I finally stood up slowly, balancing myself out once I felt my legs lock. I remained silent, creeping over to the window, not wanting to disturb my sleeping siblings. The early morning sunlight had just started to peep into our house, a sign that it would soon be time to go outside. I looked down and saw my youngest sister, Kayla, sleeping in a tight ball next to her older brother, Louis. I smiled at their innocence and kept on my toes, making my way gradually to the source of the newfound sunlight. A voice could be heard behind me, which I decided had to be Louis snoring, as he usually did shortly before he awoke. Hid loud nasal bass was enough to make Kayla stir, holding her little pink pony doll even tighter.
I heated some water in a pot after whipping up a quick fire. The pot began to steam quickly and bubbles started shooting out of the top. I quickly took the pot away from the fire, pouring the water into a large coffee mug. I rummaged through the pantry quickly, finding a mint-flavored tea bag and placing it into the boiling water. I sat and looked up, zoning out for a moment. The light was now shining into the window above me, highlighting the dust that floated down and swirled whenever I took a breath. Shaking my head, I snapped back to my chore. I stirred the water with the tea, making sure it turned a dark brown color before taking the bag out and discarding it. Sighing contently, I sat down at the kitchen table and took a sip. I flinched, the hot water burning the taste buds from my tongue. I was used to this, but I never liked when it happened.
Turning my head, I noticed Kayla standing in the doorway to the kitchen, holding her doll tightly to her chest. I looked behind her and noticed Louis starting to rise, cracking his back and yawning.
"Morning, Louis," I said calmly, taking another sip of the hot tea. He put his hand in the air, his usual morning hello. "Morning Kayla, have a good sleep?"
"M-hm," she answered. She walked in and opened the pantry door, looking for something to eat. Decided on some cereal, she walked back to the table and sat down. As she crunched away on her stale cheerios, I looked back at Louis, who was now standing. He walked over to the table and groaned, yawning loudly again.
"My throat's sore…was I snoring again?" he asked, coughing.
"Kayla's up, isn't she?" I said, smiling at him. He shrugged in defense and walked over to Kayla, taking a handful of cheerios and walking to the door. He pulled back to wooden board and let more sunlight pour in, enveloping the room in its warm glow. Instantly the smoke was visible in the background, filling me with dread as it did every morning. Fires were still burning in the distance, and the only trees were around the house. Besides that, the sun could only cast its light over miles and miles of empty, dried up dessert. Deep black impact craters still lined the horizon, making both Louis and I shiver. The day that it all happened was still fresh in our memories, and would be for the rest of our lives. Nothing could just overpower a sight like seeing miles of city being vaporized by missiles.
"How's Tiff doing…?" I asked Louis nervously, always afraid of the answer. His gaze lowered sadly and he shook his head. I peered in the door at the young bedridden girl, my vision clouding over as it always did.
"She's not getting any better, that's for sure. But as least she's not doing any worse…" Louis said sadly, wiping his eyes. Tiffany was so close to all three of us. She wasn't related, but then again, neither were any of us. We were just four lost youths caught in the machinery of war.
"What do you think made her so sick…?" I mumbled, resting my head against the doorframe as I watched Tiffany's chest lift up and down with her small breathes. My fist was clenched in anger, mostly at myself for not knowing what to do.
"Man, if it was my guess, I would have to say all of this goddamned radiation. Especially at night. Are you sure the house is completely sealed?" he asked me, crossing his arms. I nodded and sniffed, wiping my eyes.
"Yeah, I'm sure. I checked too many times. No, it has to be something else…" I said quietly, stopping as I heard Kayla's voice behind me.
"Is it time to watch TV with Tiffany?" she asked, looking up with eager eyes. I smiled and tried to hide my red eyes, patting her on the back.
"Sure is, sweetie," I said cheerfully, opening the door to Tiffany's room and leading her in. Kayla squeaked with joy and hugged her pony doll again, happy to be able to see her friends again. I ran my fingers through my dirty black hair and sighed, wishing to have her ability to be truly excited for something anymore.
In response to Kayla's gently prods, Tiffany woke up slowly, coughing once before smiling, her eyes half closed. She gazed up at me and smiled wider, her face pale and devoid of the energy it once contained. I smiled back at her and held up the disk.
"Time for the pony show…?" she asked, coughing again. I nodded at her and moved closer, brushing her bangs from her face. She scrunched up her face and smiled, making both me and Louis laugh.
"Come on, guys! I want to see Pinkie!" Kayla piped up from beside the TV, waiting impatiently. Tiffany looked down at her and wiggled her toe. Kayla stopped and moved further away from anything heavy.
"Twitcha twitch…" Tiffany said in a soft, raspy voice. I laughed at Kayla and moved to the TV, leaning down and sliding the disk into the DVD player. I moved back as we all gathered around Tiffany, sitting contently as the next episode started to play. I looked over at my unofficial family, smiling as they all smiled happily, and the theme song starting to play.
"My little pony, my little pony…"
Tiffany smiled up at Louis, pointing out whenever she saw her favorite pony, Rarity. For some reason, Tiffany like how fancy she was, and wanted to be just like her someday.
"I used to wonder what friendship could be…"
Kayla spotted the bakery in the background and leapt up, shouting "Pinkie works there!" I smiled at her and encouraged her to settle down, for Tiffany's sake.
"Until you all shared its magic with me…"
I enjoyed the bright colors, but really just loved spending a happy moment together with all of my siblings.
"Big adventures, tons of fun…"
Kayla now was hugging her Pinkie Pie toy tightly, pointing to the TV and telling it "There you are! That's you, see?"
"A beautiful heart, faithful and strong…"
I looked down at Tiffany, who was smiling and mouthing the words to the song. I leaned down and kissed her forehead, making her scrunch up her face again. I laughed quietly.
"Sharing kindness, it's an easy feat, and magic makes it all complete…"
I bent down, as did Louis and Kayla, getting close to Tiffany as we waited for out cue.
"You have my little ponies…"
And all at once, we shouted the last line, all embracing each other, Tiffany giggling happily as she was surrounding by her brothers and sister.
"Do you know that you're all my very best friends?"
Laughing, I realized for a moment…just for that moment, I was truly happy. My family sat around me, laughing with me, having the time of their current lives. In that room, as the episode of My Little Pony began, we were safe in our own world, without radiation or bandits, without sickness or disease. We were one small happy family of strangers, united over disaster.
We were kids.