behind as she escaped through the window.

In a little town at the edge of the Everfree, after an hour of struggling and shouting, light flooded a damaged, blood smeared room. A worn and weathered note book sat open on the desk beside an empty bottle, the page smeared with blood and ink in an implicit curve, followed by three little broken words that seemed so hollow.

Outside the window the Everfree loomed, heavy clouds hanging overhead as it prepared to break the weather teams glorious work. The temperature had dropped dramatically with the clear sky elsewhere and the forest decided for one last winter surprise.

It seemed to take forever to get to where she stood at the edge of the forest as snow began to fall, peering back towards the light that flickered on the edge of town. It had looked so inviting once before.

The hardest part was leaving. She wanted to stay, to feel welcome and warm again. Wanted to be home. Paradise had been home, but only because of who was there, not because of some building.

Instead the sick at heart creature stared back at the building, silently wishing that someone would save her, that a white mane and blue eyes would come screaming out of the gloom and tell her to stop, tell her everything would be wonderful, that in the dark of night the moon would light the way. It was pitiful, how she asked for help without asking, hoping that someone- no, somepony- would notice.

She was a failure. A reject. Useless. Not even able to help herself, always running, hiding, fearful nd, worst of all, not what they wanted.

With a half choked sigh the creature turned to the forest, the abject murk seeming to reach out and snuff out what little light there was as the lone creature stumbled into its embrace. Everything seemed to swirl as the wind kicked up, white snow dotting the black sky like static, the dry rattle of branches seeming to laugh as it slowly vanished into the abject night.

The Everfree forest is deep and dark, almost alive in the most twisted manner, some ponies would say. It chills to the bone and will make even the strongest of stallions jitter as the trees themselves seem to creep towards you with the intent to drag you down. It is said if one was to enter, its darkness might just swallow them whole.