The Train
I've relived it many times in the months after. But there was the lingering knowledge it had already passed, that things would never be the same. They weren't.
"Jason?"
"Jason?"
"Jason?"
That name was the only word in my head. Where was he? I just was talking to him a second ago. Frantically, I ran all around the cake store, as nervous eyes trained on me from ponies everywhere. "No." I told myself. Claustrophobia started to set in. "I saw him trotting to the lake!" said somepony. Shit. I just saw him. He couldn't have gotten that far. The lake was empty. "He went that way, Ethan..." a soft voice consoled. "Thanks!" I replied as I changed course toward a more populated area of Ponyville.
"JASON! Get your flank over here!"
There he was, enjoying that new ball he just unwrapped.
"Daddy?"
Faster. I have to run faster.
The unresting sound of a locomotive suddenly filled the tense air.
"JASON! NOW!"
"The ball's stuck, Daddy..."
The train kept coming closer. The driver realized what was on the tracks and begin to halt.
My hooves were barely touching the ground as I went as fast as I could.
It was not enough.
"DADDY!"
That scream for help was forever embedded in my mind. For six months, the scene replayed in my head, over and over. Every time I tried to wake up, I heard his voice again. "Faster, Daddy, faster!" It was never fast enough. Every time that traumatic cry from Jason sounded, it pained me even more. But this time, I actually awoke from this nightmare.
"He's conscious!"
A painfully bright glow greeted me.
"Wh-what?"
"You were in a coma for six months..." a voice solemnly stated.
"I had a horrible dream..."
The nurse immediately turned pale.
"I'm sorry, Ethan. It wasn't a dream."
Everything started to fade to black.
The next memory of this horror was outside of my old home.
"Grace, I'm sorry!"
"Ethan, please don't make this harder than it has to be, you've got to understand why I'm doing this."
"Grace, please..."
"You can see Shaun from Friday to Sunday. I just can't trust you anymore..." As my fate left Grace's lips, she turned away and started to shake. A lone teardrop smashed the floor, a stain that could be wiped but always remained.