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“Firework…wake up…”

”Huh?” Firework opened his eyes and found himself in…darkness. Endless, enveloping darkness, like he was in the void or something. He had no idea where he was or how he had gotten there…just that he was hearing something.

“Where am I? Hello?”

”Firework…” A familiar purple figure appeared before his eyes. That’s where the voice was coming from…Paint Swirl. “Wake up. They need you.”

The stallion squinted and slowly lifted himself to his hooves. “Wake up? I am awake! Where even am I? How did you-“

”No! Stay away!” The hollow image of his sister stepped back as he began to approach her. “Don’t come with me!”

“Why not?” Firework snorted. “I have no idea where I am and I can’t follow the one pony I know?“

Paint shook her head sadly. “No. You’re not ready to go yet.”

“Not ready to go? You mean die?” Firework froze as he realized what she was referring to. “But Sis, it sucks down here. It has ever since…well, I’d rather be dead than live another day of that-“

He suddenly turned his gaze to see a bright light glowing behind him, with Paint stepping further away.

”Wait, what’s happening? Sis-“

”Go back to them, Firework. They need you. Stay strong. Don’t leave them…”

The light suddenly grew blinding as the figure in front of him started disintegrating.

”No! What’s going on? Don’t go! Paint-“

*

”FIREWORK!”

The pegasus opened his heavy eyelids to a bright light, with a familiar rainbow-maned figure hovering over him.

The voice he heard screaming was female like he had been hearing, but a lot more raspy. The mare was breathing heavily as if she was choking back tears. It took his eyes a minute to adjust to his surroundings, but he soon realized the voice was coming from his mother. She was sitting directly above him, the ceiling light making a halo-like aura around her, but Rainbow Dash looked far from angelic. Her mane was messy and ragged, and there were bags under her eyes like she hadn't slept in days. The most alarming was her eyes, her big magenta irises surrounded with bloodshot veins and accented with tear-stains down her cheeks.

"My baby…" She finally muttered out, looking back into the room.

Firework could hear hooves clicking against the floor as another figure came into view. Soarin looked equally exhausted, and his hair was grayer than he’d remembered.

“Son!” He gasped out desperately. “Blink once if you can hear us!”

Firework blinked and tried to speak, but found himself blocked from saying anything.

He couldn’t turn his head very well, but suddenly he felt a tight grip on his hooves as a unicorn finally came into view. "Firework, it's me! I haven't left your side since you passed out! Moonbow is with her aunties and I….." Dusk Star looked like he could pass out from exhaustion any second now, rambling off wildly but seeming to stop mid-thought.

"Oh! This tube here is to help you breathe; it stops you from talking. We'll just ask you to blink for us, okay darling?"

Firework tried to nod but, realizing he couldn’t, just blinked again. But there were all kinds of thoughts and questions flooding his mind. How long had he been out? What had happened to him? Where was Lightning? And what was up with that weird vision he had? He hardly knew what was real anymore.

Soarin broke the quiet that had settled with a great loud yawn, "How long have we been here?"

Rainbow was quick to swing up with an answer, "THIRTY DAYS. A whole month! It's why Lightning ain't here, what with his newborn and all." Her sentence dropped off into silence before she choked out. "We missed you so damn much! This family has had enough tragedy without you leaving too."

Tragedy. Firework remembered now. His sweet little sister…she was gone. It had torn their family apart. It had driven him to drink. Hay, it was the reason why they were all here right now. Tragedy had taken one of them and almost him too…

He gasped and scrunched his face up, eyes welling with tears as he came to this realization.

Dusk began to squeeze his hoof harder. "No Firework, please don’t cry! It'll be okay! We're all here! You're here! And soon you'll get to see Moonbow and your nieces and nephews! It'll be okay!" Dusk knew very well what set him off but was trying to distract him the best he could. "Never scare us like this again…please."

Firework tried to nod again but instead blinked rapidly as the tears started pouring down his face. Surrounded by family, coming back from the brink of death, all of the pain and repressed emotions that he had drowned out with booze—losing his sister, watching his family fall apart—all were spilling out now. And he couldn’t stop them. He nearly choked on the tube in his throat as he gripped his husband’s hoof tighter.

Soarin pulled away from his wife and son-in-law so the rest of the family wouldn't see him choke back the tears he was trying so hard to hide. "No Dusk, just let him get it all out. I know how he's feeling. We all do."

Rainbow gripped her husband’s shoulder as her own tears began to fall again. "We've stayed with him this long. We aren't gonna leave his side now. We have each other and it'll take all of us to get through…THIS. Together."

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Posted previously at: 2018-08-04T16:25:01 | Posted previously by: kindheart525